George Eastman Museum
George Eastman Museum | |
George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York | |
Location | 900 East Avenue, Rochester, New York, United States |
---|---|
Built | 1905 1949 (museum opened) |
Architect | J. Foster Warner McKim, Mead and White (interiors) |
Architectural style | Georgian Revival |
Website | www |
NRHP reference No. | 66000529 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | November 13, 1966[1] |
Designated NHL | November 13, 1966[2] |
The George Eastman Museum, also referred to as George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film,[3][4][5] the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography[6][7] and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in Rochester, New York.
World-renowned for its collections in the fields of photography and cinema, the museum is also a leader in film preservation and photograph conservation, educating archivists and conservators from around the world. Home to the 500-seat Dryden Theatre, the museum is located on the estate of entrepreneur and philanthropist George Eastman, the founder of Eastman Kodak Company. The estate was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966.
History
The Rochester estate of George Eastman (1854–1932) was bequeathed upon his death to the University of Rochester. University presidents (first Benjamin Rush Rhees, then Alan Valentine) occupied Eastman's mansion as a residence for ten years.[8] In 1948, the university transferred the property to the museum and the Georgian Revival Style mansion was adapted to serve the museum's operations.[6]
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 Civil War photographs by Alexander Gardner, Eastman Kodak Company's historical collection, and the massive Gabriel Cromer collection of nineteenth-century French photography. The Eastman Museum has received donations of entire archives, corporate and individual collections, and the estates of leading photographers, as well as thousands of motion pictures and massive holdings of cinematic ephemera.
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 Chili. One of only four film conservation centers in the United States (as of March 2006), the facility houses the museum's rare 35 mm prints made on cellulose nitrate. That same year, the Eastman House launched the first school of film preservation in the United States to teach restoration, preservation, and archiving of motion pictures. The L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation was founded with support from The Louis B. Mayer Foundation.
In 1999, the George Eastman Museum launched the Mellon Advanced Residency Program in Photograph Conservation, made possible with grant support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The program trained top photograph archivists and conservators from around the world.
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. Kevin Gavagan is the current chair of board.
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
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/06/A%26P%2C_COFFEE%2C_SANTA_CLAUS.jpg/300px-A%26P%2C_COFFEE%2C_SANTA_CLAUS.jpg)
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 Museum Motion Picture Collection is one of the major moving image archives in the United States. It was established in 1949 by the first curator of film, James Card (1915–2000) who helped to build the George Eastman Museum as a leading force in the field with holdings of over 25,000 titles and a collection of stills, posters and papers with over 3 million artifacts. The George Eastman Museum's collection includes the complete moving-image works of William Kentridge.
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, 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]
George Eastman's Estate
George Eastman built his residence at 900 East Avenue between 1902 and 1905. He created a unique urban estate complete with 10.5 acres (42,000 m2) of working farm land, formal gardens, greenhouses, stables, barns, pastures, and a 35,000-square-foot (3,300 m2), 50-room Colonial Revival mansion with a fireproof structure made of reinforced concrete.
Eastman's house presented a neoclassical Georgian Revival facade of decorative craftsmanship. Beneath this exterior were such modern conveniences as an electrical generator, an internal telephone system with 21 stations, a built-in vacuum cleaning system, a central clock network, an elevator, and a great Aeolian pipe organ. Eastman used the house as a center of the city's rich musical life from 1905 until his death in 1932.
The estate was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1966.[2][34]
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
- ^ a b "George Eastman House". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. 2007-09-14. Archived from the original on 2009-05-22.
- ^ a b "Eastman Kodak Rescues Photography Museum". Los Angeles Times. 20 April 1985. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
- ^ a b Bennetts, Leslie (19 April 1985). "Photo Museum Will Get $13 Million Gift From Kodak". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
- ^ "International Museum of Photography and Film". WorldCat Identities. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
- ^ a b "History of George Eastman House". George Eastman House website. Archived from the original on 2010-01-14. Retrieved 2010-01-27.
- ^ 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. Gannett Company. 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 2015-10-09.
- ^ Thornton, Gene (16 June 1985). "PHOTOGRAPHY VIEW; FROM EASTMAN HOUSE, A HISTORY BEGINNING WITH DAGUERRE". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
- ^ a b c Conroy, Sarah Booth (20 March 1985). "Rochester's Proposal". Washington Post. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
- ^ "The Eastman Kodak Co. has announced it will shut down two offices in the San Francisco Bay Area next year". UPI. 1983-08-19. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
- ^ "Aquatic Park - Cultural Landscape Report" (PDF). nps.gov. 2010. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
- ^ "Kodak Pacific Northern Sales Division's New Building Grand Opening Invitation, 1958-October". eBay. Archived from the original on 23 April 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
- ^ "Eastman Kodak Company, Office Building, Financial District, San Francisco, CA". pcad.lib.washington.edu.
- ^ "Eastman Kodak Company, Pacific Northern Sales Division, Office Building, San Francisco, CA". Pacific Coast Architecture Database. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
- ^ "Kodak donates San Fransisco building to Rochester museum". UPI. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
- ^ Stewart, Laura (1985-02-03). "Rochester Foils Plan To Move Priceless Photos". Chicago Tribune. Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on 22 April 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
- ^ Quigley, Kathleen (1990-03-18). "Splendor Restored At Eastman House". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-10-25.
- ^ 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 2011-07-25.
- ^ a b "Who's behind the scenes at the Eastman House". Democrat and Chronicle. 18 Apr 1999.
- ^ a b c Fennessy, Steve (28 Mar 1999). "When the archive opens, you, too, can poke through Eastman's possessions". Democrat and Chronicle.
- ^ "Museums". Democrat and Chronicle. 1 May 2003.
- ^ "George Eastman House". Democrat and Chronicle. 27 Feb 2000.
- ^ "The Museum as Home". Democrat and Chronicle. 21 Jan 1990.
- ^ Dobbin, Sean (5 May 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 24 November 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ^ "MICHAEL DOUGLAS - 69TH GEORGE EASTMAN AWARD RECIPIENT". NSP Studio. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ^ "Garner: Michael Keaton's Eastman Award comes at right time". Democrat & Chronicle. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ^ "Julia Roberts to receive George Eastman Award for movie work". Associated Press. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ^ Richard Greenwood (January 8, 1976). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: George Eastman House" (pdf). National Park Service. and Accompanying 2 photos, 1 exterior from 1905 and 1 interior from 1920. (518 KiB)
External links
- George Eastman Museum within Google Arts & Culture
Media related to George Eastman Museum at Wikimedia Commons
Official websites
Guides
Coordinates: 43°09′08″N 77°34′49″W / 43.152147°N 77.580278°W
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- Museums in Rochester, New York
- Historic house museums in New York (state)
- Houses in Rochester, New York
- Photography museums and galleries in the United States
- Art museums and galleries in New York (state)
- Biographical museums in New York (state)
- Kodak
- Film archives in the United States
- Photo archives in the United States
- Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)
- National Register of Historic Places in Rochester, New York
- National Historic Landmarks in New York (state)
- Museums established in 1949
- 1949 establishments in New York (state)
- Georgian Revival architecture in New York (state)