Mark Jacobs (1951-2022) was a world-renowned collector and expert on color photography, amassing one of the most comprehensive private collections of early photographic processes. His collection spans nearly one hundred years of color innovation, largely consisting of images on glass that date from 1890 to 1930 like the Autochrome – a process patented by August and Louis Lumière in 1903 and first marketed in 1907.
A major proponent of the Autochrome described as a “visual madeleine” for its luminous magic and long-since-passed era a century ago, Jacobs strived to revive interest in this process through his publications, public lectures, and consultations. He organized the first exhibition in decades dedicated to this format at the California Museum of Photography. He consulted with United States institutions like the Amon Carter Museum, Art Institute of Chicago, Colorado Historical Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and National Geographic Magazine; and assisted many across Europe, namely the Šechtl & Voseček Museum of Photography (Tábor, Czech Republic) which hosted the exhibition “100 Years: Celebrations of the Lumière Autochrome” and the U.S. Embassy in Prague for the symposium and exhibition, “When the World Turned to Color.”
This exhibition of The Mark Jacobs Collection (TMJC) primarily focuses on the Autochrome. It displays a range of commercial and amateur photographers from Europe and the United States – well known creators like the Lumière Brothers, Alfred Stieglitz, Olive Edis and Arnold Genthe – as well as lesser known image-makers like Fred Payne Clatworthy, who was established in the American West and commissioned by National Geographic Magazine between 1923 and 1930. Rare examples of early color process which laid the foundation for modern photography like Ives Kromogram, Dufaycolor, Dioptichrome-B and Agfacolor are also on view. Most descriptions of wall text directly reflect Jacobs’ own research.
This exhibition of TMJC thanks the many efforts of the following: Heather Sonntag (curator, speaker); Jan Hubička of Šechtl & Voseček Museum of Photography, Andy Kraushaar, and Victor Minikhan (digital file preparators); Jake Hawley and Picture Salon (printer); Steve Milanowski (speaker); and the Promega Spring Art Showcase team. Finally, this exhibition would not have been possible without permission from Mark Jacobs’ daughter, Hannah.
