Personal papers of and artworks by Eileen Agar

1917–92

Available online are items a range of Eileen Agar's artworks and writings which shed light on her working methods, including her extensive use of found objects, and her involvement in the Surrealist movement. Artworks which have been digitised include sculptures constructed from found objects and preparatory tracings for her series of paintings of rocks at Ploumanach. Several of Agar's writings and notebooks, which provide some insight into her life, working methods, and reflections on art, can also be seen online.

Details of the remainder of the collection can be found on the Archive catalogue.

Collection Owner: Eileen Agar 1899–1991
Collection: Tate Archive
Acquisition: Bequeathed to Tate Archive by Eileen Agar, 1992.
Reference: TGA 9222

239 objects in this collection

Personal papers of and artworks by Eileen Agar

239 Objects

Title: Glass plate negatives
Date: [c.1930–60]
Description: This sub-series consists of glass plate negatives of Agar, Joseph Bard and friends, as well as reproductions of plates from botanical and biological books, possibly used by Agar as inspiration for her artwork. A few of the slides have been painted or had patterns stuck to them (for instance TGA 9222/4/8/109-120), presumably by Agar.
Reference: TGA 9222/4/8

239 objects in this collection

Showing 81–100 of 124 objects

Black and white glass lantern slide of a Chinese artwork captioned ‘Symbolic use of the square and compass among the Chinese (Fu Hsi and His Consort: the Reputed Founder of the Chinese State)’

Glass slide covered in black ink or paint into which patterns have been scratched

Colour glass lantern slide of diagram of vertebrae

Black and white glass lantern slide of diagrams of different types of cell

Colour glass lantern slide of unidentified biological diagrams

Colour glass lantern slide of a cross-section of an internal organ, possibly a kidney

Colour glass lantern slide of a diagram of the skeleton and musculature of a human seen from the front

Colour glass lantern slide of a diagram of the musculature of a human seen from the back

Colour glass lantern slide of a diagram showing the eyeball, brain, and nerves of a human

Black and white glass lantern slide of a drawing of a bunch of carrots on a table

Black and white glass lantern slide of a botanical drawing of a stalk of Brussels sprouts

Black and white glass lantern slide of a botanical drawing of various flowers (including snowdrops) showing roots and individual petals

Black and white glass lantern slide of a botanical drawing of an unidentified plant

Black and white glass lantern slide of a botanical drawing showing a method of grafting one plant onto another

Black and white glass lantern slide of a botanical drawing of a flower arrangement

Black and white glass lantern slide of a botanical drawing of grapes

Black and white glass lantern slide of a microscopic view of the spores of club-root disease of turnips

Black and white glass lantern slide of a botanical drawing of pears

Black and white glass lantern slide of a botanical drawing of an unidentified plant

Black and white glass lantern slide of a Maltese cross from the Mexican codices

Sign up to emails