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ARTstor Research Collections: New & Improved – Guide

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This class is going to give you an overview of the various ARTstor collections that are relevant to the curatorial and research environment. It is a fast-paced highlights tour of content that is meant to wet your appetite so you can then delve further into ARTstor on your own.

When ARTstor first began, it consisted largely of undergraduate teaching collections that were survey and canonical in nature. These collections are still there, but ARTstor has also added, and continues aggressively to add, specific and niche collections that can support museum and graduate research. It is on those collections that this class will focus.

To begin, let’s take a look at the ARTstor Welcome Page at www.artstor.org:

  • Mouse over the top menu tab on the left that says “What is ARTstor?” and click on Collections – Description & Status. Here you can view a list of current ARTstor Collections, with a description of each, the number of images they contain, and their status of completion. Click on each collection name to find out about the collection.

Enter the ARTstor database:

  • To actually enter the ARTstor database, you need to click “Go” in the upper right.
  • You can search ARTstor using keywords at the top left, but in order to get a sense of the content, it is better to start by browsing.

Browsing:

  • ARTstor gives you 3 ways to browse – by Geography, Classification, and Collection. This class will focus on collection browsing, but browsing by geography and classification may also be a useful way to find what you want.
  • Geography: Note that each country you select is then also further divided by classification.
  • Classification: This is ARTstor’s own classification system, which consists of 16 broad rubrics, some of which include object type, for e.g., Drawings & Watercolors, Fashion, Costume & Jewelry, Manuscripts & Manuscript Illuminations, Paintings, Photographs, and Prints. Each classification you select is then also further divided by geography. For e.g., if you want to browse ARTstor’s holdings in American Decorative Arts, you can do so.
  • Collection: You can also browse ARTstor by name of the actual collection, if you know it.

Featured Individual Collections:

This class will focus on a total of 12 individual collections that are worth noting for their research value.

“HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS”:

ARTstor has several collections which can be classed as “Historical Collections”. These are collections of digitized slides or photographs of art that has been destroyed, lost or restored, or collections that provide other primary source information. These collections are not valuable so much for the quality of their images, many of which are black and white, but for the historical information they provide.

This class features four of these “Historical Collections”.

1) A.C. COOPER AND RELATED ARCHIVES (FRICK ART REFERENCE LIBRARY):

The Frick Art Reference Library houses an extensive photographic research archive that contains over 1 million photographs of works of art. Within this Photoarchive, there are also 60,000 large-format negatives that are the result of photo-expeditions sponsored by Ms. Frick in the United States and abroad from 1920-1967. Two of these negative collections have been digitized and are currently available in ARTstor: the A.C. Cooper Archive and the Sansoni Archive.

The A.C. Cooper Archive consists of historical photographs produced by the London Photographic firm of A.C. Cooper, of works of art sold at Sotheby’s and Christie’s in London from 1920-1937. It’s important to note that auctions catalogues from this time period are largely unillustrated, and the images in this collection thus serve as accompanying illustrations. Moreover, many of the images are also of rarely-published art works passing through private collections. The archive has a particular focus on paintings, but also including prints and drawings.

Examples:

  • If we look at the object data for Gentileschi’s St. Cecilia with an Angel, we observe that it was sold on June 25, 1924 at Sotheby’s, London, and that it was part of the collection of Mrs. Randolph Berens and Other Collections. We also see that the painting is lot 11 which “… evidently sold for a very low price”. (N.B. You often do get the sale price included in the data for images in this collection). We are also told that “… this picture is omitted from the list of prices and purchases given for this sale”. Thus, we are getting information here that likely does not even appear in the sale catalog.
  • The object data for Raphael’s The Virgin and Child with Infant St. John indicates who the picture was sold to and for what price – to Colnaghi, for £388-10.
  • The object data for Leonardo’s Studies of Four Bear Paws does not include sale information, but it does list some exhibition and provenance details, mainly that it was at one time in the collection of Sir Thomas Lawrence, and that it was exhibited at London’s Burlington Fine Arts Club in 1936-37.
  • The object data for Raphael’s Group of Four Figures: Studies for the “Disputa” displays thorough provenance information right down to the object being acquired in 1984 by the Getty Museum.

