Collection Guide
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Simon (Michael and Carol) collection of Hungarian photography
2011.M.8
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Contributing Institution:
Special Collections
Title: Michael and Carol Simon collection of Hungarian photography
Creator:
Rosti, Pál, 1830-1874
Creator:
Pécsi, Jósef
Creator:
Vadas, Ernő, 1899-1962
Creator:
Simon, Carol
Creator:
Albertini, Béla
Creator:
Simon, Michael
Creator:
Féner, Tamás
Creator:
Erdélyi, Mór, 1866-1934
Creator:
Angelo Funk, Pál, 1894-1974
Creator:
Kincses, Károly
Creator:
Hemző, Károly
Creator:
Kálmán, Kata, 1909-1978
Creator:
Klösz, György
Creator:
Korniss, Péter
Identifier/Call Number: 2011.M.8
Physical Description:
29.3 Linear Feet
(38 boxes, 1 flat-file folder)
Date (inclusive): 1850s-2009
Physical Location: Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the
catalog record for this collection. Click here for the
access policy .
Abstract: Assembled by Michael Simon during his research on Hungarian photography, this extensive collection of photographs documents
the development of the medium with a range of photographic processes and the history of the art form in Hungary. Through photography
the collection also documents Hungary's tumultuous history over the course of almost 150 years.
Language of Material: Collection material is in Hungarian and English.
Open for use by qualified researchers, except audio visual materials, which are unavailable until reformatted.
Biographical / Historical Note
Michael Simon, collector, art historian and photographer, was born in 1936 in Budapest, Hungary. His father died during World
War II, and he and his mother emigrated to the United States in 1956. He studied at the Technical University of Budapest and
Pennsylvania State University. Michael Simon married his wife, Carol in 1961. Simon worked in advertising as an editorial
photographer before accepting a position as professor of art at Beloit College, Wisconsin, in 1968 where he taught courses
on photography. Simon then earned his Masters of Fine Arts from Rochester Institute of Technology and eventually became chairman
of the department of Art & Art History at Beloit. During a sabbatical from Beloit College in 1977, Simon began his project
to comprehensively research the history of Hungarian photography. He interviewed photographers and visited many libraries
and museum collections, nationally and internationally. Over 25 years, his research resulted in a significant collection of
photographs by Hungarian photographers. Often the photographs were gifts from an artist or an institution. Simon's research
culminated in the publication of his book,
Összehasonltó Magyar Fotótörténet.
Simon's other accomplishments include teaching at the Art Institute of Chicago as a visiting artist. He served in the Midwest
Region of The Society for Photographic Education and eventually chaired the national association.
Simon also has maintained a personal photography practice which has continued throughout his academic career. His work has
been exhibited regularly.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection chronicles the history of photography in Hungary for over one hundred years through photographs taken by both
celebrated and lesser-known photographers. The Simons built the collection over 25 years while conducting research on the
history of Hungarian photography. It is one of the most extensive collections of Hungarian photography outside of Hungary.
Series I is the photograph collection containing work by over 1,000 photographs. Photographers represented include: Tamás
Féner, Károly Hemző, Kata Kálmán, György Klösz, Péter Korniss, József Pécsi, Pál Rosti and Ernő Vadas. Photographic subjects
range from landscape, cityscape, portraiture, and abstraction to candid moments of suffering, labor and celebration. Photographic
processes include gelatin silver, albumen, and chromogenic prints and color slides. A number of cartes-de-visite and cabinet
cards are also included in the collection. Simon accessioned each photograph in his collection assigning a "mat number" as
a unique identification for each work.
Series II comprises the bulk of Simon's research on Hungarian photography including his meticulous research indices. His correspondence
and audio interviews with photographers and historians are filed here. Parts of Simon's typescript are retained in this series
as well as correspondence relating to securing photograph copyrights, editing and publishing of the book. Series II also contains
ephemera spanning 60 years, including exhibition announcements and small gallery publications for Hungarian photographers,
and a number of recorded class lectures.
Gift of Michael and Carol Simon. Acquired in 2011.
The collection was processed and cataloged by Laura Schroffel in 2013.
Michael and Carol Simon collection of Hungarian photography, 1850s-2009, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession
no. 2011.M.8
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2011m8
Arranged in two series: Series I. Photographs, 1850s-1990; Series II. Papers, 1932-2009.
Contact
Library Reproductions and Permissions .
Selected items from Sereis II. have been digitized.
Connect to digital collection. Digital images are provided for study purposes only and are available only to on-site readers and Getty staff.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Photography -- Hungary -- History
Audiocassettes
Cartes-de-visite
Cabinet photographs
Color photographs
Postcards
Photography, Artistic
Albumen prints
Color slides
Ephemera
Photographs -- Collectors and collecting
Gelatin silver prints
Photographers -- Hungary -- Interviews