The Photoarchive was the founding collection of the Frick Art Reference Library (renamed
Frick Art Research Library in 2024). It was originally housed in the
Frick mansion’s bowling alley. At the time of its inception, there was a growing body of art historical literature, but texts rarely included reproductions. Although many scholars had personal image libraries, the Frick Art Reference Library was one of the first institutions to afford public access to a centralized collection of photographic reproductions. In planning the Photoarchive, Helen Clay Frick consulted with
Sir Robert Witt and Mary Helene Witt, whose personal library of reproductions in London was her most important source of inspiration. She also turned to American and European art scholars, including
Fiske Kimball and
Bernard Berenson. For decades, the library acquired photographs through agents based in Europe such as Clotilde Brière-Mismé, Mario Sansoni, and
Walter W.S. Cook. From 1922 to 1967, Miss Frick organized expeditions of library staff to photograph works of art in Europe and across the United States, many in private or little-known public collections and largely inaccessible to the public and unlikely to be published. Several of the United States photographic campaigns can be explored in an interactive digital map on the Frick's website, which uses GIS technology. The Photoarchive continues to acquire photographs and digital images, focusing on works of art that are unpublished or by women, minority groups, or otherwise little-known artists. When possible, it collects multiple images for each work of art that show it in different physical states, as well as rarely seen preparatory drawings, alternate versions, copies, and forgeries. Many reproductions acquired by the Photoarchive document works of art that subsequently have been altered, lost, or destroyed. Its staff actively researches the collection to maintain current information on changes of attribution, current repository, and provenance, and invites contributions from collectors, institutions, and art historians. ==Access and Digitization==