Collection Search Terms: frick cooper

2) THE SANSONI ARCHIVE (FRICK ART REFERENCE LIBRARY):

This collection consists of glass plate negatives produced by the photographer Mario Sansoni who, from 1925-1951, photographed works in situ in remote towns throughout Italy. This collection is important because, in some cases, the Sansoni negatives are the only record of works of art that have since become unavailable to the public, severely damaged, or permanently lost. The archive documents Medieval and Renaissance paintings, fresco cycles, and other forms of architectural decoration throughout Italy.

Examples:

  • Look at the data for St. Gereon, a painting by the Master of the Uttenheim Altarpiece (Tyrolese, 15th C.). The description field tells us that the object was in the Bruneck (Brunico) Museum, in Brunico, Italy until it was destroyed or lost during World War II.
  • Sansoni took photos of works in situ, and a perfect example of that is the following fresco by a follower of Francesco Traini. It’s a crucifixion scene from the Passion of Christ which is now in the Museo delle Sinopie del Camposanto Monumentale, in Camposanto, Pisa, Italy. In this photo, however, you can see the fresco in its original setting in Camposanto, Pisa, Italy. (It’s on the East wall). This photo actually shows the condition of the fresco damaged by fire during World War II. The description also tells us the fresco was later detached in 1955 by Leonetto Tintori and transferred to canvas in 1960 by Tintori and Tripodi Graziadei.
  • The Sansoni Archive also has provenance and exhibition information in some cases. For e.g., the data for this Crucifixion by Spinelli, which is a detached fresco now in the Palazzo Comunale in Arezzo, Italy, indicates that it was loaned to The Metropolitan Museum of Art for an exhibition in 1968 called The Great Age of Fresco: Giotto to Pontormo.
  • Another good example of a work photographed in situ is the Virgin of the Annunciation by Stefano di Giovanni Sassetta which is now in the Yale University Art Gallery, but was originally in the pinnacle of an altarpiece for a chapel in the Siena Cathedral. The complete provenance of this object’s journey from the cathedral to the Yale Art Gallery is provided.

Collection Search Terms: frick sansoni

3) FOTO REALI ARCHIVE (NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, DEPARTMENT OF IMAGE COLLECTIONS):

The Foto Reali Archive is a collection, housed at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., of historical photographs of Italian painting, sculpture, and drawing. Foto Reali was a Florentine firm that photographed works in private art collections and dealer inventories throughout Italy between 1910-1940. Since then, many of these works have entered major museum collections around the world. The Foto Reali collection is important because it documents works of art prior to cleaning and restoration efforts, and it shows them in their original frames or settings. For e.g., it includes about 700 paintings that, after restoration, found their way into the Samuel H. Kress Collection, which is also available in ARTstor. Thus you can see many of these works of art – pre and post-restoration – in ARTstor. The archive is also an important resource for the history of art collecting. Private collections included are those assembled by Harold Acton, Vittorio Cini, Alessandro Contini-Bonacossi, Luigi Grassi, and Eugenio Ventura.

Examples:

