16th Photography Cabinet: Photographing the Work of Art

The Photography Cabinet rotates its display every three months because the prints are light-sensitive. This rotation looks at how, from the 19th century onward, photography reproduced paintings, sculptures, and prints - and how it democratized access to art.

National Museum on the exhibition:

Reproducing works of art has been an important field of photography since the very beginning of the medium’s history. None of the graphic techniques used in the 19th century could deliver copies as faithful as photography. This unprecedented fidelity of the photographic image to the original meant the new technique was quickly accepted as a tool for recording and duplicating paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, and works of artistic craft. The 19th-century art market and the photographic reproduction “industry” influenced one another, to the benefit of both. The invention revolutionized art publishing and, as a consequence, the promotion and distribution of art. As a mass medium, photography democratized access to art and also became an important research tool for professionals - collectors, scholars, and critics. In turn, the pursuit of ever more faithful reproductions spurred experimenters and drove the technical development of photography.

The exhibition presents the most important aspects of photographic art reproduction as one of the key genres in the history of photography, along with its varied functions, roles, and significance in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

What to expect

The exhibition runs from 10 June to 10 September 2026 in the Photography Cabinet (Gallery of 19th-Century Art, Main Building). It’s a small, intimate presentation - the subject is the function of photography as a tool for reproducing works of art in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries, not a single photographer or theme. The Photography Cabinet’s display rotates every three months because the prints are light-sensitive.

Tickets and opening hours are on the National Museum’s website.

Museum profile: National Museum in Warsaw.