50th anniversary of Apollo 11 mission to be honored by The Met

“Apollo’s Muse: The Moon in the Age of Photography” will open at the Met Fifth Avenue on July 3 in New York City.

The exhibition will present virtual representations of the moon, dating from the dawn of photography through the present.

Image: Courtesy of NASA via AFP

It will feature more than 170 lunar photographers, alongside a selection of related drawings, prints, paintings, films and video art.

50 years ago, more than half a billion people watched the Apollo 11 space mission that saw Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin walk on the moon. Astronomical instruments and cameras used by Apollo astronauts will also be on show.

“Apollo’s Muse: The Moon in the Age of Photography” will trace the progress of astronomical photography through the ages, particularly during the 130-year period between the invention of the medium and the Apollo 11 mission in 1969.

Highlights of the show include two newly discovered lunar daguerreotypes from the 1840s, which are believed to be the earliest existing photographs of the moon.

An entire photographic atlas of the moon, produced at the Paris Observatory between 1894 and 1908 by astronomers Maurice Loewy and Pierre Puiseux, will also be on view for the first time.

“Apollo’s Muse: The Moon in the Age of Photography” will run at the Met Fifth Avenue from July 3 through Sep. 22.

The exhibition will also be accompanied by an illustrated catalog with essays by curators Mia Fineman and Beth Saunders, as well as an introduction by actor and space enthusiast Tom Hanks. RGA/JB

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