TruthBeauty: Pictorialism and the Photograph as Art, 1845-1945

A stunning survey of an international movement that dramatically transformed the art of photography.

The hauntingly beautiful works of the Pictorialist movement are among the most spectacular photographs ever created. Beginning in the late 19th century, Pictorialist artists sought to elevate photography -- until then seen largely as a scientific tool for documentation -- to an art form equal to painting. Adopting a soft-focus approach and utilizing dramatic effects of light, richly coloured tones and bold technical experimentation, they opened up a new world of visual expression in photography. More than a hundred years later, their aesthetic remains highly influential.

TruthBeauty contains 121 stunning works by the form's renowned artists, including Julia Margaret Cameron, Alvin Langdon Coburn, Robert Demachy, Peter Henry Emerson, Gertrude Kasebier, Heinrich Kuhn, Edward Steichen and Alfred Stieglitz. Together, the collected works trace the evolution of Pictorialism over the three decades in which it predominated. This marks the first time that Pictorialist photographs by artists from North America, the United Kingdom, continental Europe, Japan and Australia are collected in a single publication. Scholarly essays, and a selection of historic texts by Pictoralist artists, complete this rich overview of the first truly international art movement.

This book was published in partnership with the Vancouver Art Gallery.