Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Abstract

The collection is part of the Publications Archive, and is comprised of archival copies of all Annual Reports published by the museum since 1936. Issued by the Director's Office, these reports cover every aspect of the museum's activities over the course of a given year, including acquisitions, exhibitions, programs, staffing, donations, etc. The collection also contains archival copies of the Honor Roll of Contributors, which is published by the museum at irregular intervals.

Abstract The collection is part of the Publications Archive, and is comprised of archival copies of all "Arts in Virginia" issues published by the museum. Published quarterly until 1982, then irregularly until it ceased publication in 1992, "Arts in Virginia" was conceived as a privilege of membership in the museum and included articles about the museum's collection as well as the arts in Virginia. Noted local and national scholars were invited to publish their research, and sometimes guest edited...

Abstract

The collection is part of the Publications Archive, and is comprised of archival copies of all Bulletins / Calendars / VMFA Magazines published by the museum since 1940. The publishing frequncy has changed many times (monthly, quarterly, bi-monthly) and the title changed three times, but the publication has always served to document the daily activities at the museum, including exhibitions, tours, programs, lectures, and more.

Abstract

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.

Abstract 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...

Scope and Contents

Description: A young girl dangles a Fabergé miniature Easter egg pendant on a chain over a table while a young boy touches the egg with his index finger. In the 1950s and 1960s, the museum regularly set up publicity shots with children that allowed them to take a closer look at (and often touch!) the Fabergé artworks.

Scope and Contents

Description: A young girl tries on a jewelled ring as a young boy looks on. Four Fabergé eggs are on the table in front of them. In the 1950s and 1960s, the museum regularly set up publicity shots with children that allowed them to take a closer look at (and often touch!) the Fabergé artworks.

Scope and Contents

Description: Two young children stare at three Fabergé eggs, including the Imperial Tsarevich Easter Egg and Imperial Easter Egg with Revolving Miniatures, which are all set on a pedestal at eye level inches away from their faces. In the 1950s and 1960s, the museum regularly set up publicity shots with children that allowed them to take a closer look at (and often touch!) the Fabergé artworks.

Scope and Contents

Description: Two young children bend down to peer at Fabergé eggs sitting on a table. In the 1950s and 1960s, the museum regularly set up publicity shots with children that allowed them to take a closer look at (and often touch!) the Fabergé artworks.

Scope and Contents

Description: A young girl rests her gloved hands on the edge of a display case filled with Fabergé artworks as a young boy to her left watches and smiles. In the 1950s and 1960s, the museum regularly set up publicity shots with children that allowed them to take a closer look at (and often touch!) the Fabergé artworks.

Scope and Contents

Description: Two young children peer into the open top of the Imperial Tsarevich Easter Egg. In the 1950s and 1960s, the museum regularly set up publicity shots with children that allowed them to take a closer look at (and often touch!) the Fabergé imperial eggs.

Abstract

The collection is part of the Publications Archive, and is comprised of archival copies of collateral and numerous other types of publications created by the museum, including theater programs, gallery guides, statewide services catalogs, marketing reports, and Council publications.

Scope and Contents From the Item:

The collection’s inclusive dates are 1885-1958, with the bulk of the material dating from 1885-1937. The collection is comprised of photographs, postcards, reunion ribbons, press clippings, and a guest register.

Scope and Contents

Description: A young girl opens an egg-shaped ring box which contains a jewelled ring within it. In the 1950s and 1960s, the museum regularly set up publicity shots with children that allowed them to take a closer look at (and often touch!) the Fabergé artworks.

Scope and Contents

Description: A young boy stares at Fabergé's Imperial Easter Egg with Revolving Miniatures, which is set on a table right in front of him. In the 1950s and 1960s, the museum regularly set up publicity shots with children that allowed them to take a closer look at (and often touch!) the Fabergé artworks.

Scope and Contents

Description: A young girl holds the vase of a Fabergé tulip in her hands while a young boy looks on. Other Fabergé pieces, including the Imperial Red Cross Easter Egg, sits on the same table behind the flower. In the 1950s and 1960s, the museum regularly set up publicity shots with children that allowed them to take a closer look at (and often touch!) the Fabergé artworks.

Scope and Contents

Description: Two young children look at one another while their hands rest on a table with two Fabergé imperial eggs on it. In the 1950s and 1960s, the museum regularly set up publicity shots with children that allowed them to take a closer look at (and often touch!) the Fabergé artworks.

Abstract

The collection was artifically created in order to bring together records about the Fischer collection residing in multiple collections in the VMFA Archives, as well as in the museum's records at the Library of Virginia. As such, the collection is entirely comprised of photocopies of records from the 1960s to the 2010s. To date, the museum has not located a collection of contemporaneous Fischer family records within its collections.

Scope and Contents

Description: A young girl smiles as a museum guard presents her with Faberge's rabbit pitcher. She holds another open Fabergé egg in her hands while another guard looks on. In the 1950s and 1960s, the museum regularly set up publicity shots with children that allowed them to take a closer look at (and often touch!) the Fabergé artworks.

Scope and Contents

Description: Museum staffer Henrietta Near uses a short-handled wide brush to clean Fabergé flowers in an exhibition case.

Scope and Contents

Description: Museum staffer Henrietta Near uses a long-handled narrow brush to clean Fabergé flowers in an exhibition case.

Scope and Contents

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Abstract

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.

Abstract 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...

Scope and Contents

This series is comprised of items related to the Pratt collection that were transferred from the Curatorial department. Items found in the object records include early photographs of items from both Hammer Galleries and the Schaffer Collection, photographs of the Russian imperial family, as well as a statement of account from Hammer and the first complete list of the collection after its arrival at the museum in 1947.

Abstract The collection documents the rich history of Richmond’s artistic culture and community in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Drawing upon the legacy of the first Academy of Fine Arts in the United States, founded in Richmond in 1786, the Richmond Academy of Arts was revived in 1930, and records created throughout the organization’s history comprise the majority of the collection. The Academy provided the most cohesive and active arts organization in Richmond before the founding of the...

Abstract

The collection documents the service of Eda Carter Williams to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Williams was nominated to be a Trustee of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in 1954, and served for 11 years until 1965. She was also a founding member of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Council in 1955 and served on the Council for 45 years, until 2000.