George Eastman Museum
George Eastman Museum | |
Georgian Revival | |
Website | www |
---|---|
NRHP reference No. | 66000529 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | November 13, 1966[2] |
Designated NHL | November 13, 1966[1] |
The George Eastman Museum, also referred to as George Eastman House and the International Museum of Photography and Film,
World-renowned for its collections in the fields of photography and cinema, the museum is also a leader in
History
The Rochester estate of
George Eastman House was chartered as a museum in 1947.[9] From the outset, the museum's mission has been to collect, preserve, and present the history of photography and film. The museum opened its doors on November 9, 1949, displaying its core collections in the former public rooms of Eastman's house. In October 2015, the museum changed its name from George Eastman House to the George Eastman Museum.[10]
The museum's original collections included the Medicus collection of
But by July 19, 1984, the museum had a $500,000 deficit,[11][12] and the museum's holdings were considered by many to be among the world's finest, but with the collections growing at a rapid pace, the museum was increasingly burdened by its own success. Additional space became critical to store and study the increasing number of collected objects.
In 1985, the Smithsonian Institution was offered title and control, if it agreed to leave the Eastman Archives in Rochester and pay $1 million a year towards maintenance.[12] The Smithsonian would appoint the director and staff and set curatorial policies.[12]
In 1985, Kodak gave the Museum an endowment, the proceeds of the sale[13] of its San Francisco office building,[14][15][16][17] worth $13 million to $15 million on condition that it remain in Rochester, and the trustees must raise the money to build or renovate in Rochester.[3][18][19][4]
In January 1989, the museum's expansion facility opened to the public.[20]
In 1996, the museum opened the Louis B. Mayer Conservation Center in nearby
In 1999, the George Eastman Museum launched the Mellon Advanced Residency Program in
George Eastman Museum has organized numerous groundbreaking exhibitions, including New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape in 1975.
Governance
Directors
The current director of the George Eastman Museum is Bruce Barnes who was appointed in September 2012.[21]
Name | Tenure |
---|---|
Oscar N. Solbert | 1947–1958 |
Beaumont Newhall | 1958–1971 |
Van Deren Coke | 1971–1972 |
Robert J. Doherty | 1972–1981 |
Robert A. Mayer | 1981–1989 |
James L. Enyeart | 1989–1995 |
Anthony Bannon | 1996–2012 |
Bruce Barnes | 2012–present |
Board of trustees
The George Eastman Museum is headed by a board of trustees. Nannette Nocon is the current board chair.
Finances
The George Eastman Museum's annual budget is approximately $10 million. As of December 2014, its endowment exceeded $35 million.
Collections
The museum's holdings comprise more than 400,000 photographs and negatives dating from the invention of photography to the present day; 28,000 motion picture films; three million other cinematic objects, including letters, scripts, musical scores, lobby cards, posters, film stills, and celebrity portraits; more than 16,000 objects of photographic and cinematographic technology; an internationally renowned research collection of books, periodicals, and other materials on photography and moving images; and George Eastman's home furnishings and decorative arts, personal and business correspondence, private library, photographs, negatives, films, and related personal items.
Photography collection
The photography collection embraces numerous landmark processes, objects of great rarity, and monuments of art history that trace the evolution of the medium as a technology, as a means of scientific and historical documentation, and as one of the most potent and accessible means of personal expression of the modern era. More than 14,000 photographers are represented in the collection, including virtually all the major figures in the history of the medium. The collection includes original vintage works produced by nearly every process and printing medium employed. Notable holdings include:
- One of the world's largest collection of daguerreotypes, including more than 1,000 by Southworth & Hawes
- A major collection of nineteenth-century photographs of the American West by photographers including Carleton Watkins, Eadweard Muybridge, Timothy H. O'Sullivan, and William Henry Jackson
- A major collection of ca. 1890s–1910s glass negatives from French photojournalist Charles Chusseau-Flaviens
- The photographic estates of Lewis Hine, Edward Steichen, Alvin Langdon Coburn, Nickolas Muray and Victor Keppler
- A major collection of Ansel Adams’ early and vintage prints
The museum's collection includes works by leading contemporary artists, including Andy Warhol, Candida Höfer, David Levinthal, Cindy Sherman, Adam Fuss, Vik Muniz, Gillian Wearing, Ori Gersht, Mickalene Thomas, Chris McCaw, and Matthew Brandt.
