Collections : [University of Michigan History of Art Visual Resources Collection]

The Roberta Keniston Postcard Collection contains six boxes of postcards and other visual ephemera from the 20th century. The collection focuses mostly in European architecture and painting. The majority of the postcards are blank, but some do include correspondence.

The Roberta Keniston Postcard Collection contains six boxes of postcards and other visual ephemera from the 20th century. The boxes are first organized by donor, and then very broadly divided by the type of architecture or artwork depicted on the postcards. These subdivisions are arranged by geographic region, media, and/or subject of the work shown on the postcard.

The majority of items in this collection are postcards dating from 1900-1918, which was during the “golden age” of postcard collecting, lasting from about 1895 to 1915. Other items, including photographs, souvenir photo books, greeting cards, and exhibition announcements in this collection were published throughout the 20th century. Correspondence to and from History of Art faculty and staff appear on some of the postcards.

The collection contains 11,469 black & white and color slides intended for classroom and/or coursework. Nearly all the slides are attributed with the artwork’s title, artist’s name, and artwork’s date. Occasionally, the institutional site of the artwork (i.e. museum, gallery) is stated on the slide. Approximately eighty percent of the slides are filed under individual artist names; the balance is filed under topics and themes in the History of Art.

The collection offers students, researchers, and educators the opportunity to study and/or teach a survey of 20th century Modern and Contemporary art through various media such as painting, sculpture, illustrations, prints, photography, architecture, and site-specific art. In general it is categorized by the artists name, without distinction within his/her/their body of work or notation of the art movements in which the artwork belonged. The strengths of the collection are in the quality of the slide images and the breadth of artists who are represented, totaling over one thousand. A substantial portion of the collection is devoted to the category of painting, followed by sculpture. The majority of the slide images were taken of art in situ and/or from publications. Nearly all the slide objects are in very good condition. The collection is in the process of being digitized.

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The Arthur Upham Pope collection is composed of approximately 50 rolls of black-and-white negatives created during Pope's research in Iran between 1925 and 1928. The photographs focus primarily on Persian architecture and monuments, but also include Persian ceramics, textiles, and illustrated manuscripts.

The Arthur Upham Pope collection is composed of approximately 50 rolls of black-and-white negatives. The negatives are the product of Pope's research and time spent in Iran between 1925 and 1928. The photographs focus primarily on Persian architecture and monuments, but also include Persian ceramics, textiles, and illustrate manuscripts. The collection highlights important cities with Persian historical importance, including Isfahan, Mashhad, Shiraz, and Tabriz. (For a complete list see the subjects below.)

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The Kozo Sasaki collection is comprised of approximately 3,185 images of Asian artwork. The images are a compilation of slides and black & white photographs taken by Dr. Kozo Sasaki. The artwork ranges from the Momoyama period (1573-1603) to the Taisho period (1912-1926).

The Kozo Sasaki collection contains 3,033 slides and 152 black & white photographs taken by Dr. Kozo Sasaki himself. The slides and photographs depict Asian artwork, primarily Japanese, ranging from the late 16th century to the early 20th century and cover the Momoyama (1573-1603) to Taisho periods (1912-1926). The majority of the images are Edo period paintings and hanging scrolls. Many of the slides were taken of art in situ. Also included in the collection are images of sculptures, ceramics, mandalas, woodblock prints, sketches, illustrations, decorative arts, and photographs of temples. A set of twelve Japanese handscrolls are captured in a series of 152 black & white photographs.

The Marianna Shreve Simpson Islamic Manuscripts Collection is comprised of Dr. Simpson's notes on Islamic manuscripts from around the world. The collection contains approximately 5,455 digitized pages of her notes pertaining to about 610 Islamic manuscripts from around the world. This manuscript collection spans the history of the Islamic book between 1300 and 1600 CE.

The Marianna Shreve Simpson Islamic Manuscript Collection is comprised of approximately 5,455 digitized pages of Dr. Simpson's notes on about 610 manuscripts. The collection also contains approximately 4,800 unprocessed images, which Dr. Simpson collected during her research. Simpson's collection spans the history of Islamic book art and pays particular attention of illustrated manuscripts from 1300 and 1600 CE. Dr. Shreve Simpson created a documentation template which she used during her research with each manuscript. The template allowed her to create a detailed record of the titles of each manuscript, names of calligraphers, painters, patrons, date and places of production, and dimensions of each folio or text block, as well as additional descriptive details. Her notes span 4 decades of research in libraries, museums, and private collections. The Marianna Shreve Simpson Islamic Manuscript Collection is part of the Islamic Art Archive Collection.

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The Walter Spink Indian Caves collection contains approximately 4,000 black-and-white photographs of man-made rock-cut caves throughout India. The photographs were taken by Dr. Walter Spink during the course of his research in the latter half of the 20th century.

The Walter Spink Indian Caves collection contains approximately 4,000 black-and-white photographs of man-made rock-cut caves throughout India. The photographs were taken by Dr. Walter Spink during the course of his research in the latter half of the 20th century. The prints detail the facades, porch, court, and interiors of the caves. The photographs of the interiors show the plasters, shrines, and detailed carvings within each cave.

The Ajanta Caves collection is composed of approximately 2,500 black-and-white photographs of the Ajanta caves in Maharashtra, India. The photographs depict 29 of the 31 rock-cut caves within the Ajanta complex taken by Dr. Walter Spink during the course of his research in the latter half of the 20th century.

