Photoarchive

Black and white photograph of a monumental wall tomb
Looking Closely

Scholars celebrate photo archives for providing access to little-known works of art housed in private collections or in circulation on the art market. A feature of photo archives such as the Frick’s that is less often appreciated, however, is how comprehensively they document famous works of art on public view.

Sketch of deer antlers.
Mind the Antlers

The story of the "overzealous" restoration of a family portrait as related by the painting's current owner illustrates how crucial this type of personal information is to the documentation of the Photoarchive.

An advertisement for a painting of a landscape featuring a settlement of Native Americans.
Art and Advertising
Image depicting the Virgin Mary and Christ Child.
The Madonna of Einsiedeln
Painting
Know Your Meme
A color drawing of a vase filled with colorful tulips with a small bird's nest
Selections from the William H. Schab Gift
Three-quarter-length portrait of a man against a landscape, pointing to three pyramids.
A Cosgrave as a Copley
Painted portrait of an old man in red robes standing at a desk with large open
Visualizing the Spanish Artists Dictionary

Photoarchive intern Alexandra Provo and her collaborator Diana Sapanaro discuss their projects to use visualization technologies and Python scripts to make one of the Library's research tools, Spanish Artists from the Fourth to the Twentieth Century: A Critical Dictionary, accessible to the public in new ways.

Drawing of a massive townhouse standing on the corner of a busy intersection in mid-century Manhatta
Intimate Sketches of New York

One of the most popular series completed by the American illustrator Vernon Howe Bailey was his "Intimate Sketches of New York," which records the city during a period of dramatic growth — and change.

Half-length portrait of a woman wearing an embroidered dress,standing next to a bouquet of flowers.
The Lost Bride

Lost or destroyed paintings are perhaps the most painful reminder of the importance of photoarchives and similar repositories of images and accompanying metadata. An unfortunate example is this portrait of a young bride.