Collection of Photographs

Department of Collections and Documentation of the Art History Institute

The department holds a collection of visual and written documentation related to art historical research and publication in the Czech Republic. Apart from research, the department places a strong emphasis on collection preservation and also on making the collection accessible to the public.

In addition to materials documenting various projects accomplished by the Art History Institute itself, the department also handles art historical materials produced by many other researchers and institutions. Nowadays, the collection comprises over forty sections, of which the majority are the individual estates of major Czech historians of art. The most important part, in terms of the whole collection, is formed by the estate of Zdeněk Wirth (1878–1961), which includes books, written material, and a large group of photographs, graphics, drawings, and architectural plans. Photographs and negatives from Wirth’s estate became the basis for the recently established Collection of Photographs, as well as for the Resurrected Treasure project.

One of the strongest parts of the Collection of Photographs was created by Zdeněk Wirth himself within the former Historical Monuments Archive, which operated in Czechoslovakia before WWII as a part of the State Institute for Photogrammetry (“Památkový archív Státního fotoměřického ústavu”). Wirth managed to acquire photographs and reproductions for the collection from various sources, both private and institutional, including items from professional photographic studios, bookstores, and amateur photographers from across the country. A significant number of works came from the Viennese Central Commission for Historical Monuments Preservation (“K. k. Zentral-Komission für Denkmalpflege“), and from the local Archaeological Commission (“Archeologická komise”). Another large group of photographs comes from the estate of Josef Cibulka (1886 – 1968) and from the estate of Viktor Kotrba, both of whom were prominent Czech historians of art.

Nowadays, the photographic collection contains several tens of thousands of items and covers a period from the 1840s through the 1960s. There are works which were produced by large Prague companies such as Jan Štenc, Jindřich Eckert, or Rudolf Brunner-Dvořák, as well as by studios based in other Czech regions (Josef Seidl in Český Krumlov, Quido Trapp in Brno). Also, a large number of photographs come from studios which were based in Vienna, such as Andreas Groll, des Granges, or Ludwig Angerer, and also from abroad – this applies especially to large-size photographs of Italian, Spanish, French or German architecture, including photographs by Édouard Baldus, Hermann Krone, or Fratelli Alinari.

Apart from pictures of architecture and topography, including a series of large-size panorama photographs, the collection also contains a large number of portraits of artistic and cultural figures, genre photographs, series of artistic patterns, or systematic documentation of interior design and furniture collections. From a technical point of view, the collection comprises a whole range of photographic processes: salt prints, albumen prints, gelatine silver prints, cyanotypes, platinum prints, gum bichromate prints, carbon prints, ambrotypes, ferrotypes, autochromes, photogravures, photo-paintings, or hand-coloured stereographs. Unfortunately, a large part of the whole collection requires major conservation treatment.

Samples from the collection:

Charles Bridge in Prague, Flood 1872
Charles Bridge in Prague, Flood 1872František Fridrich
1872
Albumen print
Institute of Art History of the ASCR, v.v.i.

Charles Bridge in Prague, Flood 1872
Prague, Příkopy Street (Graben)
Olomouc, Lower Square (Dolní náměstí)
<br />Prague, Šítek Mills (Šítkovské mlýny)
<br />Flood 1890, Prague
<br />Untitled
<br />Ruins of Zvířetice Castle
<br />Konopiště Castle
<br />Debrník Castle
<br />Clam-Gallas Palace in Vienna, Interior
<br />Mannsfeld Palace in Vienna, Interior
<br />Brodek Castle, Interior
<br />Vernacular architecture, Jeseník (Freiwaldau)
<br />Vernacular architecture, Maškov (Matzelbach)
<br />Fidlovačka
<br />Prague Horse Tramway, Prague – Karlín
<br />Advent market, Prague - Old Town Square
<br />From a series Archduke’s visit
<br />Václav Brožík´s (1851-1901) studio
<br />Chestnut Tree on Steep Slope



















































Last Updated on Friday, 21 August 2009 08:54