Exhibitions
In 1962 the Museum of Modern Art in New York (“MoMA”) presented a ten-year survey of Haas’s color photography. Titled Ernst Haas: Color Photography, the exhibition marked MoMA’s first solo-artist retrospective exhibition dedicated to color work, and took place during Edward Steichen’s final year as director of the museum's Department of Photography. It was realized by Steichen’s successor John Szarkowski, and consisted of approximately 80 prints including Haas’s motion studies and color essays. Of Haas’ revelatory color imagery, Steichen has said, “He is a free spirit, untrammelled by tradition and theory, who has gone out and found beauty unparalleled in photography.” Though an exhibition checklist survives for Haas’ show, no exhibition catalogue was produced at the time of the exhibition.
In 1976 John Szarkowski would shock the world of photography by championing the color work of William Eggleston, whose exhibition has famously and erroneously been hailed as MoMA’s first exhibition of color photographs.
Prior to his solo exhibition at MoMA, Haas had been included in Steichen’s groundbreaking exhibition The Family of Man, which premiered in 1955 and traveled to venues in 38 countries.
Read more about this topic: Ernst Haas