Photography Collections Database

Record Detail

Call Number:

PH-00079

Collection Name:

Ida Kar Photography Collection

Creator:

Cox, John, active late 1950s-1960s

Kar, Ida, 1908-1974 (1908 - 1974)

Preston, Julieta, 1943-2018

Spek, Klaus, active 1960s

No. of Items:

124 photographs

Span Dates:

1953-1964

Description:

The collection consists of 124 gelatin silver prints by Ida Kar (British, 1908-1974, born Russia) dating from 1953 to 1964. The collection consists largely of portrait photographs featuring prominent men and women associated with the arts, including painters, sculptors, authors, poets, playwrights, composers, and museum directors. These photographs capture Kar's signature style of photographing her subjects in their familiar surroundings relying largely on the natural light of the location, as well as her belief "that a picture naturally dictates its right size and shape" whether that be 20 x 24 inches or over 6 feet. Notable sitters include Henry Moore, Somerset Maugham, T. S. Eliot, Brendan Behan, Barbara Hepworth, Noel Coward, Cecil Beaton, Man Ray, Marc Chagall, Georges Braque, Hans Arp, Moyano, Le Corbusier, Alberto Giacometti, and Jean-Paul Sartre among others.

The collection is subdivided into four lots:
964:0081:0001-0037 -- Loose prints, 1953-1962;
964:0364:0001-0077 -- Exhibition prints from "Ida Kar: Artist with a camera, 1953-1962";
964:0365:0001-0006 -- Loose prints of the Whitechapel Art Gallery (London) exhibition in situ, 1960;
964:0366:0001-0004 -- Photographs of Ida Kar by her assistants Julieta Preston (British, 1943-2018) and John Cox (British?, active late 1950s-1960s), and by Klaus Spek (German?, active 1960s), and 1960-1964.

Also present in the collection are clippings and tear sheets feature Kar and her photographs, and catalogs for exhibitions of her work.

Finding Aid URL:

https://norman.hrc.utexas.edu/fasearch/findingAid.cfm?eadid=00273

Location(s):

K Box, Extra Large (964:0081:0006)
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Kar, I., Box 1 (964:0081:0001-0005, 0007-0017)
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Kar, I., Box 2 (964:0081:0019, 0025-0037; 964:0365:0001-0006; 964:0366:0001-0004)
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Kar, I., Box 3 (964:0081:0018, 0020-0022, 0024)
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Flat File (964:0081:0023)
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Vertical storage (964:0364:0001-0077)
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Item(s):

964:0081:0003 -- Kar, Ida, 1908-1974 (1908 - 1974). Georges Braque., 1960. Gelatin silver print, 29.1 x 25.5 cm ; 11 1/2 x 10 in .

964:0081:0006 -- Kar, Ida, 1908-1974 (1908 - 1974). Barbara Hepworth, July 1961. Gelatin silver print, .

964:0081:0011 -- Kar, Ida, 1908-1974 (1908 - 1974). Man Ray., 1954. Gelatin silver print, 30 x 25.4 cm ; 11 4/5 x 10 in .

964:0081:0014 -- Kar, Ida, 1908-1974 (1908 - 1974). Eugene Ionesco., 1960. Gelatin silver print, 29.3 x 24.3 cm ; 11 1/2 x 9 3/5 in .

964:0081:0015 -- Kar, Ida, 1908-1974 (1908 - 1974). [Alberto] Giacometti., 1954. Gelatin silver print, 30.1 x 25.7 cm ; 11 9/10 x 10 1/10 in .

964:0081:0016 -- Kar, Ida, 1908-1974 (1908 - 1974). William Scott., 1961 Sept.. Gelatin silver print, 24.9 x 28.7 cm ; 9 4/5 x 11 3/10 in .

964:0081:0019 -- Kar, Ida, 1908-1974 (1908 - 1974). Marc Chagall [unmounted]., 1954. Gelatin silver print, 24.7 x 30 cm ; 9 7/10 x 11 4/5 in .

964:0081:0023 -- Kar, Ida, 1908-1974 (1908 - 1974). Cecil Beaton, 1960. Gelatin silver print, .

964:0081:0032 -- Kar, Ida, 1908-1974 (1908 - 1974). Helmut Gernsheim., 1962 Jan. 13. Gelatin silver print, 24.5 x 29.8 cm ; 9 3/5 x 11 7/10 in .

See Also:

Literary Files: Manning, Olivia (980:0102:0010) 6G:LF:Manning, Olivia

Literary Files: London Magazine (980:0097:0002) 6G:LF:London Magazine

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