Getty Grant for Tate Archive
I am delighted to announce that the Getty Foundation, the philanthropic division of the J. Paul Getty Trust in Los Angeles, has awarded a grant of £110,000 for the cataloguing of the archive of the Russian Constructivist artist Naum Gabo at Tate.
Photograph of Naum Gabo in his studio at Middlebury,
Connecticut (model for Linear Construction in Space No.3 with Red’ in foreground).
Photographer: Rudolph Burckhardt, 31 January 1953
TGA 9313
Through Gabo's generosity and that of his family, Tate holds the largest collection of his papers in the world. It comprises sixty-two boxes containing photographs, correspondence and other writings, plus thirty portfolios of prints, drawings, templates and models - over 50,000 items in total. Tate also holds the largest collection of the artist's art works (132 in all).
The two-year project will make detailed descriptions of the entire collection available on the web. Digital images of selected photographs, drawings, letters and visual material will be created, giving direct access to the most compelling items to scholars around the world.
Sir Norman Reid, former Director of the Tate Gallery and a close friend of Gabo, gave a powerful account of his visit to the artist's home in Connecticut in 1976. To his amazement, Gabo and his wife brought out quantities of drawings, sketchbooks and models that had been carefully put aside over the years. 'They were not all in perfect condition', Reid recalled. 'Some of the early plastic ... had become desiccated and a few of the models had suffered somewhat. Nevertheless, it was a gathering to make the eyes sparkle.'
Cataloguing the Gabo Archive at Tate will open up the treasures that Reid saw, and create a rich resource for research into the history of modernism and modernist sculpture.
Kate Sloss
Head of Library and Archive
31 May 2007
Back to News
