The Oneida Community Mansion House (OCMH) invites the public to attend the opening of “Pictorialist Photographs of Harold Noyes, 1890s” on Sat., July 25 at 4 p.m.
The exhibit curated by OCMH curator of collections and interpretation, Anthony Wonderley, features more than 25 black-and-white creative, humorous, and technically perfect works by Noyes.  The majority are in strikingly enlarged format and many on view for the first time in a century.  This show, made possible by a grant from the Gorman Foundation, inaugurates a new exhibit space in which the extensive photographic holdings of the OCMH can be shared with the public.
 Noyes was a practitioner of Pictorialism (ca 1890-1910), an international vanguard movement devoted to establishing photography as a high art on a par with painting.  While many Pictorialists relied on blurry tones for artistic effect, Noyes believed the essence of artistry lay in careful composition of the image.  Working out of a studio in the Mansion House during the 1890s, he created a series of staged photo works showing local youngsters and scenes of rural life.  These photographs won awards in American and Canadian photography contests.
Noyes (1862-1918) studied art and design in Germany in the late 1880s.  In later years, he worked for the Oneida Community, Ltd. in the die-sinker (Niagara Falls) and design (Sherrill) departments.  He and his wife, Emma, died in Oneida during the worldwide epidemic of Spanish Influenza.
The Oneida Community Mansion House was the home of the 19th century utopian Oneida Community (1848-1880).  Today, the 93,000 square living museum houses residential apartments, overnight lodging, Zabroso Restaurant, and banquet and meeting space.  The Oneida Community Mansion House is located at 170 Kenwood Ave., Oneida, NY.  For information call 315-363-0745 or visit www.oneidacommunity.org.

 


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