Exhibition at the museum

Georges N. Barnard (1819-1902) : Photographs of the US Civil War

From February 26th to May 26th, 1991 -
Musée d'Orsay
Esplanade Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
75007 Paris
Map & itinerary
Georges N. Barnard-Battle Ground in Resacca, number 3
George N. Barnard
Battle Ground in Resacca, number 3, en 1866
Musée d'Orsay
© Musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt
See the notice of the artwork

The American Civil War (1861-1865) was the occasion of a remarkable development of American photography. Many photographers came to the fore, organising what were really reports, in the modern sense of the word, thanks to the technique of collodion applied on glass, which had recently been introduced in the United States and which allowed for snap shots and the diffusion of prints.
In 1863, Barnard worked as the official photographer for the Mississippi army under the leadership of General Sherman. With the photographs taken in 1864 and 1865 during the campaign which left Tennessee for the Carolinas through Georgia, Barnard published a 61-picture album he printed himself on albumin paper. One must remember that at that time there was no simple and cheap photomechanical reproduction process available and that, for example, the prints could only appear in newspaper in the form of woodprint copies.
The destruction of the Southern states is revealed in this album, through majestic composition and a remarkable depth of field of which the aesthetical qualities did not pass unnoticed by the critics of the time. This publication constitutes a silent but violent requisitory against the horror of war.

The exhibition is now over.

See the whole program