Ode to Nature,” is an exhibition of historic early American hand-painted landscape photography, at the Gateway to Nature Center on the plaza at El Pueblo de Los Angeles. It is on view to the public every Saturday and Sunday in March from 10AM-3PM.
The more than 70 unique pieces, which span from the late 1890s through the late 1920s – their popularity roughly paralleling the Craftsman Movement era – are from the collection of Los Angeles native Fredric Havens. He became fascinated with the medium in the 1970s, and has since accumulated almost 350 prime examples of this historic and largely unexplored genre, one steeped in a romantic and expressionist vision of the natural beauty of the United States. It is the first time he has exhibited the collection, one of the largest of its kind in the world.
The popularity of hand-colorized photographs grew between the crash of the late 1800s and the dark roots of World War I as the public hungered for this romantic vision of the natural world. These intrepid adventurer photographers often loaded equipment on donkeys, among other inventive modes of transport, to move cameras to remote and spectacular locales. They captured vistas in black and white, later adding tinting and oils to satisfy the public’s demand for color images.
This once immensely popular art form is not only an important branch of early photography, it also helped fuel the historic National Park Conservation Legislation of the early 1900s. And, by capturing our natural heritage, the medium played an integral role in the birth of the environmental movement, and produced important cultural works relevant to this day. By adding their own artistic stamp to America’s natural treasures, these photo pioneers brought a lyrical and adventurous spirt to the young art of photography.
Also on view in the gallery are the hanging textile sculptures “Breathing Trees” by Kim Abeles
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130 Paseo De La Plaza, Los Angeles CA 90012
