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About the collection
Artworld provides access to primary visual source materials for the enhancement of teaching and learning in world art studies. It includes images of artworks from two important collections in England, from the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, and the Oriental Museum at the University of Durham. It features objects from Asia, Africa, the Americas and the Pacific, spanning thousands of years of human creativity.
Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts
Sir Robert (1906 -2000) and Lady Lisa Sainsbury (1912- ) donated their collection of world art to the University of East Anglia in 1973, and the Sainsbury Centre designed by Norman Foster first opened its doors to visitors in 1978.
As Professor John Onians recalls, "when the members of the faculty of the School of Fine Arts and Music first heard that the university had been offered the gift of a major art collection and a building to house it, many anticipated the familiar pleasure of entering a columned portico to view rooms full of oil paintings in gold frames. What we got, of course, was different. We were soon wandering through a vast metal hall looking at a strange assortment of objects ranging from carved walrus tusks from the arctic to textiles and polished stone from the tropics."
The School of Fine Arts was founded in 1964 and rapidly established itself as a leader in the study of the history of European art and architecture. After 1978, inspired by the 'mysterious objects' of the Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection, the School's programme was enlarged ambitiously. The School of World Art Studies and Museology, as it is known today, is one of the few institutions in Britain where art history is taught from this broad perspective.
The Oriental Museum
The Oriental Museum at the University of Durham is the only museum of its kind in the United Kingdom, entirely devoted to art and archaeology from cultures throughout the Orient. The term Oriental is used as it was in the 19th century, to describe the civilisations of Asia and the Near East and the Islamic cultures of North Africa. The Museum was founded in 1950 and opened to the public in 1960 in the present building, built with funds from the Gulbenkian Foundation.
The Digitisation Project
Artworld began in September 2000 as a three year project, funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) of the Higher Education Funding Council in their 5/99 strand.
Copyright and Contact Information
Images are not copyright free for commercial use of any kind. For information on copyright conditions and reproduction rights please contact:
| Address: | Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts University of East Anglia Norwich NR4 7TJ |
| Tel: | +44 1603 593199 |
| Fax: | +44 1603 591053 |
| Email: | scva@uea.ac.uk |
| URL | http://www.scva.ac.uk |
| Artworld | http://artworld.uea.ac.uk |
Every effort has been made to seek permission to reproduce those images whose copyright does not reside with the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts nor the Oriental Museum, and we are grateful to the individuals and institutions that have assisted in this task. Any omissions are entirely unintentional and details should be addressed to the publishers.
Image credits
- Llama effigy, Inca, 1400-1532 CE © Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, UEA, Norwich
- Painting of a nobleman listening to music, Indian, 1670-1699 CE © Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, UEA, Norwich
- Ceramic sculpture of a standing figure, West Mexican, 300 BCE-299 CE © Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, UEA, Norwich
- Jade seated figure, Olmec, 900-600 BCE © Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, UEA, Norwich
- Ceramic sculpture of a figure seated on a stool, Capuli, 800-1499 CE © Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, UEA, Norwich
- Standing female tomb figure, Chinese, 600-699 CE © Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, UEA, Norwich
- Guazi dragon snuff bottle, Chinese, Qing Dynasty, 18th-19th century © Oriental Museum, University of Durham