Building the “Museum Without Walls”

This chapter proposes a survey of a century of photographic art reproduction in France through the lens of technological and material innovation. The market for photographs of artworks was booming in France by the 1860s. In 1869, the photographer Jules Joly-Grangedor observed that with so many photographs of art being sold, “the sense of possession and a right to sequester” great works was dwindling, and predicted that “owners of beautiful things” would cease to shun photographers. In 1882, the government made a landmark decision to promote high-quality photographs of art. Photographs of art thus became part of France's premier museum's official mission and visitor experience. Postcards generalized the sentiment that anyone should be able to acquire a reproduction of any artwork.