Over two million photographs of Western artwork spanning eight centuries have been digitised and printed on-line for the general public to discover at no cost
Discover the gathering: https://photocollections.courtauld.ac.uk/witt-library
The Courtauld Institute of Artwork has accomplished a significant eighteen-month challenge to open up its internationally famend Witt Photographic Assortment, making over two million photographs accessible for the general public to discover at no cost on The Courtauld web site.
The Witt Photographic Assortment is an immense assortment of pictures, reproductions and cuttings of Western Artwork from the thirteenth century to the current day, and is likely one of the largest museum photographic collections of its kind on the planet. It is a useful useful resource for college kids, researchers, artwork commerce professionals and members of the general public.
Beforehand saved at The Courtauld within the North Wing at Somerset Home in over 19,000 bins and occupying 1.4 kilometres of shelf house, The Witt Photographic Assortment consists of works from 26 totally different nationwide ‘faculties’ of artwork, categorised by artist and by material. Its photographic sources vary from saleroom catalogues, books, newspapers, and periodicals, to authentic pictures and prints.
Your entire Witt Photographic Assortment was relocated from Somerset Home to the Netherlands in late 2023, with Picturae BV contracted to finish the digitisation challenge.
The completion of the Witt digitisation challenge attracts on The Courtauld’s lengthy historical past of digital scholarship, together with a significant five-year challenge to open up its internationally famend Conway Library images assortment to the general public at no cost in 2023. 14,000 volunteers digitised over a million photographs from The Conway Library as a part of the most important public inclusion challenge in The Courtauld’s historical past. The Courtauld Gallery’s assortment on-line was additionally launched in 2023, which contains over 33,000 objects starting from the Center Ages to the twenty first century, accessible to discover at no cost.
Based within the Nineties by artwork historian Sir Robert Witt, one of many co-founders of The Courtauld, the gathering started throughout his undergraduate years at Oxford whereas specialising within the Italian Renaissance. The gathering expanded considerably in 1899 following his marriage to Mary, a fellow collector of pictures of Western artwork. The gathering was acquired by The Courtauld in 1944 by a deed of present.
Past artwork historical past, the photographic reproductions function a wealthy reference for these learning historic costume, social customs, topography and household historical past. The Witt Library options recurrently as a location and reference supply on BBC’s Pretend or Fortune.
The digitisation challenge introduces new audiences to this outstanding assortment, opening it as much as new questions and insights. Your entire assortment is now accessible within the type of high-resolution photographs, making the library simpler to make use of as a software for analysis and schooling.
