Words on Pictures

  I am honored to announce that the electronic edition of the Archives of American Art Journal’s Spring 2025 issue containing “Pictorially Yours”: The Correspondence of Joseph Cornell and Romana Javitz, is now at the University of Chicago Press. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/735900 Written by myself and Diana Kamin, the essay explores the influence of visionary librarian Romana Javitz on the work of artist Joseph Cornell. Javitz was superintendent of the New York Public Library’s Picture Collection, a comprehensive image repository used by working artists and designers, from 1928 to 1968. Cornell, who is most well-known for his surrealist box constructions and collages, was a long-time user of the Picture Collection and a close confidant and admirer of Javitz. The essay draws on correspondence from the Cornell papers at the Archives of American Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Cornell Study Center, and the privately held Javitz estate, as ...

  The Dual Legacy of Romana Javitz: Pictorial Documentation and Artistic Collaboration photograph by Trude Fleischmann. ca. 1942. Private Collection. Romana Javitz’s tenure as head of the New York Public Library’s Picture Collection marked a pivotal moment in the history of visual archives. By promoting images as tools for research and documentation, she redefined their role within public libraries, challenging the traditional view that confined them to art alone. Through her efforts, the Picture Collection became a critical resource for artists, anthropologists, designers, and writers, fostering both practical and creative uses of visual material.   Pictures as Documents Javitz’s approach to the Picture Collection was shaped by her recognition of images as cultural and historical documents. During her travels in Europe, she observed how state organizations systematically documented folk traditions and everyday life through visual media. Inspired by these practices, Javitz exp...