The National Gallery of Art Gallery Archives announces the launch of the Kress Collection Digital Archive, an online resource documenting the history and development of an important collection of nearly 3,500 works of European art. Funded by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, the project digitally reunites the Kress Collection amassed by Samuel H. Kress and his foundation, and then donated to nearly 100 art and educational institutions throughout the United States, including the National Gallery of Art.
Data and digitized archival materials illustrate the history, acquisition, condition and care, and distribution of the works of art over many decades. Containing more than 10,000 historical and conservation documents and images from the holdings of the Gallery Archives, the National Gallery of Art painting conservation department, and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation Archive, the resource emphasizes the relationships that exist between the objects, the people and institutions, and their histories.
Through this digital project, the Gallery Archives promotes understanding of the history and development of the Kress Collection within the larger context of the history of the National Gallery of Art and culture in the United States over the past century.
"With the launch of its Kress Collection Digital Archive, the National Gallery of Art has set an inspiring example for other art museums both in the United States and abroad," said Max Marmor, president of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation. "By documenting so fully-and sharing so openly-its rich archival holdings concerning the genesis and history of the Kress Collection, it has established a new standard of transparency while also modeling a new kind of scholarly resource for the study of the history of collecting."
View the press release.
Shannon Yule Morelli
Archivist │Gallery Archives
National Gallery of Art │ 6th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW │ Washington, DC 20565
T: 202-842-6955 │ F: 202-842-6948 │ E: s-morelli@nga.gov
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