Moving image collection
The
George Eastman Legacy Collection
This collection includes George Eastman's house and the George Eastman Archive and Study Center.[23] Opened in April 1999,[24] the George Eastman Archive and Study Center contains Eastman's personal possessions and documents pertaining to Kodak's early history.[25] It has over half a million items[23] within its climate controlled vault.[24] The archive is accessible from the second floor of the house.[24] Items within the house itself include fragments of Eastman's coffin,[26] a mounted elephant head,[27] and an Aeolian pipe organ.[28]
Fire
On May 30, 1978, a two-alarm fire affecting four buildings resulted in the loss of some rare movie films and still photographs in the collection some including the original negatives to the Pre-1951 MGM Cartoons, though not as bad as originally feared.[29]
George Eastman Awards
The George Eastman Museum established the George Eastman Award for distinguished contribution to the art of film in 1955 as the first award given by an American film archive and museum to honor artistic work of enduring value.[30]
Recipients
- 1965 – Fred Astaire (Actor)
- 1973 – Johnny Weissmuller (Actor)
- 1975 – Blanche Sweet (Actor)
- 1976 – George Cukor (Director), Karl Struss (Cinematographer)
- 1978 – James Stewart (Actor), Willard Van Dyke (Director)
- 1982 – Joan Bennett (Actor), Louise Brooks (Actor), Dolores del Río (Actor), Myrna Loy (Actor), Maureen O'Sullivan (Actor), Luise Rainer (Actor), Sylvia Sidney (Actor)
- 1987 – Gregory Peck (Actor)
- 1990 – Lauren Bacall (Actor)
- 1992 – Audrey Hepburn (Actor)
- 1994 – Martin Scorsese (Filmmaker)
- 1997 – Isabella Rossellini (Actor)
- 1999 – Meryl Streep (Actor)
- 2003 – Kim Novak (Actor)
- 2012 – Richard Gere (Actor, Activist)
- 2013 – Roger Corman (Director, Producer, Distributor)
- 2015 – Michael Douglas (Actor, Producer)[31]
- 2016 – Michael Keaton (Actor)[32]
- 2017 – Vittorio Storaro (Cinematographer)
- 2019 – Julia Roberts (Actor, Producer)[33]
- 2023 - Jodie Foster (Actor, Director)[34]
George Eastman's Estate
Eastman's house presented a neoclassical
The estate was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1966.[1][35]
References
- ^ a b "George Eastman House". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. September 14, 2007. Archived from the original on May 22, 2009.
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
- ^ a b "Eastman Kodak Rescues Photography Museum". Los Angeles Times. April 20, 1985. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
- ^ a b Bennetts, Leslie (April 19, 1985). "Photo Museum Will Get $13 Million Gift From Kodak". The New York Times. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
- ^ "International Museum of Photography and Film". WorldCat Identities. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
- ^ a b "History of George Eastman House". George Eastman House website. Archived from the original on January 14, 2010. Retrieved January 27, 2010.
- ^ Archives of American Art. "Oral history interview with Beaumont Newhall, 1965 Jan. 23". si.edu.
- ^ Chao, Mary (November 22, 2010). "Historic houses are finding new lives in Rochester". Democrat and Chronicle. Rochester, New York. pp. 1A, 4A. Archived from the original on November 23, 2010. Retrieved November 22, 2010.
- ^ Newhall, Beaumont (December 1982). "The First Decade" (PDF). Image. 25 (3–4): 2–3. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 25, 2011. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
- ^ "George Eastman Museum Announces New Name | George Eastman Museum". Retrieved October 9, 2015.
- ^ Thornton, Gene (June 16, 1985). "PHOTOGRAPHY VIEW; FROM EASTMAN HOUSE, A HISTORY BEGINNING WITH DAGUERRE". The New York Times. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
- ^ Washington Post. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
- UPI. August 19, 1983. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
- nps.gov. 2010. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
- ^ "Kodak Pacific Northern Sales Division's New Building Grand Opening Invitation, 1958-October". eBay. Archived from the original on April 23, 2022. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
- ^ "Eastman Kodak Company, Office Building, Financial District, San Francisco, CA". pcad.lib.washington.edu.
- Pacific Coast Architecture Database. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
- ^ "Kodak donates San Fransisco building to Rochester museum". UPI. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
- ^ Stewart, Laura (February 3, 1985). "Rochester Foils Plan To Move Priceless Photos". Chicago Tribune. Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on April 22, 2022. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
- ^ Quigley, Kathleen (March 18, 1990). "Splendor Restored At Eastman House". The New York Times. Retrieved October 25, 2010.
- ^ Dougherty, Nate (September 27, 2012). "George Eastman House selects new director". Rochester Business Journal. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
- ^ "IMAGE (1972. vol 15. issue 4.)". eastmanhouse.org. Archived from the original on July 25, 2011.
- ^ a b "Who's behind the scenes at the Eastman House". Democrat and Chronicle. April 18, 1999.
- ^ a b c Fennessy, Steve (March 28, 1999). "When the archive opens, you, too, can poke through Eastman's possessions". Democrat and Chronicle.
- ^ "Museums". Democrat and Chronicle. May 1, 2003.
- ^ "George Eastman House". Democrat and Chronicle. February 27, 2000.
- ^ "The Museum as Home". Democrat and Chronicle. January 21, 1990.
- ^ Dobbin, Sean (May 5, 2012). "Donation to Eastman to help restore organ". Democrat and Chronicle.
- ^ "Fire Loss at Film Museum Less Than Was Feared". The New York Times. May 31, 1978.
- ^ "George Eastman Award". George Eastman Museum. Archived from the original on November 24, 2018. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
- ^ "MICHAEL DOUGLAS - 69TH GEORGE EASTMAN AWARD RECIPIENT". NSP Studio. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
- ^ "Garner: Michael Keaton's Eastman Award comes at right time". Democrat & Chronicle. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
- ^ "Julia Roberts to receive George Eastman Award for movie work". Associated Press. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
- ^ "Actor and filmmaker Jodie Foster will be in Rochester to receive George Eastman Award". Democrat & Chronicle. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
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External links
- George Eastman Museum within Google Arts & Culture
- Media related to George Eastman House Museum at Wikimedia Commons
Official websites
- Official George Eastman Museum website Archived 2021-12-02 at the Wayback Machine
- Flickr.com: Eastman House