The Ajanta Caves collection is composed of approximately 2,500 black-and-white photographs of the Ajanta caves. The photographs depict 29 of the 31 rock-cut caves within the Ajanta complex and were taken by Dr. Walter Spink during the course of his research in the latter half of the 20th century. The prints depict panoramic views of the complex, as well as detailed photographs of the façade, porch, court, and interiors of each cave. The prints of the interiors capture plasters, shrines, and detailed carvings within the caves.

The Walter Spink Collection is comprised of approximately 4,000 photographs of temples, shrines, and monuments throughout India. The photographs depict the research interests of Walter Spink and his travels throughout India, starting in 1952.

The Walter Spink Collection is comprised of approximately 4,000 photographs of temples, shrines, and monuments throughout India. Walter Spink began his research in India in 1952 and he traveled throughout the country studying rock-cut architecture and Buddhist and Hindu cave temples. Spink also famously studied the Krishna-Radha theme in Indian miniature paintings. The majority of the photographs in the collection depict rock-cut architecture throughout India, including Agra, Badami, Bharhut, Bhubaneswar, Deogarh, and Hampi.

The Southeast Asia Art Foundation (SAAF) Archive is composed of approximately 200,000 photographs of Southeast Asia artwork compiled by John Adams Thierry during the latter half of the 20th century. The photos are drawn from approximately 30 different sources, sculptures, or monuments throughout Southeastern Asia that have since been vandalized, damaged, insensitively stored, or destroyed.

Southeast Asia Art Foundation (SAAF) Archive is composed of about 200,000 photographs drawn from at least 30 different sources, including 10,000 photos from sites in Cambodia, Java, and Thailand, 1,100 aerial photos of unexplored archaeological sites, and approximately 3,000 photos from leading art dealers. The collection is housed in a series of black binders and is broken down into 1149 binders of images of objects from various regions and object types, 114 binders with museums' holdings and dealers’ photographs, 24 binders of aerial photographs, 2 binders that contain microfiche, and 3 boxes of photographs. Many of the photos depict sculptures or monuments that have since been vandalized, damaged, insensitively stored, or destroyed. Some of the sculptures have also been sold into private collections and are no longer accessible to the public. The photographs of Yves Coffin, a former French diplomat to Cambodia, are now considered one of the best collections of Cham and Khmer architecture and sculpture. Most of the aerial photographs of Thailand in the mid-1950's came from William-Hunt. Some of the microfiche in the collection came from the National Research Centre of Archaeology on Indonesia from 1901 to 1956, while more microfiche was contributed by the Kern Institute, University of Leiden. In addition to the approximately 100,000 photographs and slides, materials also came from an expedition to Java, which sent Patrick Young to photograph the Buddhist monument of Borobudur. The Department of the History of Art at the University of Michigan organized the expedition, which was partially funded by Southeast Asia Art Foundation and its trustee, John A. Thierry.

The collection also contains vast documentation about the legacy of the artwork and the archive itself, including work from leading scholars such as Carol Stratton, Sarah M. Bekker, A.B. Griswold, and Miriam McNair Scott. John Adams Thierry's research and additional articles are incorporated in the collection.

The photo archive is part of the Southeast Asia Art Foundation Archive, which is now housed in three locations within the University of Michigan. The University of Michigan-Museum of Art houses Thierry's collection of 19 sculptures, while the University of Michigan Library houses Thierry's personal library of books on Southeast Asian Art, many of which are rare or difficult to find.

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The Palace Museum Archives Collection was part of a project from 1963 to 1964 to create and distribute a photographic record of the holdings of the National Palace Museum in Taiwan. The archive is composed of three primary collections, the National Palace Museum (NPMT), the Chinese Art Treasures (CAT), and Chien-Mu, and contains the negatives and master file prints of all the photographs taken throughout the project.

The Palace Museum Archives Collection was part of a project from 1963 to 1964 to create and distribute a photographic record of the National Palace Museum, Taiwan's holdings. The archive contains two main series, which reflect the two mediums of the collection, Negatives and Master Files. The Negatives were originally produced during the photograph reproduction project at NPMT, while the Master Files are the black and white prints of the negatives. These series are further divided by the three main collections that make up the PMA, the National Palace Museum (NPMT), the Chinese Art Treasures (CAT), and the Chien-Mu. The photographs and negatives within these collections are then arranged by the dynasty during which the original artwork was created and finally by the medium.

The NPMT and CAT both contain paintings, various albums, and various medias. The Painting series contains handscrolls, hanging scrolls, calligraphy, and portraits. The portraits contain approximately 79 portraits of various emperors of China. For many of them, the artist and the dynasty they were commissioned during are unknown. Several of the earliest paintings depict mythical emperors or subjects who did not have portraits painted of them during their lifetimes. The Various Albums contains approximately 42 multi-leaf painting albums and they contain various artists, subjects, and dynasties. The Various Medias series contains photographs of objects made from bronze, ceramic, fa-lang, ink stone, ink sticks, jade, k'ossu, lacquer, silver, or wood. The Chien-Mu collection only contains handscrolls, hanging scrolls, and various albums and these items are generally understood to be lesser or more unreliable in terms of authenticity than those found in the NPMT or CAT.

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