  • The object data for Tintoretto’s Portrait of a Young Man in Black indicates that this is a pre-restoration view of the painting. Formerly in the Contini Bonacossi collection, the painting was acquired by Kress in 1936 and cleaned in 1961. We can find this same object in the ARTstor Kress Collection by searching for kressfoundation Tintoretto. We can then compare the pre- and post-restoration images.
  • The object data for Lorenzo di Credi’s Madonna and Child indicates a pre-restoration view of a panel acquired by Kress in 1938 and cleaned in 1961. The post-restoration view of this object can be found by searching the Kress Collection for kressfoundation “Lorenzo di Credi”.
  • In some cases, the Foto Reali Archive also indicates the identity of an object’s restorer. This is the case for Portrait of a Female Donor by Petrus Christus, which was restored by Pinchetto around 1938. (This image is presently owned by the National Gallery of Art so they have included updated exhibition and other information for the object. This image is currently not found in ARTstor’s Kress Collection, which only contains selections.)
  • There is also some sculpture in the Foto Reali Archive. For e.g., this Madonna and Child by the Master of the Marble Madonnas is seen pre-restoration and in its original frame. We can then view a photo from the Kress Collection of this same object in its present condition in the Columbia Museum of Art in South Carolina.
  • The Foto Reali Archive also includes views of objects in their original contexts. For e.g., Lucca Della Robbia’s Bust of a Young Man is seen pictured on a cabinet flanked by two carved candlesticks. This object was formerly in a private collection and its location unknown.

Collection Search Terms: “foto reali”

4) GIZA ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPEDITION ARCHIVE (MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON):

This collection contains images documenting the archeological excavation that was undertaken by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and Harvard University from 1902-1947 at the Giza Necropolis site, which dates from circa 2500 B.C.. This expedition uncovered thousands of objects that are now in the Boston MFA collection. In this collection, you will find excavation photographs, visual documentation of the Giza pyramids, interiors of excavated monuments, objects in their original find spots, and individual artifacts.

Examples:

Collection Search Terms: giza mfa

Other exclusively Egyptian Art Collections in ARTstor:

Other “Historical Collections” in ARTstor:

MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART:

ARTstor has been making concerted efforts to provide more modern and contemporary art in its collection. There are difficulties in this area because of copyright, but ARTstor continues to make deals with various artists’ rights associations. To that end, ARTstor has been actively collaborating with a wide range of living artists, and estates of modern artists, to provide their collections online. In addition to the collections of individual artists, ARTstor has also added images from various museum and other collections.

This class features two of ARTstor’s Modern and Contemporary Art collections.

5) CONTEMPORARY ART (LARRY QUALLS ARCHIVE):

Larry Qualls is a photographer who has been documenting contemporary art exhibitions at galleries and other exhibition spaces throughout New York City. The Qualls Archive is an encyclopedic overview of New York City contemporary art exhibitions in the last quarter of the 20th century and the early years of the 21st. It is a great resource for researching prominent emerging artists.

Examples:

  • Within this collection, browse to Paintings – China to see what contemporary Chinese art has been exhibited in NYC galleries. Select any object and view the object data to see in what gallery the object was exhibited and when.
  • Within this collection, browse to Photography – Japan and view the data of any object to see where and when it was exhibited.

Collection Search Terms: qualls

6) JOSEF AND ANNI ALBERS:

This collection contains paintings, drawings, prints and studies by Josef and Anni Albers, including Josef Alber’s famous “Homage to the Square” series. It also includes personal photographs and photo collages relating to both artists.

Examples:

  • Search for “Homage to the Square” and albersfoundation.

Collection Search Terms: albersfoundation

Other Modern and Contemporary Art Collections in ARTstor:

7) GHIBERTI’S GATES OF PARADISE:

This collection consists of direct photography of the newly restored and cleaned Gates of Paradise. The photographs are taken from a variety of angles and lighting conditions that allow one to study the gates as 3-dimensional objects. In addition to detailed photographs of Ghiberti’s relief sculptures, photographs of the “competition panels” produced in 1401-1402 by Lorenzo Ghiberti and his rival, Filippo Brunelleschi, for an earlier commission, are also included.

Examples:

Collection Search Terms: ghiberti quattrone

ASIAN ART:

ARTstor has several Asian Art collections which are listed further down in this guide. This class will feature The Mellon International Dunhuang Archive.

8) THE MELLON INTERNATIONAL DUNHUANG ARCHIVE:

This collection is a “digital reconstruction” of the mural paintings and sculptures in the Buddhist cave shrines in Dunhuang, China, a town near one of the junction of the routes of the famous Silk Road. The archive also contains related art and texts associated with the caves. The collection includes high-quality, direct photography of the cave ensembles.

