Francis Wey Analysis

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The article titled, “Francis Wey and the Discourse of Photography as Art in France in the Early 1850’s: ‘Rein n' est beau que le vrai: mais il faut le choisir’, was written by Dr. Margaret Denton who is an Associate Professor of Nineteenth-Century Art, History of Photography. Dr. Denton is a part of the Department of Art & Art History at the University of Richmond school of Arts & Sciences. The title of the article expresses that although there is nothing that is as beautiful as the original concept of art through the form of paintings and sculptures, we must chose to include the unique art of photography. I believe that Dr. Margaret Denton wrote this article in an attempt to explain the passion that drove Francis Wey from discrediting photography as art to becoming its biggest voice in the fight for the establishment of photography as art. The article discusses Francis Wey, who was a French art critic, writer, and photographer who became one of the first to analyze photography as an aesthetic means of art. Wey had a love for paper photography but his suggestion that it could be deemed as real art brought about contempt amongst artist in the 1850’s. It seems that the article was written for students, artist and art critics of current day. This article aids in understanding the dynamic turnabout of the art world in France in the 1850’s and how the conflict changed the ways art is seen today. The language used in the article is heavy and understood best by historians or those in the field of art. Many time during the reading of the article I had to reference my in class handout, textbook, and Google in order to fully understand the concepts and language used. The thesis in the article would be the following, “Histories of photography in France generally characterize the 1840’s as a period dominated by the daguerreotype, during which there was little discussion of photography as art. The 1850’s, on the other hand, are distinguished by the daguerreotype and the rise of paper processes, which coincide with the first serious considerations of photography as an artistic medium.” I conclude this quote as being the thesis …show more content…
Photography did not involve emotion or a personal expression of self as art. Traditionally during the 1850’s in France art was defined by sculptures and paintings that portrayed landscapes, people and romanticized these expressions based on the artists’ emotions and how they chose to portray their art to the world.
It is my opinion that Frances Wey was able to see the potential of art as photography. Wey was able to recognize that photography brings a sense of pleasure and provokes higher level thinking as well as offer similar aesthetic attributes that paintings bring to its admirer.
The idea of photography as art disrupted the status quo of the 1800’s. Gustave Le Gray was the first artists to submit his paper photographs to the Paris Salon and receive a bronze metal. Le Gray’s submission began a course that would change the way the world looked at art forever. Initially the judges who viewed Le Gray’s photograph deemed it as art, however, a second set of judges insisted it was a project of science because of the process that had to occur in order to create the photo. I agree with Frances Wey’s theory and had it not been for what he started we may not be able to enjoy the many versions of art that are current to

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