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INVENTORY OF THE WIM SWAAN PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTION,
1951-1995
96.P.21
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Title: Wim Swaan photograph collection
Date (inclusive): 1951-1995
Collection number: 96.P.21
Creator:
Swaan, Wim
Extent:
60 linear ft.
(150
boxes)
Repository:
Getty Research Institute
Special Collections and Visual Resources
Research Library
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, CA
90049-1688
Abstract: A comprehensive collection of ca. 48,000 photographic prints, transparencies, and negatives in black and white and color by
a
self-taught photographer and practicing architect who traveled widely, documenting the art, architecture, and landscape
of
ancient and disappearing cultures in the Middle East, Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the Western United States. Also
included are some letters with publishers, agents, colleagues, and friends, sales accounts, a manuscript, some research notes,
and a copy of his master's thesis.
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Language: Collection material in English
Open for use by qualified researchers.
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Library Rights and Reproductions
Wim Swaan photograph collection, 1951-1995, Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Accession no. 96.P.21.
Gift of the Willem A. Swaan Estate, received 1996. One binder of images of Latin American sites received in 1999. One box
of images of Latin American sites received in 2000.
Collection received in 1996 was processed by Lynda Bunting in 1998. Two boxes of material received in 1999 and 2000 have been
added to the collection (Series II, boxes 149, 150) but are unprocessed at this date.
Swaan, Wim.
Lost cities of Asia: Ceylon, Burma, Cambodia. London:
Elek, 1966.
Hambly, Gavin.
Cities of Mughul India: Delhi, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri.
London: Elek, 1968.
Swaan, Wim.
The late middle ages. London: Elek, 1977 (2
copies).
Anderson, William.
Castles of Europe: from Charlemagne to the
Renaissance
. London: Elek, 1970.
Pollitt, J.J.
Art in the Hellenistic age. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1986.
Brooke, Christopher and Roger Highfield.
Oxford & Cambridge. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1988.
Tucci, Giuseppe.
Tibet. London: Elek, 1967.
Nims, C.F.
Thebes of the Pharaohs. London: Elek, 1965.
1927: Born Willem Albertus Swaan September 6 in South
Africa.
1950: Bachelor of Architecture, University of the Witwatersrand,
Johannesburg.
1950-1951: Travelled in Europe and worked for Maxwell
Fry and Jane Drew in London on the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
1952-1960: Returned to South Africa. Worked for Andrews
and Niegeman in Cape Town. Moved to H. H. Le Roith and Partners, Johannesburg,
first as an employee, later as partner in charge of design. Projects: apartment
buildings, schools, industrial and commercial buildings.
1958: Master of Architecture, University of the Witwatersrand,
Johannesburg. Thesis: "Low-cost housing: a survey of economic and sub-economic
housing for the lower-income groups with special reference to housing European
families with children in South Africa," written while Swaan worked as a
full-time architect for Le Roith and Partners. Later attended the Yale School
of Organization and Management and the Harvard University Graduate School of
Design.
1959-1960: Studied Zen Buddhism and researched Japanese
architecture and landscape design at Chotokuin Zen Temple, Kyoto.
1960: Emigrated to London.
1963: Moved to the United States.
1963-1966: Joined Perkins and Will Architects, New
York.
1966: Became a United States citizen.
1966-1968: Sabbatical in Europe.
1971-1972: Eighteen month tour of Europe.
1972-1981: Partner at Perkins and Will.
1975-1981: Vice President at Perkins and
Will.
1981: Director of Health Facilities Planning in Hellmuth, Obata and
Kassabaum's New York office. Oversaw the new Veterans Administration Hospital,
Manhattan, addition, and other large health facilities located throughout the
United States.
1990: Received a special citation from the American Institute of
Architects for distinguished achievement as a historian and photographer of the
art and architecture created by diverse cultures throughout the world.
1994: Retired as Director of Design at Architecture for Health,
Science and Commerce, Tarrytown, NY.
1995: Died October 1 of pulmonary fibrosis.
Scope and Content of Collection
A comprehensive collection of photographs, ca. 34,453 black and white negatives, contact
prints and enlargements and ca. 13,453 color transparencies and prints, by a
self-taught photographer and practicing architect who traveled widely and
published many large-format books devoted to the art and architecture of
ancient and disappearing cultures. Included are some letters with publishers, agents, colleagues and friends, sales statements,
his notes, a manuscript, and a copy of his master's thesis.
Most images, taken in situ between 1951-1995,
reflect Swaan's interest in facades, architectural details and decoration.
Strong pictorial subjects include Gothic, Medieval, Baroque and Renaissance
Europe, Islamic Spain and Morocco, Turkey, Egypt and Iran, Ancient Egypt and Greece, Asia,
including India, Pakistan, Tibet, Nepal, Japan, Cambodia and Sri Lanka,
Pre-Columbian and Colonial Latin America, and the landscape of the American
West.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in three series:
Series I.
Book projects, 1963-1995
(boxes 1-55, 67-111, 148**);
Series
II. Other photographs, 1951-1995
(boxes 56-61, 112-150);
Series
III. Papers, 1958-1995
(boxes 62-66).
Acropolis (Athens, Greece)
Architecture—Pictorial works
Architecture—Asis
Architecture—Europe
Architecture—Latin America
Architecture—Middle East
Architecture, Baroque
ArchitectureByzantine—Istanbul
Architecture, Gothic—Europe
Architecture, Hellenistic
Architecture,Islamic
Architecture, Medieval
Architecture, Rococo
Art, Flemish
Art, Hellenistic
Art, Medieval
Castles—Europe
Cathedrals—Europe
Decoration and ornament, Architectural
Decoration and ornament, Islamic
Extinct cities—Mexico
Extinct cities—Asia, Southeastern
Hundred Years War, 1339-1453
Landscape photography—West (U.S.)
Mayas—Antiquities
Medici, House of
Monasteries—Europe
Acropolis (Athens, Greece)
Asia—Antiquities
Copán Site (Honduras)
Europe—Pictorial works
Usfahan (Iran)
Istanbul (Turkey)—Antiquities
Japan—Social life and customs
Machu Picchu Site (Peru)
Mecca (Saudi Arabia)
Mogul Empire
Nepal—Antiquities
Persepolis (Iran)—Antiquities
San Agustín (Huila, Columbia)—Antiquities
South Africa—Pictorial works
Susa (Extinct city)—Antiquities
Thebes (Egypt : Extinct city)
Tibet (China)—Antiquities
Tikal Site (Guatamala)
Tiwanaku Site (Bolivia)
University of Cambridge—Pictorial works
University of Oxford—Pictorial works
Black-and-white prints (photographs)
Color slides
Color transparencies
Contact prints
Diffusion transfer prints
Photographs, Original
Castles of Europe : from Charlemagne to the Renaissance Medici : a great Florentine family Isfahan, pearl of Persia Monastic world Oxford and Cambridge Age of Plantagenet and Valois : the struggle for supremacy, 1328-1498 Flemish cities; their history and art : Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, Brussels Cities of Mughul India : Delhi, Agra and Fatehpur Sikri Morocco : Marrakesh, Fez, Rabat Thebes of the Pharaohs : pattern for every city Constantinople from Byzantium to Istanbul Moorish Spain : Cordoba, Seville, Granada Gothic cathedral Japanese lantern Lost cities of Asia : Ceylon, Pagan, Angkor Late Middle Ages : art and architecture from 1350 to the advent of the Renaissance Tibet : land of snows Baroque and Rococo architecture and decoration