This display features material from across the Archives & Library collections at the Paul Mellon Centre. It demonstrates how various histories of British art and architecture can be told through the unique and sometimes unexpected items held here. The material was selected by staff currently working in the department and includes objects chosen because they are particularly inspiring, unusual, illustrative or hold personal resonance.
The Archive material – chosen from the collections of a stained-glass expert, biographer, gallerist and architectural historian – reflects the recent widening of the Centre’s acquisition policy, which now encompasses a range of diverse voices working in the field of British art. It also reveals the assorted formats through which their narratives are told.
The Library items demonstrate the range of material acquired through donation in recent years. This activity increasingly augments and shapes the library’s holdings, allowing us to broaden our collecting to encompass new subject areas and forms of publishing. This includes rare books, manufacturers’ trade catalogues and the exhibition output of a single artist as demonstrated in the display.
In total, the Centre's holdings now comprise nearly fifty separate archives and more than 50,000 books, exhibition catalogues and auction catalogues. The tiny selection contained in these cases, illustrates the enormous research potential afforded by the material. It also highlights the element of discovery involved in the everyday work of Archive & Library staff.
We encourage anyone interested to begin their own journey of discovery using our holdings. Information about how to access the Centre’s collections can be found on our website.
Correspondence, Wertheim Archive
It was difficult to pick only one item from the captivating series of letters we hold between Lucy Wertheim (1883–1971) and the artist Basil ‘Benny’ Rákóczi (1908–1979). From 1938 until Lucy’s death in 1971, the pair corresponded continuously, navigating the often critical and precarious world of art, sharing many personal stories of joy and loss – and everything in between – along the way. Rákóczi never achieved high levels of fame in his lifetime, but Lucy always remained a fervent supporter of his with much of their correspondence illustrating this. I chose this letter and extract as it richly demonstrates Lucy’s passion for her role as patron, and her assertion at the importance of her voice in the art world, despite frequent critical opposition. Ultimately, this series of letters – which it feels a privilege to read – provides an intimate insight into a beautiful friendship. Phoebe Benfield
2 TN2, Letter from Lucy Wertheim to Basil Rákóczi, dated 17 October 1944, Lucy Wertheim Archive
3 TN3, Photograph of Lucy Wertheim by Lafayette, 1938, Lucy Wertheim Archive Kindly donated by Philippe and Lucilla Garner, 2023
Sketch, MacCarthy Archive
I’ve selected a hand-drawn birthday card from the British artist David Gentleman to the acclaimed biographer and cultural historian Fiona MacCarthy. MacCarthy’s output as a biographer was awe-inspiring. Always with a focus on art and design, she covered subjects from William Morris to Walter Gropius. She is perhaps best known for her groundbreaking biography of the controversial artist Eric Gill.
The MacCarthy Archive is correspondence-heavy, which reveals the networks she created to develop her craft. During her research, she corresponded with numerous individuals, including artists, scholars, art historians and friends.
This card was filed into MacCarthy’s general correspondence, and this charming drawing depicts her straddling two pillars – culture and history. The drawing perfectly encapsulates MacCarthy’s work as a cultural historian and her research interests. It also encapsulates the expanded direction of our archives collection policy, where we are seeking to collect archives of individuals who wouldn’t necessarily deem themselves to be ‘art historians’.
Callaghan
Fiona
4 TN1, Birthday card, 2013, Fiona MacCarthy Archive
Kindly donated by Fiona MacCarthy’s son, Corin Mellor, 2023
Database, Kerney Archive
Publicity Album, Wertheim Archive
When I first turned the pages of this album of publicity material, I was immediately captivated: covering exhibitions of works across all mediums and genres, it is impressive in scope. However, it was the heterogeneity of the artists that I found most engaging: alongside respected names, the cuttings also concern naive and amateur practitioners of every nationality, male and female, and from all walks of life.
The album is part of the recently acquired archive of Lucy Wertheim (1883–1971), a collector, patron and gallerist. It is open on pages that illustrate the diversity of her concerns: the left-hand page focused on an exhibition of the Twenties Group, which promoted artists below thirty years of age and included Victor Pasmore and Barbara Hepworth among its members; and the right-hand page on an exhibition of female beauty by largely unknown individuals.
The album illustrates the recent widening of the Centre’s archive collecting policy, demonstrating the breadth and perhaps unexpected nature of the material held here. Charlotte
When I learnt that the Centre was considering acquiring a database on English stained glass and church architecture, I was very excited. It was the Centre’s first born-digital acquisition, presenting me with an opportunity to work with obsolete hardware and software. The database was created by Dr Michael Kerney (1934–2022), an acknowledged authority on the subject. From 1992–2022, he visited churches across the UK, meticulously recording details of the stained glass he saw. This information – which alongside location and subject matter often included details of maker, colour, glazing and restoration – was transcribed by Kerney into a Paradox system database on his personal laptop. Every entry was also linked to citations from a variety of published periodicals, rare primary sources and archive material. In total there are 45 data tables. The most unique and valuable is titled SLIDES & NOTES, and contains descriptions of the 7,000 images, reproduced as colour photographic slides, taken by Kerney during his church visits and preserved in the archive.
Pawel Jaskulski
5 TN1, Michael Kerney Archive, Personal Laptop IBM ThinkPad R40e circa 2003
6 TN2, Michael Kerney Archive, Notebook September 2005–June 2008
7 TN3, Michael Kerney Archive, Box of Colour Photographic Slides (4465–6497) Kindly donated by the estate of the late Dr Michael P. Kerney, 2023
Posters, Stamp Archive
As the project archivist currently working on cataloguing the Gavin Stamp Archive, one of the aspects I have found most fascinating is the depth to which Stamp was working across multiple fields: as an academic, lecturer, activist, journalist and broadcaster. In addition to these roles, Stamp also identified as a graphic artists and designer, joining the Art Workers Guild (AWG) in 1973. Founded in 1884 by a group of British painters, sculptors, architects and designers associated with the Arts & Crafts movement, the AWG aims to support the visual arts and crafts through creating a network and uniting craftsmen, artists and designers of various disciplines. Here, I have focused on Stamp’s role as a graphic artist and designer, selecting three posters from the Gavin Stamp Archive that illustrate how Stamp used his creative talent as a powerful tool to communicate his ideas. These posters not only showcase his artistic skill but also demonstrate how he effectively married visual design with his roles as an academic, teacher, campaigner and journalist. Hannah Jones
Trade catalogues,
Book, Sewell Library
Exhibition catalogues, Petherbridge Library
I first encountered Deanna Petherbridge’s (1939–2024) drawings near the start of my graduate traineeship in 2024 when I had the privilege of curating a selection of Archive and Library material for a Deanna Petherbridge legacy event at the Centre. As these exhibition catalogues from our Library show, Petherbridge’s artwork was typically characterised by a monochrome colour palette and bold geometric patterns. This is not the usual style of art that I would gravitate towards; however, as I began to delve into the material that we hold on her at the Centre, I developed a deep admiration for the artwork, and the artist herself. Her drawings, which often portray contemporary wars and political events, are arresting, emotionally charged, and incredibly powerful. Petherbridge had a varied career as a writer, educationalist, and curator, all of which is captured in her Archive. But I think this photograph from the Archive encapsulates how I
