Carnegie Art Reference Set
Architecture Museum, University of South Australia
Carnegie Corporation of New York,
Series
382
Biography
The Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY) is a U.S. philanthropic foundation established with the vast wealth of Scottish steel magnate and ‘father of American philanthropy’, Andrew Carnegie in 1911. Under the direction of Frederick P. Keppel (1923-1941), the corporation expanded their activities, largely centred on library development and donation of church organs, to include adult education and the arts.
Between 1927 and 1941, the CCNY developed the ‘Commonwealth Program’ (originally the ‘British Dominions and Colonies Fund’), in order to gift church organs, libraries, teaching materials and travel grants to various learning institutions in the British Empire. This included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Africa and Asia.
The history of Carnegie philanthropy throughout the British Empire continues to attract criticism as a form of cultural diplomacy or cultural imperialism, where the desire to secure international relations of strategic importance was the driving force behind grants and assistance in education.
Sources
Carnegie Corporation New York, 'The Carnegie Art Reference Set For Colleges', New York: Rudolf Lesch Fine Arts Inc., 1939.
Collection Description
The Carnegie Art Reference Set for Colleges provides a photographic history of art and, in its entirety, contains 1,500 high quality reproduction photographs, coloured prints and facsimiles, and 200 specially written reference books. The collection is separated into several portfolios of period, including classical, medieval, Renaissance and modern; and medium, such as architecture, sculpture, painting, handicraft and textiles. The Architecture Museum only holds the architecture portfolio of the set. Each image has a fully descriptive label (and unique number which corresponded with handbook details- not avaliable at UniSA). Between 1927 and 1941 the CCNY distributed 69 Art Reference Sets amongst various learning institutions throughout the British Commonwealth, one of which was gifted to the University of Adelaide in 1939 at a cost of $5,000 (this is the partial set now housed at UniSA). The art reference set provided many of Australia's inadequately resourced learning institutions with arts teaching materials, and was further found to improve the teaching of English Literature and History.
Series List
| Series | Description |
| S382 | Art Reference Set |
| S382/1 | Ancient Art |
| S382/1/1 | Egyptian |
| S382/1/2 | Aegean |
| S382/1/3 | Greek |
| S382/1/4 | Roman |
| S382/2 | Medieval Art Before 1000 |
| S382/2/1 | Byzantine |
| S382/2/2 | Early Christian |
| S382/3 | Medieval Art After 1000 |
| S382/3/1 | Late Byzantine |
| S382/3/2 | English Romanesque |
| S382/3/3 | French Romanesque |
| S382/3/4 | German Romanesque |
| S382/3/5 | Italian Romanesque |
| S382/3/6 | Spanish Romanesque |
| S382/3/7 | English Gothic |
| S382/3/8 | Flemish Gothic |
| S382/3/9 | French Gothic |
| S382/3/10 | German Gothic |
| S382/3/11 | Italian Gothic |
| S382/3/12 | Spanish Gothic |
| S382/4 | Aboriginal American Culture |
| S382/4/1 | Mayan |
| S382/5 | Transitional Art to 1850 |
| S382/5/1 | English |
| S382/5/2 | Flemish |
| S382/5/3 | French |
| S382/5/4 | German |
| S382/5/5 | Spanish |
| S382/6 | Renaissance Art |
| S382/6/1 | Italian |
| S382/7 | American Art to 1850 |
| S382/7/1 | Domestic |
| S382/7/2 | Church |
| S382/7/3 | Public |
| S382/8 | Modern Art |
| S382/8/1 | American |
| S382/8/2 | English |
| S382/8/3 | Flemish |
| S382/8/4 | French |
| S382/8/5 | German |
| S382/8/6 | Italian |
| S382/8/7 | Swedish |
| S382/9 | Miscellaneous |
| S382/9/1 | Egyptian |
| S382/9/2 | Indian |
| S382/9/3 | English |
| S382/9/4 | French |
| S382/9/5 | Italian |
| S382/9/6 | French Sculpture |
| S382/9/7 | Drawing (Italian Painting) |