Art Archives

The Swiss Art Archives at a glance

  • Specialist archives with over a million items on Swiss artists and institutions
  • Letters, photographs, sketchbooks and diaries, working papers and exhibition records
  • Documents relating to 20,000 artists and institutions  
  • 300 fonds relating to artists and institutions
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Inside the Art Archives: desks and depot

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Archivist’s Choice: Archive staff present selected items from the Document and Fonds Collections (in the photo: Deborah Favre with documents from Alberto Giacometti)

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Archivist’s Choice: Archive staff present selected items from the Document and Fonds Collections (in the photo: Michael Schmid with letters from Giovanni Giacometti)

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Archives on Stage: Scholars researching in the Art Archives give talks about their findings (in the photo: Roman Kurzmeyer lectures on Aldo Walker)

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Archives on Stage: Scholars researching in the Art Archives give talks about their findings (in the photo: Medea Hoch lectures on Sophie Taeuber-Arp)

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The depot for artists’ fonds with the mobile shelving for archiving papers

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A filing cabinet with folders of documents on artists, institutions and keywords

Information for visitors

The Swiss Art Archives publishes its inventory online in the archive information system ANTON. Digitised documents and references to the holdings can be found in the «Art Archives» and «Documents/Holdings» sections of the SIK-ISEA research portal. The Archives’ principal task is to help academics, curators, authors and collectors trace documents, make use of sources and conduct research in other archives. The Swiss Art Archives make their collection accessible by posting online presentations of key fonds (Virtual Showcases), digitising archive materials for publication in the research portal of SIK-ISEA, and giving lectures and guided tours. To complement the collection, the Archives conduct interviews with young artists in Switzerland and make these available on the Web. The Swiss Art Archives are open free of charge to anyone wishing to undertake research and are committed to supporting users’ work as best they can.
Following prior request, documents are brought out for inspection at the desks provided on site. Visitors can access the Internet free of charge. Users can take photographs of documents, as long as this is not excluded by copyright or data protection. Professional reproductions can be ordered from the Archives. Application may also be made to borrow documents for exhibition purposes.
Rules


Contact in Zurich

SIK-ISEA
Swiss Art Archives
Zollikerstrasse 32
P.O. Box
CH-8032 Zurich

T +41 44 388 51 04; kunstarchiv@sik-isea.ch
Monday to Friday: 1.30–5.30 pm, by appointment

 

Contact in Lausanne

SIK-ISEA
Antenne romande
UNIL-Dorigny, Anthropole
Bureaux 4160-4163
CH-1015 Lausanne

T +41 21 692 30 96; archivesdelart@sik-isea.ch
Monday to Friday: 1.30–5.30 pm, by appointment

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