Bridgeman's National Treasures
For over 30 years the Bridgeman Art Library has been working with museums from around the world and now represents national collections from all four corners of the globe, from the Americas to Europe to Asia and all the way down to Australasia. Some of these treasures had never been made readily accessible to a wider audience but were photographed specifically for the Bridgeman Art Library to make available for reproduction. In this story we will take you on a globe-trotting trip highlighting some of these national treasures.
For a sense of history, Bridgeman Art Library represents many national collections in Europe's most prestigious museums. Spanning from the Bronze Age to the present day, collections housed in such locations as the Deutsches Historisches Museum in Berlin, the National Galleries of Scotland and Wales, the British Library and British Museum, the Nationalmuseum in Sweden, The State Russian Museums or works in The Louvre and Musee d'Orsay in Paris, give a sense of each country's position within and throughout a historical arc that encompasses the whole of Europe. From engravings and prints to sculpture and memorabilia, one can gain a sense of what makes a Nation, whether it's sport (the National Football Museum, England), conflict and battle (the National Army Museum, London) or simply how the aristocracy used to live (National Trust, UK).
TFJ226284 The Great Wave of Kanagawa, from 'Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji', c.1831 (colour woodblock print) by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), Tokyo Fuji Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan For the history and culture of the people of Asia and the South Pacific, Bridgeman represents nationally-treasured collections such as the Te Papa Museum of New Zealand, National Gallery of Victoria in Australia and the National Library of Australia. These collections span thousands of years, and include decorative arts and literature, Aboriginal subjects and artists, and Antarctic exploration. In addition to interpreting the cultures of the South Pacific region, these collections also house internationally-loved paintings, prints, and sculpture. Bridgeman also represents the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum, a museum that is widely recognized for promoting international cultural exchange. In addition to painting, prints and photography, the collection comprises ceramics and lacquerware as well as armor, swords and medallions.
With a its large and comprehensive collection, including work from the colonial to the contemporary, the South African National Gallery in Cape Town proves that a culture needn’t be centuries old to assert a sense of identity. French, British and Flemish paintings live alongside an expanding collection of indigenous art, something that highlights the country’s journey through conflict to resolution. By contrast, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem holds the largest collection of Biblical and Holy Land archeology, as well as the original Dead Sea Scrolls that date back to the 2nd Century BC.
The Freer-Sackler collection within the Smithsonian Museums in Washington has a wonderful archive of American art, in addition to impressive collections of biblical manuscripts and arts of the Islamic world. The Freer-Sackler galleries also have one of the strongest collections of Asian art in the world, spanning Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Himalayan and Southeast Asian art. Many of America’s most treasured paintings, photographs and ephemera are housed in the nine regional historical societies Bridgeman represents, including New-York, Chicago, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Virginia. The Canadian War Museum details Canada’s and North America’s contribution on the international stage in both times of war and peace, while the Canadian Museum of Civilization features artifacts and decorative arts from the First Peoples of the Northwest, archaeology, and a walk through Canada’s social history.