"Charming Disruptions: Modernist Photocollages by 19th Century Victorian Ladies "

An essay completed December 2009

Abstract: Victorian photocollages of the 19th century have frequently been omitted from major surveys of photography’s history. This error has promoted a widespread, inaccurate, attribution of photocollage concepts to early 20th century avant-garde artists.

Drawing from recent scholarship on Victorian Photocollage, as well as the 2009 exhibition “Playing with Pictures: The Art of Victorian Photocollage” at the Art Institute of Chicago Museum, this essay examines how 19th century Victorian ladies created charming disruptions of traditionally accepted notions of space, time, reality, authorship, and the artists’ role in ways that prefigure the conceptual groundings of Modern Art.