AcquisitionOctober 8, 2020
Getty Research Institute acquires archive of Venezuelan Intellectual and Photographer Alfredo Boulton
Getty Research Institute has acquired the archive of Alfredo Boulton (Venezuelan, 1908-1995) one of the most important defenders of modern art in Latin America and a key intellectual in 20th-century Venezuela.
An art critic, art historian, and photographer, Boulton authored more than 60 publications on the art and historiography of his country. At the same time, he was also a pioneer of modern photography, generating through his images a new cultural definition of Venezuela.
The Alfredo Boulton archive contains approximately 4,000 vintage and original prints, and 20,000 negatives of images taken by Boulton between 1928-1993; vast correspondence with artists, gallerists, collectors, and museums, including letters to and from important figures relating to the art world of Venezuela and beyond, such as Alexander Calder, Alejandro Otero, Jesús Soto, Gio Ponti, Arturo Uslar Pietri, Denise René, and Beaumont Newhall; archives of pre-Hispanic, colonial, and contemporary art in the form of photographs, clippings, research documents, exhibition documents, and substantial artists files pertaining to Boulton’s History of Art; books and catalogs published by Boulton; 25 library cabinet drawers of indexed notes on wills and testaments from the archdiocese of Caracas which Boulton used in his research; collections and provenance records including photos, negatives, and texts documenting artworks classified by collectors (including many works authenticated or identified by Boulton); research materials collected by Boulton on the likenesses of the Simón Bolívar and other historic figures including Antonio José de Sucre, José Antonio Páez, Manuel Saenz, Simón Rodríguez; and personal papers and mementos.
Boulton dedicated 40 years of his life to building a comprehensive analysis of the history of the art of Venezuela from colonial times to his present day, at a time when there was neither prior literature to refer to, nor organized archives and catalogs to research from. He conducted research in ecclesiastic archives for eight years and helped identify many previously anonymous painters of the colonial time.
“With his photography and writings, Alfredo Boulton shaped the art history of his country,” said Idurre Alonso, associate curator of Latin American collections at GRI. “The materials in the Boulton archive give a commanding perspective of the art being produced during his long life and are fundamental for the understanding of Venezuelan art history.”
The archive, assembled by Alfredo Boulton, was purchased from his sole heir, his daughter Sylvia Boulton, by the non-profit Alberto Vollmer Foundation, Inc., in 1995, who lent it to the GRI for study in April 2018. The GRI has now acquired the archive thanks to a partial gift and purchase from the Alberto Vollmer Foundation.
A website (www.fundavollmer.com) provides substantial information both in Spanish and English. The GRI will continue to make the archive available to researchers, connecting with other archives of Latin American art history in the GRI’s holdings. Curator Idurre Alonso is currently researching the archive for a publication and exhibition, scheduled for summer 2023.
An art critic, art historian, and photographer, Boulton authored more than 60 publications on the art and historiography of his country. At the same time, he was also a pioneer of modern photography, generating through his images a new cultural definition of Venezuela.
The Alfredo Boulton archive contains approximately 4,000 vintage and original prints, and 20,000 negatives of images taken by Boulton between 1928-1993; vast correspondence with artists, gallerists, collectors, and museums, including letters to and from important figures relating to the art world of Venezuela and beyond, such as Alexander Calder, Alejandro Otero, Jesús Soto, Gio Ponti, Arturo Uslar Pietri, Denise René, and Beaumont Newhall; archives of pre-Hispanic, colonial, and contemporary art in the form of photographs, clippings, research documents, exhibition documents, and substantial artists files pertaining to Boulton’s History of Art; books and catalogs published by Boulton; 25 library cabinet drawers of indexed notes on wills and testaments from the archdiocese of Caracas which Boulton used in his research; collections and provenance records including photos, negatives, and texts documenting artworks classified by collectors (including many works authenticated or identified by Boulton); research materials collected by Boulton on the likenesses of the Simón Bolívar and other historic figures including Antonio José de Sucre, José Antonio Páez, Manuel Saenz, Simón Rodríguez; and personal papers and mementos.
Boulton dedicated 40 years of his life to building a comprehensive analysis of the history of the art of Venezuela from colonial times to his present day, at a time when there was neither prior literature to refer to, nor organized archives and catalogs to research from. He conducted research in ecclesiastic archives for eight years and helped identify many previously anonymous painters of the colonial time.
“With his photography and writings, Alfredo Boulton shaped the art history of his country,” said Idurre Alonso, associate curator of Latin American collections at GRI. “The materials in the Boulton archive give a commanding perspective of the art being produced during his long life and are fundamental for the understanding of Venezuelan art history.”
The archive, assembled by Alfredo Boulton, was purchased from his sole heir, his daughter Sylvia Boulton, by the non-profit Alberto Vollmer Foundation, Inc., in 1995, who lent it to the GRI for study in April 2018. The GRI has now acquired the archive thanks to a partial gift and purchase from the Alberto Vollmer Foundation.
A website (www.fundavollmer.com) provides substantial information both in Spanish and English. The GRI will continue to make the archive available to researchers, connecting with other archives of Latin American art history in the GRI’s holdings. Curator Idurre Alonso is currently researching the archive for a publication and exhibition, scheduled for summer 2023.
