Our Archives and Collections: Art, Archaeology and Architecture

From Degas to de la Torre, Tamayo to Tenniel, and from archaeologist Colin Renfrew to the architects of the Modernist movement, the Eastern Arc partners play host to a rich collection of contemporary, classical and historic artefacts and archives.

As well as works of global importance, we also hold archives that focus on the regional and the local, as well as collections that inform and deepen other areas of our work, such as ‘Society and Politics’ and ‘Comedy, Film and Theatre.’

The list below gives an indication of our special collections and archives in these areas. For more information on the key collections we hold, go to:

• Sainsbury’s Centre for the Visual Arts
• Essex Centre for Art of Latin America
• British Cartoon Archive.

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Archive	Description
Visual Art	Eastern Arc is home to a unique and unrivalled collection of art across the three universities. At UEA, the Sainsbury Centre is one of the most prominent university art galleries in Britain, and a major national centre for the study and presentation of art. Housed in a ground-breaking building designed by Norman Foster, it is home to the extraordinary art collection of Robert and Lisa Sainsbury, as well as the Anderson Collection of Art Nouveau and the University’s Abstract and Constructivist Collection. At Essex, the ESCALA collection holds over 700 artworks from Latin America, and is a resource for staff, students and the public to explore issues around representation, human rights, communication and history. Kent hosts the British Cartoon Archive, which is an invaluable resource for understanding the contemporary response to changes in politics and society, but it also explores the lives of the artists and cartoonists themselves, such as the archive of Giles, which includes his complete studio.
20th Century Architecture	Among its collections relating to architecture, we hold the Pritchard Papers, which provide an insight into the Modern movement of the mid-1930s (and in particular the Isokon Company), the papers of Stefan Muthesisus, who published widely on post-World War II social housing and 1960s university campuses, and a comprehensive collection of Pevsner Art Catalogues.
Vernacular Architecture	Our archives include the CP Davis, Hollman and Muggeridge collections at Kent, which record images of regional mills and windmills, the latter also including a significant holding of photographs relating to church and rural architecture.