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INVENTORY OF THE GEORGE PÉLISSIER PHOTOGRAPHS AND PAPERS, 1872-1925
94.R.66
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Title: Georges Pélissier photographs and papers
Dates: ca. 1872-1925
Collection number: 94.R.66
Creator:
Pélissier, Georges Constantin
Extent:
4,350 items
(53 boxes)
Repository:
Getty Research Institute
Research Library
Special Collections and Visual Resources
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, California 90049-1688
Abstract:
Art historian, lecturer, and cultural advisor to Tiffany and Company. In his wide travels, Pélissier both collected and created
photographic images on diverse subjects, including buildings, monuments, gardens, city views, decorative arts, as well as
family and friends. The images in this collection represent various formats and processes, including stereographs, lantern
slides, glass negatives, and rare Lumière autochromes. Materials used to present, preserve, and repair stereo views are included,
as well as some original stereo view boxes. The small representation of Pélissier’s writing includes photocopies of several
articles and partial essays, mostly concerning decorative arts.
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Language: Collection material in French
Open for use by qualified researchers.
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Library Rights and Reproductions
Georges Pélissier photographs and papers, ca. 1900-1925, Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Accession no. 94.R.66.
The Getty acquired this collection in 1994.
Michael Baker began processing the collection in mid-August 1995. Much of the collection was sent to the conservation lab
for rehousing, and so glass photographs could be cleaned and re-bound. Processing was completed, and the finding aid written,
in late December 1995.
Georges Pélissier (1865-1931) was employed by Tiffany and Co., in Paris and New York, as a cultural advisor and purchasing
clerk. An art historian and lecturer, Pélissier published many writings on decorative objects, art theory, and artists (see
the following bibliography). During extensive travels, he collected a substantial number of photographs ranging in subject
from decorative arts and architecture, to portraits. Georges Pélissier dedicated the majority of his life's work to the promotion
and study of the decorative arts.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Georges Pélissier archive contain photographs and some photocopies of published writings. The articles pertain to decorative
arts, sculptures, and artists. The more than 4,000 photographs represent five different formats: photoprints on paper, black
and white glass stereographs, black and white lantern slides, autochromes, and glass negatives. The majority of the photographs
are of different places, many of which were subsequently altered in the course of two world wars, and a number of images of
decorative arts and sculptures. There is also a large number of portraits of Pélissier's family and friends. The remainder
of the collection consists of a sample of the boxes for the stereo views and a few of the original supplies used to preserve
the plates. The collection's arrangement generally reflects Pélissier's organization, particularly in the photographic component.
Arrangement
The collection is organized in eight series:
Series I. Published articles, 1907-1908, undated
Series II. Personal photoprints, ca. 1900-1925
Series III. Stereo views, ca. 1900-1925
Series IV. Lantern slides, ca. 1872-1925
Series V. Autochromes, ca. 1907-1914
Series VI. Negatives, ca. 1900-1920
Series VII. Original boxes for stereo views, 1904(?), undated
Series VIII. Photographic supplies, 1920-1925, undated
Pélissier, George Constantin
Tiffany and Company
Color photography
Color photography—History
Decorative arts
Decorative arts—Europe
Decorative arts—France
Decorative arts—History
Family portraits
Museum exhibits
Photography
Photography—Europe
Photography—France
Photography—Negatives
Photography—Processing
Europe—Description and travel
United States—Description and travel
Autochromes
Glass negatives—20th Century
Lantern slides
Photographs
Photographs, Original
Photographs—20th Century
Stereographic prints
Sterographs—20th Century