NEW YORK, NY.- Grand waterfalls. Sweeping river views. Majestic cities. Gritty streetscapes. New-York Historical Society’s new exhibition is a feast for the eyes. Panoramas: The Big Picture, on view August 23 – December 8, 2019, explores wide-angle, bird’s-eye imagery from the 17th to the 20th century, revealing the influence that panoramas had on everything from mass entertainment to nationalism to imperial expansion. Through more than 20 panoramas, the exhibition presents the history of the all-encompassing medium in New York City, San Francisco, and beyond.

“The outstanding works from our collection displayed in Panoramas: The Big Picture bring us back to a time before IMAX or virtual reality, when immersive artworks transported viewers to grand vistas that transformed our vision of the world,” said Dr. Louise Mirrer, president and CEO of the New-York Historical Society.

Highlights of Panoramas: The Big Picture include John Trumbull’s sweeping double landscapes of Niagara Falls (1808) created as part of his plan for a large-scale, 360-degree panorama. Also on display are sections of Richard Haas’ nearly 200-foot long trompe l’oeil panorama of Manhattan (1982), commissioned by the Philip Morris Company (now known as Altria) for its basement-level corporate dining room, which recreate the view seen from the executive suites on the building’s 26th floor.

Eadweard Muybridge’s 17-foot photographic panorama of San Francisco before its devastating 1906 earthquake (1878) depicts a 360-degree vista from the top of Nob Hill, including details like hanging laundry, long staircases over the city’s famed hills, and the unfinished roads and buildings of an expanding urban center.

Also showcased are related materials like advertisements and pamphlets for panoramic exhibitions, as well as toy moving panoramas (1868) from the Milton Bradley Company that children rotated with cranks to play out scenes of battle, American history, or village life.

Panoramas: The Big Picture is curated by Wendy Ikemoto, PhD, associate curator of American Art at the New-York Historical Society.