This guide highlights items and collections that contain visual arts, literary arts, architecture, design and performance.
To use this guide, please follow the links to browse and research collections. For some collections we have provided links to examples to help you get started.
Visual Arts:
Alfred and William Waud Collection
A collection of sketches, illustrations, and engravings by Afred Waud, an illustrator of periodical publications in the second half of the 19th century.
- Topics: illustration, landscapes, seascapes, architecture, figure drawing, print-making
Caroline Wogan Durieux Works of Art
A collection of prints and photos by Caroline Wogan Durieux, a New Orleans lithographer who invented a print-making process that involved radioactive ink.
- Example: Petite Andalouse, four-colour lithograph based on a child Durieux saw while traveling in Spain.
- Topics: print-making, New Orleans
Clarence John Laughlin Photograph Collection
A large collection of photographs by pioneer surrealist and experimental photographer Clarence John Laughlin (1905-1985), a native of Louisiana.
- Example: a photograph of a circus wagon and reflection in a puddle of water
- Topics: photography, architecture, New Orleans, surrealism, symbolism
Ogden Museum of Southern Art
A collection of images from the Ogden Museum of Southern Art.
- Example: The oil on canvas painting On the levee at Natchez by Harold Harrington Betts showing river life from the top of the levee
- Topics: photography, folk art, pottery, southern art
Painting in Louisiana from The Historic New Orleans Collection
Collection of several hundred paintings, including oils and watercolors by Louisiana and Southern artists forming a visual narrative of the origins and development of art and society in Louisiana.
- Topics: painting, illustration, southern art, Louisiana, abstract art, art history
Literary Arts:
Harper's Weekly Journal of Civilization and Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper
Collection of illustrations originally printed in Harper's Weekly, an American political magazine based in New York City and published from 1857 until 1916. It epitomizes an era in American journalism that dawned in the 1850s with the advent of periodicals that combined general-interest content with lavish illustrations. Its context of escalating sectional animosity over slavery inhibited the newspaper's coverage. During its most influential period, it was the forum of the political cartoonist Thomas Nast.
- Topics: Arkansas, art, Baton Rouge, caricatures, cartoons, fugitive slaves, grotesque, illustrations, Louisiana, New Orleans, parody, political cartoons, propaganda, racism in cartoons, satire, South Carolina
New Orleans Review Collection
Collection of digitized issues of the New Orleans Review, a journal of contemporary literature and culture published by the English Department at the University of Loyola New Orleans.
- Topics: poetry, literature, photography, art
Architecture:
James Freret Architectural Drawings
This collection features 150 projects from the office of 19th century New Orleans architect James Freret. Freret designed many important institutional and commercial structures in New Orleans and Louisiana, but he was most prolific as a residential architect. This online collection includes many of his most important works.
- Example: a watercolour drawing of Captain Thomas Pickles home and floor plans
- Topics: architects, architectural drawings, watercolor drawings, New Orleans
Design:
Gulf South Decorative and Fine Arts Database
Collection focuses on objects made or used in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama from the 18th century through the Civil War.
- Topics: furniture design, decorative arts, applied art, interior design
Edith Dabney Doll Collection
This collection consists of photographs and descriptions of dolls from the collection of Edith Dabney. The dolls originate from all over the world, with most of the dolls in the collection wearing clothes that reflect this cultural diversity and convey a unique story. With each meticulously designed costume, the collection offers a unique glimpse into the national dress across the globe.
- Example: a Indo-Pakistan man doll with long curly hair, beaded necklace, and peach clothing
- Topics: dolls, toy design, cultural diversity, collecting
Verla Birrell Textiles and Designs
Collection of illustrations from Verla Birrell's Portfolio of Historic Design. Dr. Verla Leone Birrell (1903-2001) was a Utah artist, writer, poet, lecturer, and teacher. From Tacoma, Washington, she studied and taught at both BYU and the University of Utah, where she received her Ph.D. in 1955.
- Topics: archeology research, arts, block printing, designs, freelance textiles artists, textiles and drawings, textile history
Performance:
Actors and Musicians Photographs, 1880-1920
This collection holds publicity photographs of actors and musicians who appeared at New Orleans theaters during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many of the photographs include handwritten notes on the back of many of the photos identifying the individuals, the theater where they appeared, and the name of the play or event.
- Topics: theater, actors, musicians, theater history, acting
New Orleans Jazz Museum Collection
This collection is composed of photographs, audio recordings and musical instruments primarily representing traditional New Orleans jazz.
- Example: Listen to the Kid Ory Marching Band recording of 1919 Rag
- Topics: music performance, music history, jazz, jazz musicians, New Orleans
The New Orleans Opera Association (NOOA) Archives
This digital collection of the NOOA Archives includes images, audiovisual media, programs, and more from NOOA performances.
- Examples: Browse set design sketches, a recording of Madame Butterfly from 1967, and playbills from various operas
- Topics: set design, opera, performance
