Originally Posted by
David A. Goldfarb
Just to add to what Tim said, some of those images can become archives of interest in themselves. The Frick Collection in New York and the Getty Research Institute in L.A. collect things like study photographs (originally for students who couldn't travel to see original works) and slide libraries. Sometimes these are the only records of works that have been lost, stolen, or destroyed or they can be valuable to conservators who are restoring a work (not only the works reproduced in the archive, but also works by the same artists).
The collections of reproductions can be interested in themselves as a record of the history of collection, patronage, or the provenance of art works. The Getty, for instance, has a collection of documentary photographs from the central collection point for the repatriation of art stolen by the Nazis during WWII. The Frick takes a particular interest in distinguished collectors and patrons of the arts.
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