Robert Bruce Inverarity papers, circa 1840s-1997

Photographs of art work are arranged by artist. Many photographs of Inverarity's work are views of framed items hanging in his home. Other views show large numbers of framed items gathered into one room (on chair seats and propped up against furniture) in order to record the maximum number of items in one picture; in many cases, these are portraits of artists photographed by Inverarity. Photographs of people consist of artists (including original and copy prints of portraits by Inverarity), friends, colleagues, and various groups.

Photographs of places include museums where Inverarity was Director (Museum of International Folk Art and the Adirondack Museum ), places where he lived (Ridgefield, Conn. and La Jolla, Calif.), and travel pictures (Amsterdam, Burma, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Nepal, Scandinavia, and Thailand). Of particular interest are a large number of photographs taken on his 1932 trip to British Columbia to study the Haida Indians. In addition, there are several nineteenth century photographs of family homes and various locations in South America, probably taken by his father.

Most of the WPA photographs document work of the Federal Art Project in Washington State. Multiple photographs mounted on many large cardboard panels (probably for display) show individual works of art, exhibition installations, and views of various art centers, etc. Other photographs are of individual works of art and include some Index of American Design drawings, mosaic procedures, and the mosaic for the Municipal Auditorium in Long Beach, California. Among the miscellaneous subjects are a view of the microreader invented by Inverarity, and his art photographs - boats, figure studies, industrial scenes, and landscapes.

Photographs known to have been taken by Inverarity are clearly identified. Prints, slides, and color transparencies are interfiled. In addition, a small number of photographs are attached to Series 1: Correspondence, in many subject files (Series 4), and in Series 6: Scrapbooks. Of particular note is Man Ray's photograph of his studio, sent as a greeting card (Christmas?) in 1952 and filed with correspondence.

This series is arranged as 5 subseries: