SPEC Kit 333: Art &Artifact Management · 73
Library of Congress
Collections Policy Statement. Fine and Applied Arts—Non Book Materials (Graphic Arts)
http://www.loc.gov/acq/devpol/fartnonb.pdf
Expressionist and narrative and issue-driven prints related to such topics as history, politics,
health, civil rights, and the environment.
B. Posters
1. The Library acquires selected posters illustrative of political, military, social, economic,
industrial and cultural history, including advertising and propaganda, with priority given to
documentation of the United States life and history.
2. Posters that are examples of the work of major artists, with priority given to work of United
States origin, are sought.
3. The Library acquires comprehensively the motion picture posters submitted for copyright,
augmented by select movie posters, lobby cards, and related materials representing
blockbusters, cultural trends, and independent films, motion pictures representing the diversity
of the American people, movies with trendsetting special effects, and outstanding examples of
genre films. New acquisitions complement the already significant and comprehensive holdings
that begin with depictions of the earliest presentations of the motion picture, to serial versions
and feature-length silent films and talkies through the emergence of the movie star and the
rise of the great Hollywood studios.
4. The Library seeks works illustrative of the history of the poster as an art form and as a
medium of communication.
5. The Library collects foreign posters that support the research collections and interests of the
Library's area studies divisions.
6. The Library will acquire digitally distributed posters that fit into the above categories when
no hard-copy poster is published.
C. Artists' drawings
1. The Library selectively collects fine, representative examples of preparatory studies,
sketches, and finished drawings prepared for illustrations in American books and magazines that
enrich the Library’s existing graphic arts collections.
2. Selected drawings that support and are related to the Library's existing collections of fine
and historical prints and posters are sought. These include drawings by major printmakers
represented in the Library's collections and drawings executed in preparation for or closely
relating to prints and posters in the collections.
3. The Library selectively collects drawings for American political and social cartoons and
caricatures as documents of public opinion and of the history of visual satire and propaganda.
Drawings for foreign political cartoons and caricature drawings of personalities of international
prominence will be acquired selectively as documents of the comparative history of visual
satire and propaganda. This includes, but is not limited to, political illustration, comic strips,
sports cartoons, gag cartoons, comic book illustrations, and caricatures.
4. The Library seeks to document American political, economic and social history through
topographical drawings of a scenographic character and other drawings of documentary value
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Library of Congress
Collections Policy Statement. Fine and Applied Arts—Non Book Materials (Graphic Arts)
http://www.loc.gov/acq/devpol/fartnonb.pdf
Expressionist and narrative and issue-driven prints related to such topics as history, politics,
health, civil rights, and the environment.
B. Posters
1. The Library acquires selected posters illustrative of political, military, social, economic,
industrial and cultural history, including advertising and propaganda, with priority given to
documentation of the United States life and history.
2. Posters that are examples of the work of major artists, with priority given to work of United
States origin, are sought.
3. The Library acquires comprehensively the motion picture posters submitted for copyright,
augmented by select movie posters, lobby cards, and related materials representing
blockbusters, cultural trends, and independent films, motion pictures representing the diversity
of the American people, movies with trendsetting special effects, and outstanding examples of
genre films. New acquisitions complement the already significant and comprehensive holdings
that begin with depictions of the earliest presentations of the motion picture, to serial versions
and feature-length silent films and talkies through the emergence of the movie star and the
rise of the great Hollywood studios.
4. The Library seeks works illustrative of the history of the poster as an art form and as a
medium of communication.
5. The Library collects foreign posters that support the research collections and interests of the
Library's area studies divisions.
6. The Library will acquire digitally distributed posters that fit into the above categories when
no hard-copy poster is published.
C. Artists' drawings
1. The Library selectively collects fine, representative examples of preparatory studies,
sketches, and finished drawings prepared for illustrations in American books and magazines that
enrich the Library’s existing graphic arts collections.
2. Selected drawings that support and are related to the Library's existing collections of fine
and historical prints and posters are sought. These include drawings by major printmakers
represented in the Library's collections and drawings executed in preparation for or closely
relating to prints and posters in the collections.
3. The Library selectively collects drawings for American political and social cartoons and
caricatures as documents of public opinion and of the history of visual satire and propaganda.
Drawings for foreign political cartoons and caricature drawings of personalities of international
prominence will be acquired selectively as documents of the comparative history of visual
satire and propaganda. This includes, but is not limited to, political illustration, comic strips,
sports cartoons, gag cartoons, comic book illustrations, and caricatures.
4. The Library seeks to document American political, economic and social history through
topographical drawings of a scenographic character and other drawings of documentary value
3
