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Harold Allen Egyptomania Collection

A work made of black and white photographic prints, black and white slides, black and white negatives, block prints, books, ceramics, color photographic prints, color slides, color negatives, correspondence, commercial catalogs, drawings, ephemera, etching, glass, greeting cards, newspaper clippings, postcards, printed papers, published articles, realia, research materials, screen prints, serials, stereographs, and textiles..

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  • A work made of black and white photographic prints, black and white slides, black and white negatives, block prints, books, ceramics, color photographic prints, color slides, color negatives, correspondence, commercial catalogs, drawings, ephemera, etching, glass, greeting cards, newspaper clippings, postcards, printed papers, published articles, realia, research materials, screen prints, serials, stereographs, and textiles..

Date:

c.1920s-2015 (bulk 1950-1988)

Artist:

Harold Allen (1912-1999)

About this artwork

This wide-ranging collection of material records the development of the 19th- and 20th-century Egyptian Revival movement in the United States and Europe. Photographs and slides taken by Allen, a professional photographer, between 1946 and his death in 1998, document the use of Egyptian themes and motifs in such architectural forms as movie palaces, civic and academic buildings, Masonic buildings, and mausoleums. The collection also documents Egyptian themes in decorative arts and sculpture, including cemetery and public monuments, furniture, Wedgwood ceramics, and 19th-century American pressed glass. All images are accompanied by extensive research notes and bibliographies, when available. Also included is a varied collection of objects encompassing Egyptian motifs in 20th-century popular culture, such as greeting cards, toys and games, popular fiction, and kitchen and bed linens. A detailed clipping file tracks both scholarly advancement and popular cultures appropriation of Egyptian themes.

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Collection access:
Collections may be accessed in the Franke Reading Room of the Research Center at The Art Institute of Chicago, by appointment only. For further information, consult the FAQ.

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Contact the Ryerson and Burnham Art and Architecture Archives:
archives@artic.edu

Status

Currently Off View

Department

AIC Archives

Artist

Harold Allen (Collected by)

Title

Harold Allen Egyptomania Collection

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1920–2015

Medium

Black and white photographic prints, black and white slides, black and white negatives, block prints, books, ceramics, color photographic prints, color slides, color negatives, correspondence, commercial catalogs, drawings, ephemera, etching, glass, greeting cards, newspaper clippings, postcards, printed papers, published articles, realia, research materials, screen prints, serials, stereographs, and textiles.

Dimensions

108 boxes, 7 oversize portfolios and flatfile materials: W.: 2468.9 cm (972 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Harold Allen, 1996.

Reference Number

1997.1

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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