January 2021 No. 8 PICTORIALISM: THE ORIGINS OF THE VISUAL ART GROUP by Andrew Leeming LRPS Science, through advances, discovery and the development of new materials and equipment, has always gone hand-in-hand with creating new possibilities in art; indeed the raison d’être of the RPS commences with the words, “To promote the art and science of photography...” Innovation in one area stimulates progress in another, through a cross-fertilisation of ideas. In present times the art of photography has been changed by electronics, image sensors, software, LCD screens, computers, digital file formats, social media and the internet, all of which have contributed to taking pictures on excellent or miniaturised equipment, thus becoming more affordable and easier to achieve. Communicating the results to others takes a few seconds. In the Netherlands during the late 1300s, an understanding of the nature of oils created new possibilities for blending colour tones and paintings free of brush strokes. In Italy, lenses, mirrors and optical instruments promoted the techniques of painting to astonishing new heights of accomplishment from the early 1500s.
Welcome to our winter newsletter We wish all of you a happy and healthy 2021, in the hope that some kind of normality will soon return. In this issue we take a look at the origins of the Visual Art Group, with Andrew Leeming LRPS tracing the history of Pictorialism. This continues the theme introduced by him in our autumn newsletter where he began to tell us more about the Tyng Collection. We also have My lockdown experience by John Cavana ARPS. Since we have all been affected to some extent by the limitations to travel we would like to hear from you, too, about your lockdown experiences and how your photography has changed. Please send your stories and images to John Cavana at visualartsec@rps.org Wendy Meagher LRPS is able to tell you how we propose to conduct print exhibitions in 2021. From Gill Dishart ARPS we have an invitation to our email and print circles. And for the first time we have the opportunity to list and congratulate members of our group who have recently attained an RPS Distinction.
From the late 1700s, Turner painted with the brilliant yellows, greens and blues created by the discovery of new chemical elements and pigments derived from them. From the 1850s, chemical dyes from coal tars gave the Pre-Raphaelites vibrant colours for their canvases. These dyes also made photography possible. The new “seeing” of photography spurred the Impressionists to paint in the moment, the impression, rather than labour for months in a studio. The works and perspectives of Edgar Degas – an orchestra pit, racehorses, an office in a cotton exchange – are framed exactly as they would be in a viewfinder.
Ideas moved freely between gifted individuals who saw no boundaries between different specialisms.
