
MoMA makes most exhibition catalogs since 1929 available on the internet - dang
https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/history
======
cocktailpeanuts
Is this also available from their API[1]? Or do they have any plan on
providing it as API?

1\. [https://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2015/05/13/open-
sour...](https://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2015/05/13/open-sourcing-
momas-digital-vault)

~~~
VonGuard
Not really an API, but they do have a GutHub account, and they make their
collection listings available as a CSV last time I checked:

[https://github.com/MuseumofModernArt/](https://github.com/MuseumofModernArt/)

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fitzwatermellow
Personal fave:

The Responsive Eye (1965). Exploration into "retinal" art. Amazing how it
presaged cognitive and vision sciences current obsessions with optical
illusions.

[https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/2914](https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/2914)

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elorant
Considering that exhibition catalogs are a commodity in the art world this is
huge.

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tomw1808
Do I see that right that the first color picture is from 1969 on that whole
list of exhibitions [1]?

Even tough the color photography is available to anybody since the early 1900s
[2]? Is there a reason for that? Is it a choice of art?

[1]
[https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/1918?locale=en](https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/1918?locale=en)

[2]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_photography_techno...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_photography_technology)

~~~
danso
I didn't live during that period of time, but I wouldn't be surprised if the
field had some recalcitrance for cultural reasons -- think of all the classic
photography that is in black and white. B/W may have started as a technical
limitation but it's something that could have become inextricably associated
with "classic photography". On NPR today, they were interviewing the latest
Sulzberger to take a leadership role at the New York Times (the Sulzbergers
own the paper), and when asked about how the NYT will adapt to the technical
changes, he talked about how even in his lifetime (he's only 35ish), the NYT
heavily debated having color photos on its front page because it was unseemly
(the first color front page photo was 1997 for the Gray Lady) [1]

From an artistic perspective, B/W photography absolutely has advantages from a
dramatic perspective. Think of how we describe clear-cut situations as being
black-and-white. In certain situations, the actual color in a scene can be
extremely distracting and cut away from the photo's intended center.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Times#Style](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Times#Style)

~~~
douche
Some of the early color photography is pretty stunning. I was watching a
documentary on color photographs from WW1 using the Autochrome Lumière process
the other day, and it was just incredible - it's hard to think of that era
outside the black-and-whites and sepias that we usually see.

Some examples from a Time piece[1]

[1] [http://time.com/3803957/rare-color-photographs-from-the-
tren...](http://time.com/3803957/rare-color-photographs-from-the-trenches-of-
world-war-i/)