In addition, The Mellon International Dunhuang Archive is one of two ARTstor collections that contain Quick Time Virtual Reality (QTVR) files. (The other collection is Panoramas of World Architecture from Columbia University). QTVR technology digitally “stitches” images together to produce 2- and 3-dimensional visual representations of surfaces and spaces.

Examples:

Collection Search Terms: mellon dunhuang or mida

Other Asian Art Collections in ARTstor:

DRAWINGS AND PRINTS:

ARTstor has a few collections of drawings and prints which are listed further down in this guide. This class features two of them.

9) GERNSHEIM PHOTOGRAPHIC CORPUS OF DRAWINGS:

This is a collection of black and white photographs of European Old Master drawings from the 15th to the early 20th century located in archives, libraries and museums around the world. ARTstor is digitizing the corpus in phases because it is engaging the participation of museums whose drawings collections are represented in the Corpus, like The British Museum, which will be sharing the cataloging data for its drawings with ARTstor.

Examples:

Collection Search Terms: gernsheim corpus

10) THE ILLUSTRATED BARTSCH:

This is a collection of Old Master European prints, engravings, etchings, and woodcuts from the 15th to the early 19th century, that represents the work of many printmakers. ARTstor’s Illustrated Bartsch is based on Adam von Bartsch’s (1757-1821) authoritative catalog of Old Master prints which, however, is unillustrated. ARTstor has added all of the images (which they’ve scanned from photos of the original prints), as well as the cataloging information found in the print work.

Examples:

Collection Search Terms: bartsch

Other Drawings and Prints Collections in ARTstor:

ISLAMIC ART:

ARTstor has several Islamic Art collections which are listed further down in this guide. This class will feature the Islamic Art and Architecture Collection from Sheila Blair, Jonathan Bloom, and Walter Denny.

11) ISLAMIC ART AND ARCHITECTURE COLLECTION (SHEILA BLAIR, JONATHAN BLOOM, WALTER DENNY):

This is a collection of digital images of the art and architecture of Islam from the personal archives of the scholars Sheila Blair, Jonathan Bloom and Walter Denny. It covers the following: the arts of Iran and Central Asia, art and architecture produced under the Mongols, calligraphy and books, history of paper, art in the medieval Mediterranean world, the artistic traditions of the Ottoman Turks, and Islamic carpets and textiles.

Examples:

  • Within this collection, browse to Decorative Arts – Iran. Then search for Tile within that category.

Collection Search Terms: “sheila blair” or “jonathan bloom” or “walter denny”

Other Islamic Art Collections in ARTstor:

CLASSICAL ART:

ARTstor has a few Classical Art collections which are listed further down in this guide. This class will feature the Classical Sculptures Collection from the Berlin State Museums.

12) CLASSICAL SCULPTURES (BERLIN STATE MUSEUMS):

This collection is currently in progress – it’s partially complete. It contains high quality digital images of sculptures from the Berlin State Museums, focusing on the collection of Greek, Hellenistic and Roman sculptures of the Pergamon Museum and the Altes Museum. What’s important about this, and other Museum collections in ARTstor, is that their cataloging data is authoritative.

Examples:

  • View the data for Euripides, front view. The Description provides a condition report and identifies the object’s modern restorations. You also get bibliographical references in the Related Item field.

Collection Search Terms: smb berlin

Other Classical Art Collections in ARTstor:

Bonus Collection:

13) ITALIAN AND OTHER EUROPEAN ART (SCALA ARCHIVES):
This collections contains high-quality digital images of Italian art and architecture. It mainly includes the canonic works of Italian art and architecture, but it is still worth mentioning in this class because the quality of these images is extremely high.

Examples:

Collection Search Terms: “scala archives”

Posted 03/03/2009
Deborah Vincelli