The VRC’s special collections reflect many of technologies used to teach art history during the 19th and 20th centuries.
The VRC houses a number of special collections that vary in content and are comprised of older teaching materials: lantern slides and 35mm color slides, 17th through 19th-century original prints, large-format 19th-century photographs, as well as archival material from faculty emeriti.
The VRC special collections are open to researchers by appointment only. Contact visualresources@ucr.edu
Asian Art Slide Collection
The Asian Art Slide Collection houses over 9000 35mm slides of works of art and architecture. Organized in the Fogg Classification Scheme, the collection is physically housed in ARTS 329. These 9000 slides represent what remains of the former slide collection. This collection is open for research. VRC staff can assist with finding aids and database searches.
Cincinnati Lantern Slide Collection
The Cincinnati Lantern Slide Collection contains nearly 200 19th-century lantern slides that were gifted to the Visual Resource Collection by the Cincinnati Art Museum. The collection is formed mainly of images of the 1893 World’s Colombian Exposition in Chicago. A handful of Civil War era images are also contained in the collection. The Cincinnati Lantern Slide Collection has been fully indexed. Additionally, a small number of images have been digitized and can be found by searching the VRC’s ImageCloud Online Collection. This physical collection is located in ARTS 332.
John B. Vickery Collection
The John B. Vickery Collection is comprised wholly of 35mm color slides amassed by Dr. John Vickery over during his tenure at the University of California. John Vickery (1925-2013), served as Executive Vice Chancellor, Faculty Relations and Academic Support from 1983-1993, a professor emeritus and former chair of the English Department at UCR, was renowned for early use of images in teaching English literature. The collection represents Dr. Vickery’s teaching collection as well as a large number of experimental art slides. Many of these creative experimentations are figured on the slide substrate itself and are labeled ‘Psychedelic’.
Lantern Slide Teaching Collection
The Lantern Slide Teaching Collection represents the original collection of pedagogical materials in use at the time of the establishment of the Department of the History of Art in 1954. These small-format lantern slides are organized in the Fogg Classification Scheme and reflect the early pedagogy of the department with a distinct emphasis on Western art historical works of art and architecture.
Malcolm Baker Papers
The VRC is home to a collection of publications and papers belonging to Distinguished Emeritus Professor Malcolm Baker. The majority of larger publications have been catalogued. Smaller publications such as offprints, leaflets, brochures and papers, are not yet catalogued, but have been moved to archival housing. The catalogue of larger publications is available for online search.
Master Print Collection
The Master Print Collection consists of a number of early prints by known artists given to the Department of Art History near the time of its inauguration. This collection was intended as the core beginnings of exceptional pedagogical material.
Roba di Roma Collection
Gifted to the VRC by the late Professor Emeritus Dericksen Brinkerhoff, the Roba di Roma Collection is a 19th-century travel album consisting of large-format original photographic prints featuring art and architecture from Rome and the surrounds. The individual photographs were digitized in 2015. Digital copies of photographs with definitive attributions have been published to the ImageCloud Online Collection. The collection has also been published using International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) and may be viewed via the below link.
VRC Books Collection
The VRC is home to a random number of books, journals, and reference materials related to visual resources, the study of art/art history, specific artists, and faculty publications. These books and reference materials have come to the VRC over time and represent a number of out-of-print editions related to art history scholarship.
