the collection is not exclusively photography. Gil-
man and Apraxine began the collection with con-
temporary photographs including those of Robert
Frank. The collection then began to work back-
wards, acquiring more historical works, such as
those of Euge`ne Atget, and nineteenth-century fig-
ures Carleton Watkins and Henry Fox Talbot. The
company’s initial objective, ‘‘to make a small selec-
tion of photographs that would acknowledge
photography’s place among other art forms’’
(Photographs from the Collection of the Gilman
Paper Company, p. 15) was soon eclipsed by a
grander vision.
The collection currently holds over 5,000 images
and photographic albums, many of them unique
objects. In 1993 a major traveling exhibition,
accompanied by a lavish book highlighting the
collection, was held at the Metropolitan Museum
of Art in New York. In 1997, the Howard Gilman
Gallery of the Metropolitan Museum was opened
and now holds annual exhibitions showcasing parts
of the Gilman collection. The company is no longer
actively collecting, but the collection is available
for viewing by appointment.
Hallmark Photographic Collection
One of the first corporations to collect only photo-
graphs is the Hallmark greeting card company. The
Hallmark Photographic Collection began in 1964
with the acquisition of 141 prints by Harry Call-
ahan and currently includes more than 5,000 works
by almost 900 artists. The Hallmark Collection is a
span of American photography, with vintage
works dating back to the late 1880s continuing to
the present day. Although there is a focus on older
processes, such as daguerreotypes, albumen prints,
and salt prints, the many contemporary artists
represented provide examples of more contempor-
ary processes included as well. Some of the artists
that are showcased in the collection are Andre ́
Kerte ́sz, Dorothea Lange, Ralph Eugene Meat-
yard, and Todd Webb. The collection is still
actively acquiring works.
The company has organized and financed many
traveling exhibitions over the last 25 years, includ-
ing the 1994 blockbuster,An American Century of
Photography: From Dry-Plate to Digital,The Hall-
mark Photographic Collection, which originated at
the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City,
and has printed numerous books and catalogues
under the leadership of long-time curator Keith
Davis. The collection is presently held at the Hall-
mark Headquarters building in Kansas City, Mis-
souri. More information on the collection is
available at their website:www.hallmark.com.JP Morgan Chase Collection
David Rockefeller, president of the Chase Manhat-
tan Bank, began collecting art in 1959. Corporate
art collecting at the time was a relatively new con-
cept. His idea was to adorn the Bank’s headquar-
ters with the work of contemporary artists. After
over 40 years of collecting, as well as six corporate
mergers, the company now has a broad interna-
tional collection with over 20,000 works housed in
over 350 locations. The collection consists of many
different media with about 20% of the collection
comprising photography. Contemporary artists
include such well known names in photography as
Cindy Sherman and Lorna Simpson. The collection
has been shown in such institutions as the Milwau-
kee Art Museum, the Walker Art Center in Min-
neapolis and the Center for the Fine Arts in Miami.
More information on the collection is available at
their website:www.jpmorganchase.com.LaSalle National Bank Collection
One of the first corporate collections to specialize
in collecting photography was LaSalle National
Bank, beginning in 1967. Its stated mission is to
enrich the lives of those people who visit the bank
as well as those who work there. The collection has
tried to cover the history of the medium and con-
sists of many important photographers from the
early roots of photography, from Henry Fox Tal-
bot to the present with photographers emerging in
the 1980s and 1990s, such as Thomas Struth. Some
of the important photographers in the collection
include Alfred Stieglitz, Walker Evans, and Harry
Callahan, among many others. In addition to many
important historical photographers, the collection
also supports photographers living and working in
the Chicago area, including virtually all of the fig-
ures associated with the Institute of Design, as well
as Dutch artists (due to the affiliation with a Dutch
parent company, ABN AMRO). The collection
was originally put together with the help of Beau-
mont and Nancy Newhall as well as the photogra-
pher and historian Joel Snyder. The collection has
been published in books that highlight various
strengths of the collection. More information onCORPORATE COLLECTIONS