Photography’s First Century: Masterworks from the Bibliothèque nationale de France – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Relive the history behind the first photographs ever taken at the Kimbel Art Museum’s newest exhibition. Photography’s First Century: Masterworks from the Bibliothèque nationale de France is a special exhibition that includes more than 150 images of works from different photographers, each highlighting their contribution during the first 100 years of the medium. See the exhibition now through January 17, 2027.

The images in the exhibition detail 100 years in history, from the 1840s during the rise of the daguerreotype and the calotype photographic processes to the late 1930s in the period between World Wars. Photographers include Félix Tournachon, who photographed known French figures like Parisian artists Honoré Daumier, Gustave Doré, and Antoine-Augustin Préault; writers Alexandre Dumas and Henri Murger; and Princess Cantacuzene and actress Marie Laurent, Gustave le Gray, who photographed landscapes in a bid to rival paintings, and Louis-Émile Durandelle, who documented modern infrastructure like the construction of the Paris Opéra.

At the turn of the century, we see more photographs from people in different crafts, such as painters like Pablo Picasso, draftsmen, filmmakers, and writers, take the camera and document their friends, artworks, and much more.

This exhibition is organized by the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Kimbell Art Museum in collaboration with Manifesto Expo.

Exhibition tickets are $18 for adults, $16 for seniors and students, $14 for children ages 6–11, and free for children under age 6. Audio guides are available for $4. Admission is half-price all day on Tuesdays and after 5:00 p.m. on Fridays.  Museum members receive unlimited, free access to all special exhibitions and free audio guides. Admission to the museum’s permanent collection is always free for everyone.

The Kimbell Art Museum is open Tuesdays through Thursdays and Saturdays, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.; Fridays, noon – 8:00 p.m.; and Sundays, noon – 5:00 p.m. The Kimbell is closed on Mondays.

Photography’s First Century: Masterworks from the Bibliothèque nationale de France
Kimbell Art Museum
Now – January 17, 2027
3333 Camp Bowie Blvd
Fort Worth
Learn more about Photography’s First Century HERE.

About the Kimbell Art Museum
The Kimbell Art Museum, owned and operated by the Kimbell Art Foundation, is internationally renowned for both its collections and its architecture. The Kimbell’s collections range in period from antiquity to the twentieth century and include European paintings and sculptures by artists such as Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Artemisia Gentileschi, Bernini, Velázquez, Gainsborough, Monet, Cézanne, Picasso, and Matisse; important collections of Egyptian and classical antiquities; and the art of Asia, Africa, and the Ancient Americas.

The museum’s 1972 building, designed by the American architect Louis I. Kahn, is widely regarded as one of the outstanding architectural achievements of the modern era. A second building, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, opened in 2013 and now provides space for special exhibitions, dedicated classrooms, and a 289-seat auditorium with excellent acoustics for music. Learn more here.