Archives and Library

For the first half of the year, Archives and Library staff were engaged with traditional professional activities such as acquisition, cataloguing and running a public service and outreach programme. Building the public service was a key emphasis after a period of closure for building work. The number of in-person visits to the Public Study Room was slightly up on the previous year; however, the number of new readers registered was almost double, indicating that the Archives and Library are appealing to wider audiences. Likewise, whilst visits to the Archives and Library pages on the Centre’s website remained at a steady level, visits to the PMC catalogue data exported to external websites (such as Archives HUB) increased by a third.

In March 2020, the Archives and Library closed to the public, along with the rest of the Centre, due to the coronavirus pandemic. During the closure, staff prioritised various archive and library cataloguing projects, such as cataloguing a collection of Leicester Galleries catalogues. Providing assistance to readers unable to consult the Centre’s material was also a key concern. Following the initial lockdown period, Archives and Library staff made scheduled visits to the Centre where – amongst other key things –they were able to carry out research and make digital copies of material for researchers. Staff ensured they liaised with other archives and libraries, as well as professional bodies, throughout this period, in order to keep up to date with relevant responses to coronavirus. This allowed staff to rework all our procedures so as to allow us to reopen to the public when safe to do so.

Photo Archive Project

Archives and Library staff played a significant role in the project to digitise the Centre’s Photographic Archive. They worked alongside the Digital Manager attending meetings of PHAROS (the International Photographic Archive consortium); taking a key role in addressing copyright, contractual and other permissions issues; and planning and hosting an International Copyright Workshop.

Drawing Room Displays 2019–2020

There were only two Drawing Room Displays this year due to the closure of the Centre in March 2020. The first, curated by the Centre’s Sarah Victoria Turner, drew from the Peter and Renate Nahum donation and was accompanied by a Facebook Live Tour by Sarah in October 2019. The second, curated by Mark Hallett, drew on the Centre’s institutional archive. Bryony BotwrightRance was responsible for overseeing and coordinating both displays and their accompanying booklets: Modern Art and Publishing between 1935 and 1955: The Peter & Renate Nahum Gift (23 September 2019 to 17 January 2020) and Making the Catalogue Raisonné (3 February to 15 May 2020, and ongoing).

Staff

Anthony Day’s contract was extended for a nine-month period and during this time he completed cataloguing the professional papers of Paul Oppé. Comprising 35 boxes of material in total and including correspondence, photographs, journals, diaries and assorted research material, the resulting catalogue includes 581 detailed records. The descriptions were published online on the Centre’s website; Archives Hub; the National Archives’ Discovery catalogue; and Archives Portal Europe, in June 2020.

Lucy Kelsall was appointed as Oppé library cataloguer in July 2019. She completed the cataloguing of the Paul Oppé library collection, a total of well over 1,000 books, exhibition and auction catalogues and journals, dating from 1540 to the mid-twentieth century. Catalogue records for relevant titles were submitted to the English Short-Title Catalogue (ESTC). She also embarked on cataloguing the Brinsley Ford collection of eighteenth-century and later Grand Tour travel guides, donated to the Centre in 2017 by the collector’s family.

Archives and Library staff again took part in ‘History Day’ at Senate House. This one-day event held in November was a great success, introducing the Centre’s Research Collections and activities to new audiences.

In addition, staff continued to provide talks and tours of the research collections and Drawing Room Displays to a broad variety of audiences, to support both the wider activities of the Centre and the library and archive professional initiatives more generally. Activities supported included, but were not limited to, the Bedford Square Festival, Yale Graduate Summer School, the British Records Association AGM, and a second Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-thon.

Library

A total of 662 new books and exhibition catalogues were acquired and accessioned during the year.

As well as newly published books, exhibition catalogues, journals and auction catalogues acquired by purchase and gift throughout the year, the library received two major donated collections.

The Fleming-Wyfold Art Foundation generously offered its comprehensive library on Scottish art and artists to the Centre. A total of 250 books and exhibition catalogues were donated in February 2020.

Peter and Renate Nahum followed up previous donations of material with a collection of 420 exhibition catalogues from the Leicester Galleries. Dating from 1906 to 1977, this amounts to a third of the total exhibition output published by this important London gallery.

In addition, a set of Master Drawings journals was donated by the Athenaeum Library in September 2019, and in October the Wilson Centre for Photography again donated a number of books on photography.

Two previously received donations were accessioned and fully catalogued during the year: the Paul Oppé library (1,194 items) and the Brinsley Ford Grand Tour library (188 items). The Peter and Renate Nahum Leicester Galleries collection (422 items) was also catalogued. Catalogues of the Paul Oppé (professional papers) and Brian Sewell Archives were also completed and the resulting descriptions published online.

Archive

Six archive collections were offered to the Centre from private donors during the year. Following careful assessment against the Centre’s published Archive Collections Statement policy and, in some cases, an on-site appraisal, four were declined. One collection was secured for the Centre as a bequest, while the other, the Humphrey Waterfield Archive, was kindly donated by William Waterfield and Judith Pillsbury.

Humphrey Waterfield (1908–1971), a trained artist, was also an accomplished gardener, developing his skills initially at Hill Pasture in Broxted, Essex – the garden he began to construct in 1936 – and subsequently at the Clos du Peyronnet in Menton-Garavan on the Côte d’Azur. His papers comprise diaries, letters and sketchbooks. The items complement material in the Giles Waterfield Archive acquired by the Centre in 2017.

Cataloguing of the Frank Simpson Archive was completed, and the resulting descriptions published online on the Centre’s website; Archives Hub; the National Archives’ Discovery catalogue; and Archives Portal Europe, in June 2020.

Institutional Archive

Archive staff continued the institution-wide records audit begun in 2018. Working with relevant staff across the Centre, they reviewed record-keeping practices relating to both HR and the Director’s activities. Record-keeping tools were updated, and records were destroyed or transferred to the Archive in accordance with best practice.

Archive staff also began training in the implementation of Preservica, a system designed to assist with the challenges of preserving electronic records, but it was difficult to continue this in a remote environment and therefore the initiative has been postponed until 2021.

Gdpr

The Archivist & Records & Data Protection Manager continued to undertake a thorough review of the personal information managed by the Centre. Working with relevant staff, GDPR practices in relation to various Centre initiatives –including the Write on Art, Country House and Photo Archive projects – were reviewed and practices updated to ensure compliance with the legislation. In addition, GDPR-related queries and issues arising from everyday working practices across the Centre were addressed. An initiative to review and streamline how contact information is collected, held and managed across the Centre was begun, but it was difficult to continue this in a remote environment and therefore this initiative has been postponed until 2021.