artresearch.net
explore, connect and contextualize art histories
artresearch.net is the free, open access discovery platform for the combined collections of PHAROS: The International Association of Photo Archives which provides access to millions of photographs of works of art, and over a century of art historical documentation.
PartnerInstitutions
PHAROS is an international association that currently brings together twelve art historical photo archives based in Europe and North America. Contact us at [email protected]
Bibliotheca Hertziana, Max Planck Institute for Art History
ROME
German Documentation Center for Art History – Bildarchiv Foto Marburg
MARBURG
Fondazione Federico Zeri
BOLOGNA
Frick Photoarchive
NEW YORK
I Tatti, The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies
FLORENCE
Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, Max-Planck-Institute
FLORENCE
Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art
LONDON
National Gallery of Art
WASHINGTON, DC
RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History
THE HAGUE
Yale Center for British Art
NEW HAVEN
Warburg Institute
LONDON
Dumbarton Oaks
WASHINGTON, DC
AboutPHAROS
PHAROS is an international association that currently brings together twelve art historical photo archives based in Europe and North America. It is committed to creating a freely available digital research platform that provides interoperable access to millions of photo archive images and associated scholarly documentation.
Scope
The holdings of the current partners deal primarily with the cultural heritage of Europe and North America. Expanding this scope is a major objective of PHAROS, and we are actively seeking to involve photo archive collections and institutions based in other regions of the world and whose emphasis is on non-Western art and architecture. We recognize that photo archive collections reflect and respond to the interests, biases and tastes of the archivists, librarians and custodians that gathered them together.
Research objectives
The partners of PHAROS maintain that open access to millions of images of works of art and architecture as well as to their metadata will be of immeasurable value to research and teaching for a wide range of art-historical issues and for the humanities in general. Possible areas of research include – but are not limited to – provenance, attribution, iconography, conservation, material culture, exhibition research, publication history, the history of photography and imaging techniques, as well as the history of art history and other disciplines. The project will also foster a greater understanding of the photograph as physical object and its critical role in the dissemination of knowledge. PHAROS aims to provide an essential resource for those engaged with new research methodologies within the framework of digital humanities.
DEAI statement
PHAROS is committed to the values of diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion (DEAI) as well as to cultivating a culture of care, collaboration, and community for all researchers regardless of individual identity or background.
Our organization acknowledges that photo archive collections are shaped by the histories of collecting and creating knowledge about art and are also inextricably linked with the people and institutions that have amassed these data banks of images over many decades. The Eurocentric focus of academic and collecting institutions has been complicit in creating and perpetuating bias. As part of its mission, PHAROS is engaged in scholarly communication and dialogue that contributes to the ongoing work of undoing discriminatory systems based on race, gender, sexuality, class, religion, and ability—both in our organization and in the fields of art history, collecting studies, photography studies, and museology at large.
Governance and Organization
Pharos is registered as a non-profit corporation [501 (c) 3] in the United States. The Association is governed by a Board of Directors who represent each partner institution. The Board employs an Executive Director who reports to the Board, attends to daily operations, and attends all meetings but does not have a vote in Board meetings. The Board also elects executive officers from its membership to govern the Association. At present the Executive Team consists of:
- President: Hubert Locher, Marburg University, DDK – Bildarchiv Foto Marburg
- Treasurer: Kraig Binkowski, Yale Center for British Art
- Secretary: Rembrandt Duits, The Warburg Institute
- Executive Director: Stefanie Schneider, Marburg University
The Association has a number of committees and working groups that are responsible for the formation of the artresearch.net platform and the operation of the Association.
- Editorial Committee
- Finance Committee
- Intellectual Property Working Group
- Membership Committee
- Metadata Working Group
- Research Committee
- Technical Working Group
For inquiries or further information about becoming a member of PHAROS please contact [email protected].
