Collections : [Virginia Museum of Fine Arts]

Records of Fast/Forward (RG-25)

Lillian Thomas Pratt Personal Papers (SC-07)

Abstract Or Scope

The collection documents the formation of the Lillian Thomas Pratt Collection of Fabergé decorative artworks at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Bequeathed to the museum upon her death in 1947, Pratt's Fabergé collection consistently remains one of the highlights of the museum's permanent collection. Pratt purchased most of her Fabergé collection from the Schaffer Collection and Hammer Galleries, both of New York City, in the 1930s and 1940s. Comprised of correspondence, invoices, price tags, and detailed item descriptions, this collection illuminates Pratt's mind as a collector, as well as her relationship with one of her dealers, Alexander Schaffer.

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Catalogs (PB-01)

Abstract Or Scope

The collection is part of the Publications Archive, and is comprised of archival copies of all catalogs published by the museum, as well as catalogs for exhibitions that were shown at the museum, but produced by other institutions. Other catalogs highlight particular aspects of the museum's permanent collection.

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Louis H. Draper Artist Archives (VA-04)

Abstract Or Scope

The extensive collection documents the life and work of Richmond-born photographer and educator Louis Draper (1935–2002). Manuscript and photographic materials document Draper's experience and work as an African American photographer, including his recognition of his photography as a form of "engaged resistance" that not only bore witness to leaders of the civil rights movement, but also offered a richer and more diverse perspective of African American life than provided by the mainstream media. In 1963, he was a founding member of the Kamoinge Workshop, a collective of African American photographers, and the collection includes significant materials from the early years of the Kamoinge Workshop and document his perspective on the professional challenges that he and the collective confronted in the process of finding publications that would publish photographs of African Americans made by African Americans. His photographs of significant 20th-century artists, writers, musicians, and performers reflect the wide array of personal connections that Draper made after moving to New York from Richmond, Virginia in 1957. Printed photographs and contact sheets in Draper's archive show a broad view of city life and the everyday interactions between people and also offer a unique vision of African American neighborhoods in the 1960s and 1970s.

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Records of the Statewide Partnerships Department (RG-15)

Leslie Cheek, Jr. Personal Papers (SC-02)

Abstract Or Scope

This collection documents a portion of the life of Leslie Cheek, Jr., the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts' second and longest-tenured Director (1948-1968). One series includes material from his early career and activities before the VMFA, as well as his tenure at the museum, and through his retirement. Two series document the publication of two photobiographies about Cheek, "Living by Design" and "Designing for the Arts." Another series is comprised of materials about Skylark Farm, the house and tree farm located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, owned, designed and furnished by the Cheeks between 1967 and 1977 when it was donated to Washington and Lee University. Other series document the Cheeks' personal world travels in the 1950s-1980s, some of Cheek's awards, and finally, a number of framed architectural drawings done by Cheek as a student in the 1930s.

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Christel Ludewig McCanless Collection Related to Peter Carl Fabergé (SC-27)

Abstract Or Scope

The collection represents portions of the extensive research library and archives formed by Christel Ludewig McCanless over forty years. A noted Fabergé scholar, McCanless published the first annotated bibliography of literature about Fabergé in 1994, the premiere encyclopedia about the Fabergé eggs in 2001, and founded the "Fabergé Research Newsletter" and "Fabergé Research Site" in 2008. While dedicated to research about the artistry of Fabergé, McCanless' collection also includes numerous resources on Russian history, culture, and artwork.

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Records of the Exhibitions Department (RG-23)

Abstract Or Scope

The collection's inclusive dates are 1936-2015, with the bulk of the material dating from 1979-2004. The collection is comprised of correspondence, exhibition schedules, budgets, grant applications, photographs, object lists, notes, collection statements, planning documents, project files, policies, loan arrangements and decisions, and other materials.

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Willie Anne Wright Artist Archives (VA-02)

Abstract Or Scope

The collection documents the career of renowned lensless photographer Willie Anne Wright. Wright's paintings, serigraphs and drawings were her professional focus until 1972 when pinhole photography became her primary creative medium. Comprised mainly of the exhibition files Wright maintained, as well as information about gallery representation and art sales, the collection traces the evolution of her artistic journey over four decades.

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Robert Merritt Personal Papers (SC-11)

Abstract Or Scope

The collection contains research files on VMFA history created by Robert "Bob" Merritt, who was a theater and arts critic for the "Richmond Times-Dispatch" newspaper from the 1970s through the 1990s and wrote about VMFA frequently. The boxes were originally labeled "narrative history," a project which was sponsored by the museum's Marketing and Public Affairs department, probably as part of the plans to commemorate the museum's 50th anniversary in 1986.

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