National Gallery of Art - Photographic Archives Core Collections

Image Collections: Photographs

detail of corncob capital, U.S. Capitol Building

detail of Jacob Seisenegger, Portrait of a Military Gentleman, 1538-1541

CORE PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTIONS

These groups, because of their size or scope, make up the foundation of the photographic collections (numbers are approximate).

Alinari
Complete offerings of surveys of Italian art and architecture by the Italian firms Fratelli Alinari, Anderson, Brogi, Mannelli, Chauffourier, and Fiorentini (116,000 photographs) sample image

Art International
Twentieth-century art from the archive of Art International, emphasizing artists such as Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg (23,000 photographs)

Dunlap Society
Major architectural monuments of Washington, DC (3,000 photographs and negatives; 1,500 microform images) sample image

IADPC
The Italian Architectural Drawings Photograph Collection documents drawings of Italian architecture made before 1800 from repositories around the world. Created under the auspices of the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts (CASVA) at the National Gallery (over 45,000 photographs and microfilms) more about IADPC

Courtauld Institute Photographic Survey
Paintings and sculpture from British public and private collections (57,000 photographs to date)

Gernsheim Corpus
Also known as the Corpus Photographicum of Drawings; an ongoing survey of drawings in European and American public collections (122,000 photographs to date)

Gramstorff
Several nineteenth-century photograph and glass-plate negative collections of American and European art and architecture purchased by the Soule (later Gramstorff) Publishing Company (40,000 photographs and negatives) sample image

Hirmer Verlag
A variety of subjects reflecting Hirmer Verlag publications, including baroque churches in Bavaria, Greek temples, and romanesque, medieval and Renaissance sculpture (13,000 photographs) sample image

Samuel H. Kress Collection
A complete set of all Kress Collection paintings and sculptures before deposit in museums throughout the United States (5,000 photographs and negatives) sample image

Bildarchiv Foto Marburg
A systematic survey of European and Syrian art and architecture in public and private collections (15,000 photographs and 1,513,000 microforms)

Archivo Mas
Spanish painting, sculpture, and architecture (55,000 photographs)

Munich Central Collecting Point
Photographic documentation of looted works of art and other objects processed through the Munich Central Collecting Point after World War II (1945-1951) (40,000 photographs) more about the Munich Central Collecting Point

Richter Archive
The collection of George M. Richter (see History), as well as subsequent pre-1970 gifts. Includes European and American art of all periods (138,000 photographs)

RIBA
Royal Institute of British Architects' collection of drawings by British architects, from the Renaissance to the present (230,000 microforms)

Scottish National Portrait Gallery
Paintings and sculptures from Scottish private collections (1,900 photographs)

I Tatti
Harvard University's partial recreation of Bernard Berenson's photographic archive of Italian Renaissance paintings at Villa I Tatti in Florence (16,000 photographs)

Witt and Conway Libraries
Microfiche facsimile of the Witt and Conway Photographic Archives at the Courtauld Institute, London. Includes European painting (Witt) and sculpture, architecture, and illuminated manuscripts (Conway) (1,416,000 microforms)

Zodiaque
Ongoing surveys on romanesque art and architecture, primarily from France, Spain, and Germany, taken by the Benedictine monks at La Pierre Qui Vire monastery in central France (45,000 photographs to date)