Photography!
Universiteit Leiden
Size: 24,5 x 29 cmPages: 248
Illustration: 190
NUR: 653
ISBN: 9787-90-89101-91-4
Author(s): Universiteit Leiden
Year: 2010
Price: € 49,50
The first image (from 1945) of the principle of the camera obscura , the original camera of painter George Hendrik Breitner, daguerreotypes of more than 150 years old: the photographic collection of the University of Leiden is unique in a lot of respects.
It is the oldest and largest museum photo collection of the country, which gives a complete overview of the creation and development of the photography; the mother of all Dutch museum photography collections.
Also the work of contemporary photographers and " classics" like Alfred Stieglitz and Diane Arbus is present. In the photograph museum of The Hague this special collection is to be seen on a large scale for the first time. Despite aversion from both the artistic and academic world - one did not stoop to something like that? - Hans van de Waal, professor of art history in the University of Leiden started, already in 1953, a photograph collection for the university . At a time at which Dutch museums were not occupied with that. It was his utmost aim that this collection would represent the development of the photography. The obtaining of some large private collections has ensured a firm basis of the collection, which has been extended with many purchases and donations in the previous decades. The collection of photography is nowadays a component of the Special collections of the Leiden university library.
The collection of photography of the University of Leiden represents the history, development and the different forms of expression of the medium. There are examples of almost any photographic procedure, rare objects and artistic highlights. What about early experiments of photographic pioneers like William Fox Talbot or the photomontage of Paul Citroen? Artistic ambitions are found in the New Photography of Piet Zwart and Paul Schuitema and, among others, Emmy Andriesse and Cas Oorthuys who represent the engaged documentary photography. The collection is aimed at the Dutch situation in the international context, therefore that also the work of celebrities like Julia Margaret Cameron, Edward Curtis and Richard Avedon are part of the collection.
The diversity and abundance of the collection of photography of the University of Leiden is shown in this richly illustrated, English catalogue, with texts from Maartje van den Heuvel and Wim van Sinderen.