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Primary Content: 
The Archive contains 100,000 images of works of art by British artists and sculptors, created and compiled by the Paul Mellon Centre (and its predecessor institution, The Paul Mellon Foundation) between 1964 and 2013. Artists and sculptors represented are either British by birth, foreign artists and sculptors who have worked in Britain or foreign artists who have painted British sitters abroad. The historic period covered is 1500–1900. Owing to the historic research interests and activities of the Centre, the core focus is the eighteenth century, with holdings on artists including Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough, Richard Wilson, Joseph Wright of Derby, J.M.W. Turner and John Constable being particularly strong. The images are mainly black and white, have been dry mounted on card, and key information about the work – such as artist, title, collection and source of the photograph – recorded on the front of the mount. The archive remains in, and has been catalogued according to, its original order. There are seven main sequences, as follows: • A–Z by artist (including unidentified) • A–Z by sculptor • Decorative painting • Paul Mellon Collection of paintings • Paul Mellon Collection of prints & drawings • Projects (including photographs of sketchbooks, albums of drawings, rare books, etc.). Within each sequence the images are further subdivided according to the subject matter (e.g. by artist, sculptor, house, locations, period, etc.). Aside from the information on the mounts, the archive is an exclusively a visual resource.
Is your collection accessible to the public?: 
Yes
Opening hours (if applicable): 
Virtual consultation only.
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