The Moving Picture as an Art Form

Aelita Queen of Mars. Dir. Yakov Protazanov

1919-1920. Wallach Picture Collection archives. NYPL. 

In 1933 the Picture Collection presented the exhibition, The Moving Picture as an Art Form. Installed and designed by Javitz and co-curated with Jay Leyda, it was one of the first exhibits to address the idea that motion pictures were emerging as a unique art form. Over 20,000 visitors came to see the exhibit during the 3 months it was held there. It would later travel to the Hudson Library branch and to Chicago and other cities. 

The Picture Collection amassed its collection of stills through direct contact with the movie producers, filmmakers and actors from the industry who used the Picture Collection for research. The nearby Broadway theaters and movie houses also donated stills, lobby cards and posters. Most of these holdings are now part of the Billy Rose Theater Division. See below for more about how the Picture Collection's movie "stills" collection was employed.

 The motion picture industry is listed in 1916 as one of the earliest users of the Picture Collection, including animation and silent film studios.

Here is a report about the NYPL Picture Collection's movie stills from the NYPL Bulletin of 1937, Vol. 41:

Picture Collection, Circulation Department, Room 73: An extensive and minutely indexed collection of moving picture "stills," both domestic and foreign, not in the general picture collection. The arrangement of pictures is by play, with information about the director, the cast (as represented in the photographs), locale, etc. The use of the file, in contradistinction to that of the Theatre Section of the Reference Department, is that, instead of providing an historical or source record of the industry, it is, in reality, a pictorial source. For this purpose, it is provided with a minute index; each picture is not only classified but analyzed,

each object of any size or clearness in the photograph being brought out in the index. For example, pictures of violins, eighteenth-century dinner tables, and heroes (intellectual, romantic, or rugged) are available.

This material may be borrowed either for personal use or for exhibition. In addition, the Picture Collection has three permanent travelling exhibitions: (1) "The Moving Picture as an Art Form," a pioneer in the field, including "stills" from the earliest "movie" to examples of technicolor, and having both domestic and foreign pictures represented; (2) The earlier methods of the animated cartoon, gathered by the Van Beuren Corporation; and (3) The present-day animated cartoon, which includes not only original drawings of characters but the actual gelatine figures, used in technicolor productions, from the Walt Disney Studios.

[Vaudeville Theater advertising the silent movie Tigris next to the Brill Building at 46 Broadway, Times Square.] c.1913. Yampolsky Collection. 

The Station Master. Dir. Pabst. 1924.

Wallach Picture Collection archives. NYPL.

The Love of Jeanne Ney. Dir. Pabst. 1927.

Wallach Picture Collection archives. NYPL. 

Secrets of the Soul.  Dir. Pabst. 1926.

Wallach Picture Collection archives. NYPL.

The above prints from three different films directed by G.W. Pabst were used in the original 1933 exhibition. The example verso image indicates its inclusion and that the print were loaned by Leyda. Another contributor was Joseph Cornell who lent Western movie stills from his collection.

Javitz would report to Leyda that the exhibit was a success and she comments on how the show contrasted American cinema with other countries efforts:

"Our exhibit on "The Moving Picture as an Art Form" has just closed. Some twenty thousand people viewed the exhibit during the past three months, enjoying the opportunity to study the moving picture. 

I want to acknowledge herewith your keen interest and cooperation in the preparation of the exhibit. The idea of the entire exhibit; the comparative scheme by which the Russian, German, and other foreign works were placed in juxtaposition to the American productions, was excellent and helped bring out the important elements in the development of the art of the film."  September, 14, 1933  (Jay Leyda papers, NYU Bobst Library)

The New York Times put its review of the exhibition on the front page of its Sunday Magazine on May 7, 1933.

Here are the NYPL announcements regarding the exhibit:

NYPL Staff News Vol. 23, No. 15, 1933

 “In cooperation with the Film Forum, the Picture Collection will hold an exhibit presenting a survey of the history of the moving picture. The “stills” on view will be, for the most part, from the Library’s own collections.” The exhibit will be on view for one month beginning Apr 17. (1933_V23_N15)

Bulletin of the New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. New York. Volume 38, pp. 373-375.

“The public took pleasure in the changing exhibits displayed during the year on wall space in the Picture Collection. Outstanding, was an exhibit of moving picture “stills”, selected and arranged to show cinema as an art form. This was a pioneer exhibit of its kind in this country, attracting much attention from public and press. It described the chronological development of the moving picture in Russia, Germany, and the United States and the contributions of individual directors. Typical films from Sweden, France, Holland and Japan, were included. The exhibit was enlivened by posters, naïve advertisements of western thrillers and serials, delicate Japanese versions of American melodramas, and the bold, modernist interpretations of U.S.S.R. and Germany. Through the generosity of the firms exhibiting, enough material was left to form a permanent circulating exhibition the artistic development of the film here and abroad- an important addition, as it is the first public collection made from this point of view.” - Annual Report of the Picture Collection, 1934 

Fleischer Brothers. n.d.

Wallach Picture Collection archives. NYPL.

Fleischer Brothers. n.d.

Wallach Picture Collection archives. NYPL.

 Here is how the Film Forum described the exhibit:

 “Note: An Exhibition of Motion Picture “Stills” and Posters. 

Prepared by the Picture Collection of the New York Public Library in cooperation with The Film Forum. This will be the first exhibit in America of the history of the development of the motion picture. The “stills” and posters on view will be selected to cover film production in all countries. The exhibit will include those films recognized as great and those specially in histories and criticism of film development.” The Film Forum. Program 4. April 12, 1933. 

for more about Romana Javitz and the NYPL Picture Collection-

 Words on Pictures: Romana and the New York Public Library’s Picture Collection. edited by Anthony T. Troncale. New York: Photo | Verso Publications, LLC, 2020.   ISBN 978-1-7346409-0-8 (hardcover)  Identifiers ISBN  978-1-7346409-1-5 (ebook)

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