EXHIBITION | MILBERG GALLERY, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY FIRESTONE LIBRARY | JAN - MAR 2020
CO-CURATORS: JENNIFER MEYER AND STEPHEN FERGUSON, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
Showcasing select items from the collection of Leonard L. Milberg, Princeton University Class of 1953, In Pursuit of the Picturesque included nearly 40 British Color Plate books from at the turn of the 19th century. Focused on volumes produced in the United Kingdom or by UK Citizens, the show explored the various expressions of the expanding English empire through lavish, colorful and beautiful lithographs and aquatints. Beginning with a primer on the aesthetic ideal of the “picturesque” and continuing through sections on landscape and gardening design, depictions of the British home front, female artist’s contributions and colonial destinations, the show asks the viewer to consider the perspective, context and omissions that lie beneath these idealized images.
