When the Henry decides to celebrate the birthday of a friend, it does it with panache. A splendid exhibition of 75 world-class photos marks the 75th birthday of Joseph Monsen who, with his wife Elaine, has provided almost two-thirds of the more than 1,500 images held in the Henry's photography collection. If you like photography, come to this party.
The Monsens began collecting photographs in 1969 when both were at Harvard on fellowships. Interested in art and searching for a collection focus, they turned to Harvard art historian James Ackerman. His advice: collect photography. When Dr. Monsen exclaimed that he didn't even like photography, he was told to do it anyway. He had a duty, because by the time the museums got around to it, it would be too late.
That was discerning guidance. Monsen's duty became his passion almost immediately. He began buying at a time when few others were interested in old photos. Not only were the pictures more affordable then, but many would probably have been lost had he not purchased them. Finding them wasn't easy. There were no dealers and few books. But the Monsens persevered, and so began one of the country's truly fine private photograph collections.
The 75 photos selected by Dr. Monsen for this exhibition offer an intellectual history of photography from 1843 through the 20th century. As if that weren't enough, there's a companion exhibition in the North Galleries of six of the Monsens' contemporary acquisitions for their private collection.
If these samples are any indication of the quality and diversity of the whole, it's an amazing collection. All the great names are included. It's an injustice to list just a few of them because almost everyone whose work is on display is considered to be a giant in the field. So I'll just focus on some of my favorites, and that will give you the flavor.
We'll begin with the old guys and move through time. The Civil War was the first major conflict to be captured photographically in its full horror. Photographers, lugging huge cameras, boxes of glass plates and portable darkrooms, recorded the carnage as they followed the troops. In Timothy H. O'Sullivan's "Incidents of the War: A Harvest of Death, Gettysburg, July 1863," the living survey a battlefield littered with corpses. Its emotional impact is stunning.
Carleton E. Watkins' "Cape Horn, Columbia River, 1868" offers a romantic paean to the natural world. Sepia in tone, it typifies the work of the photographers who traveled west in mid-19th century and sent back images of the new lands to amaze and entice their Eastern brethren. Their work did much to encourage westward migration.
On a quiet street in France, Jean-Eugène-August Atget captured an image of a plant shop. The detail in "Au Bon Jardinier, Paris, 1902" is so crisp that I wanted a magnifying glass to examine every pot, every plant and even the saleswoman barely visible within the shop.
The Henry's Associate Curator Sara Krajew-ski decided not to hang the collection chronologically. Instead the works are displayed somewhat thematically. A wise decision, it allows the viewer to make comparisons.
Some of my favorite photographers are in close proximity. The role-playing Cindy Sherman in full-color regalia dominates a section where everyone seems to have a scripted part. There's a Diane Arbus image of a suburban couple and child in their back yard playing at being normal. William Wegman's Weimaraner, Man Ray, plays at being an ele-phant, and Irving Penn's fashion model is the personification of chic.
In another corner are three arresting head-and-shoulders portraits of African Americans by Carrie Mae Weems. Her chromogenic development print demands comparison to the nearby Andres Serrano "Thinker," which is a silver-dye bleach print mounted to Plexiglas. Two very different processes producing two very different results.
And I've not even mentioned Walker Evans, Lewis Hine and the real Man Ray. I've not compared the clouds of Edward Weston to the clouds of Alfred Stieglitz, or the contemporary experiments of the Starn twins and Gerhard Richter.
The collection spans time and geography. The exhibit is an aesthetic tour de force and can be thoroughly enjoyed on that level, but it could have been so much more. Each image represents a new idea in the development of photography and the use of photography as art. There is so much to learn here, yet there are no guide sheets or wall text to point out what that is. Too little interpretation is a frequent problem at the Henry.
Museums always must work within the limits of their budgets and staff resources when mounting any exhibit. Whether it was budget concerns or an aesthetic decision to display these images without interpretive materials to explain their significance, we can't know. Whatever the reason, it's too bad. This is an exhibit that calls out for interpretation. That would have been the frosting on this delicious celebration of the history and art of photography and the donors who have bequeathed it to us.
75 at 75: Selections from the Joseph and Elaine Monsen Collection of Photography continues through Oct. 22 at the Henry Art Gallery, on the University of Washington campus, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays (Thursdays until 8 p.m.). General admission $10, seniors $6, free to students.[[In-content Ad]]
