Harrison drew on his background as a playwright, poet, and actor for his role in this daguerreotype, posing with his employer, Martin Lawrence, and his son. The group gathers eagerly to listen to the latest news of the California gold rush, which was followed with great excitement in New York throughout the 1840s and 1850s. Harrison took his inspiration for this genre scene from a painting of the same title by the American artist William Sidney Mount (1807–1868).
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
Bare plate recto
Bare plate verso
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:California News
Artist:Gabriel Harrison (American, 1818–1902)
Date:ca. 1850
Medium:Daguerreotype
Dimensions:Plate: 14 × 10.5 cm (5 1/2 × 4 1/8 in.) 6 × 4 13/16 in. (15.3 × 12.2 cm) Case: 2 × 15.3 × 12.3 cm (13/16 in. × 6 in. × 4 13/16 in.)
Classification:Photographic Equipment
Credit Line:Gilman Collection, Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2005
Object Number:2005.100.334
Signature:
Inscription: Signed on the plate, recto: "G. Harrison"; inscribed with the title and mention of the London Crystal Palace Fair of 1851 on plate verso [unconfirmed]
R. Bruce Duncan, Northbrook, IL; [Paul Katz]; Gilman Paper Company Collection, New York, December 6, 1983
Fort Worth, Tex. Amon Carter Museum of American Art. "Photography in Nineteenth Century America," October 26, 1991–January 5, 1992.
Amherst, Mass. Mead Art Museum, Amherst College. "Photography in Nineteenth Century America," February 1, 1992–April 5, 1992.
Oakland Museum of California. "Silver and Gold: Cased Images of the California Gold Rush," January 24, 1998–July 1, 1998.
Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery. "Silver and Gold: Cased Images of the California Gold Rush," October 30, 1998–March 7, 1999.
Crocker Art Gallery. "Silver and Gold: Cased Images of the California Gold Rush," August 13, 1999–October 10, 1999.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Art and the Empire City: New York, 1825–1861," September 19, 2000–January 7, 2001.
National Gallery of Canada. "Acting the Part: A History of the Staged Photograph," June 16, 2006–October 1, 2006.
Vancouver Art Gallery. "Acting the Part: A History of the Staged Photograph," February 3, 2007–May 13, 2007.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photographs. "Grand Illusions: Staged Photography from the Collection," August 10–November 15, 2015.
Apraxine, Pierre. Photographs from the Collection of the Gilman Paper Company. Reeds Springs, Mo.: White Oak Press, 1985. pl. 85.
Sandweiss, Martha, ed. Photography in Nineteenth Century America. Fort Worth: Amon Carter Museum of American Art, 1991. p. 86, pl. 27.
Voorsanger, Catherine Hoover, and John K. Howat, ed. Art and the Empire City: New York, 1825–1861. New Haven: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000.
Pauli, Lori, ed. Acting the Part: Photography as Theatre. 1st ed. New York: National Gallery of Canada, 2006. p. 81.
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's Department of Photographs houses a collection of more than 75,000 works spanning the history of photography from its invention in the 1830s to the present.
