Metropolitan Museum Opened Chasing Clouds Exhibition
The exhibit explores how artists and early photographers captured fleeting skies over a century of artistic work.
Updated on Sept. 27, 2026 in Fine Art
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art has launched a new exhibition titled Chasing Clouds, featuring works from the Thaw Collection. The display traces artistic representations of clouds from the early 19th century through the early 20th century.
Why it matters
The exhibition highlights the evolving tension between poetic interpretation and scientific accuracy in nature studies. It documents how creators adapted techniques to record the fleeting atmospheric effects of the natural world.
The collection includes more than 200 cloud studies created by Alfred Stieglitz starting in the 1920s. These works complement earlier plein air paintings and drawings produced after the 1839 introduction of photography.
The players
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Located in New York City, this institution is one of the world's largest and most significant art museums.
Alfred Stieglitz
He was an influential American photographer and modern art promoter who played a key role in the development of photography as an art form.
The details
The exhibition displays paintings, drawings, and photographs by notable figures including John Constable, Eugéne Delacroix, Gustave Le Gray, John Singer Sargent, and Alfred Stieglitz. To overcome early technical limitations like variable color sensitivity, photographers often painted clouds into their images or combined separate negatives to simulate atmospheric depth.
Timeline
Photography was introduced in 1839.
Alfred Stieglitz began his cloud studies in the 1920s.
The exhibition opened on September 27, 2026.
The exhibition will close on February 28, 2027.
Industry Dynamics
This exhibition arrives as the museum continues its long-term strategic evolution, including plans to expand and reimagine spaces for the Tang Wing for Modern and Contemporary Art. It reflects a broader institutional focus on integrating historic collections with modern artistic inquiry.
Visitors can view these historic works at the museum in New York City through late February 2027. The exhibition provides a unique opportunity to examine the evolution of landscape art and photographic technology under one roof.
The takeaway
The show serves as a reminder of how technology often forces artists to innovate to capture the reality they observe. Visitors are encouraged to observe the contrast between early 19th-century painting techniques and the mechanical innovations introduced by 20th-century photography.
Further reading
Explore more exhibits and artistic developments across the city in our Fine Art section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Artdaily.
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