Neil Armstrong (American, 1930–2012). Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. Walks on the Surface of the Moon, Apollo 11, July 16-24 1969 (detail), 1969, printed later. Dye transfer print, 16 1/8 x 16 3/8 in. (41 x 41.6 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Protein pills and helmets optional. Let The Metropolitan Museum of Art take you to the moon from the birth of photography in 1839 through present day.
Feting the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, The Met will display more than 170 photographs along with related drawings, prints, paintings, films, video art, astronomical instruments, and cameras used by Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr.
Apollo’s Muse: The Moon in the Age of Photography opens Wednesday, chronicling the advancement of astronomical photography and efforts to create the most accurate images of the moon. The exhibition focuses its lens on the 130-year period between the invention of the art form until the historic moon landing in 1969, as astronomers and artists explored the technological evolution of cameras and telescopes to replicate the lunar surface for those who will never board a spaceship.
Highlights include two newly discovered lunar daguerreotypes (an early photographic process using an iodine-sensitized silvered plate and mercury vapor) from the 1840s, believed to be the first photographs of the moon. Also on view are works by lunar photography trailblazers such as: Warren De La Rue (1815–1889); Lewis Morris Rutherfurd (1816–1892); and John Adams Whipple (1822–1891). A photographic atlas of the moon, produced at the Paris Observatory between 1894 and 1908 by astronomers Maurice Loewy (1833–1907) and Pierre Puiseux (1855–1928), will debut displayed in its entirety.
“The moon has long been a nearly universal source of fascination and inspiration,” said Max Hollein, director of The Met. “This exhibition shows us how photography introduced new dimensions to its documentation and interpretation, and explores the tremendous impact that the 1969 moon landing had on artists of the time—the lasting effects of which still resonate today.”
The July 20, 1969, spaceflight that landed the first two people on the moon was broadcast worldwide on live television to a half a billion viewers, a moment that’s instantly recognizable by generations born decades later who remain awestruck by the event.
Sponsored by Swiss luxury watchmaker Omega SA, with additional funding from the Enterprise Holdings Endowment and The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, Apollo’s Muse portrays the camera’s role in depicting space travel and life on the moon.
George Méliès’s (1861–1938) original drawings for his film A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la lune, 1902), will be hung alongside an extensive collection of “paper moon” studio portraits from the early 20th century.
Major works by German Romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich (1774–1840). and American Pictorialist photographer Edward Steichen (1879–1973), will lend a fine art view of otherworldly effects of moonlight.
Navigating rocket science and the Cold War space race of the 1960s, the exhibition will trace early lunar expeditions sent by the Soviet and American space programs. The final section of the show will culminate with works by Nancy Graves (1940–1995), Aleksandra Mir (born 1967), Nam June Paik (1932–2006), and Robert Rauschenberg (1925–2008).
Organized by Mia Fineman, The Met’s photography department curator, in collaboration with Beth Saunders, curator and head of special collections and the gallery of the Albin O. Kuhn Library and Gallery at University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), the exhibition will be on view until Sept. 22, spanning multiple galleries.
You can own your piece of the voyage.
The Apollo 11 Lunar Module Timeline Book is estimated to fetch between $7 million and $9 million at Christie’s New York on July 18. The highlight of One Giant Leap: Celebrating Space Exploration 50 Years after Apollo 11, which includes more than 150 lots of space history artifacts, will be on public view from July 11-17 at Christie’s New York galleries.
At Sotheby’s New York on July 19, Omega Speedmaster: To the Moon and Back, will offer a selection of the official watches of NASA since 1965. Meanwhile, Space Exploration on 20 July, also at Sotheby’s New York, will feature extensive material related to the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions, including flown mission artifacts and hardware. Exhibitions for both auctions will open to the public beginning July 15 at Sotheby’s New York galleries.
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