Connecting Seas: A Visual History of Discoveries and Encounters. Getty Research Institute, Dec. 7, 2013 - Apr. 13, 2014

Connecting Seas

A Visual History of Discoveries and Encounters

December 7, 2013–April 13, 2014
Getty Research Institute Galleries I and II

Connecting Seas draws on the Getty Research Institute's extensive special collections to reveal how adventures on other continents and discoveries of different cultures were perceived, represented, and transmitted in the past, when ocean travel was the primary means by which people and knowledge circulated.

Featuring rare books and maps, photographs and panoramic vues d'optique, prints, and even Napoleon's monumental folios on Egypt, the exhibition traces the fascinating course of scholarly investigation and comprehension of cultures in Africa, Asia, and the Americas.

Intriguing works from around the world, dating from the 16th to the 21st century, chart diverse narratives of discovery, exploration, commerce, and colonization, and illuminate the multiple levels of encounter at the roots of today's globalization.

Connecting Seas will be the first exhibition in the Research Institute's newly expanded galleries.

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Look Inside Books from the Exhibition

These fully digitized books are among 62 books and journals featured in the exhibition. Flip through the pages, zoom in on illustrations, or read the book from cover to cover.

  • Giovanni Francesco GemelliCareri, Giro del mondo, vol. 6 (Naples, 1699-1700)
    Giovanni Francesco Gemelli Careri, Giro del mondo, vol. 6 (Naples, 1699–1700)
  • Frederick Catherwood, Views of Ancient Monuments in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan (London, 1844)
    Frederick Catherwood, Views of Ancient Monuments in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan (London, 1844)
  • 'The Congo Free Graveyard,' special issue of L'assiette au beurre, no. 376 (13 June 1908)
    "The Congo Free Graveyard," special issue of L'assiette au beurre, no. 376 (13 June 1908)

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