Public collections

Collections Engine of the Ministry of Culture

Over 7.5 million documents and over 5.7 million images providing direct access to 73 databases, 687 virtual exhibits and 178 Internet sites from both the department and partner sites.

Videomuseum

Network of museums and organizations managing collections of modern and contemporary art (national, regional, departmental or municipal museums, Cnap (collection of Fnac), Frac, foundations) that have come together to develop, methods and tools using new information processing technologies to better identify and disseminate knowledge of their museum heritage. The methods and tools used in this network allow the computerization of documentation and collection management by Gcoll software and the dissemination of knowledge of these same collections via the Internet with Navigart software.

France archives

Public archives are distributed throughout the territory: National, Departmental, Regional, Municipal and Inter-Municipal Archives, Archives of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, of the Ministry of Armed Forces and many other public bodies. Produced by public bodies and private bodies entrusted with a public service mission, the public archives specific rules for collection, processing, retention and access.

CCFR Catalogue collectif de France published by BnF

The collective catalogue of France locates some 30 million documents kept in French libraries, provides access to the National Directory of Libraries and Documentary Holdings. The Directory identifies more than 5,000 libraries and resource centres. It provides both practical information and information on institutional collections. The Directory also provides access to descriptions of over 3,500 holdings held in over 500 libraries.

NMR Grand Palais Photo Agency

Since 1946, the Photo Agency of the Reunion of National Museums and the Grand Palais (an industrial and commercial public institution under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture) is officially in charge of the promotion and dissemination of collections held in the national museums of France. It carries out photography campaigns inside the national museums. Every year more than 20,000 new shots are taken on site and enrich the agency’s fund accessible to all. At the heart of the Agency’s action is the quality of service, which is a requirement without compromise. It ensures the preservation of the image of the works for future generations, provides the photographic material necessary for the iconographic needs of the conservations and offers these images to all audiences, individuals, scientists or professionals. All the photographs taken are close to reality and respect the integrity of the works, especially colorimetry. Nearly 800,000 photographic images of works of art preserved in the French national and regional museums, such as the Louvre, Orsay, Centre Pompidou, Condé de Chantilly Museum or the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille, are accessible online. The agency also has an international distribution network through exclusive agents in many foreign countries. The website photo.rmn.fr offers, in French and English, free and complete access (images and notices) to the completeness of the distributed funds.

Photographic collections of the NMR 

In the 1980s, the French Association for the Dissemination of Photographic Heritage (AFDPP) brought together fifteen state donations and acquisitions such as Boudinet, Corbeau, Kertész, Kollar, René-Jacques, Réquillart, Voinquel and Studio Harcourt. These collections are now kept by the Photography Department of the Architectural and Heritage Library.
Fonds d'archives: Archives photographiques de la Médiathèque - Fonds Druet-Vizzavona - Agence Bulloz
Photographers screened by Agence Photo: Brassaï/ Gisèle Freund, IMEC/ Jean-Baptiste Leroux/ Raphaël Gaillarde/ Jérôme Prince

Collections Agence Roger Viollet - Parisienne de Photographie

In 1938 Hélène Roger-Viollet and her husband Jean-Victor Fischer, both passionate photographers and great travellers, founded the "Documentation Photographique Générale Roger-Viollet", today one of the oldest French agencies. They then constitute a photographic collection unique in Europe, covering more than a century and a half of Parisian, French and international history, around four main themes: major historical events, Paris, portraits of personalities and reproductions of works of art. The Roger-Viollet collections also offer an astonishing insight into the history of photography, from the production of the photographic workshops of the Second Empire to the photojournalism of the late 20th century. The founders of the agency bequeathed the City of Paris nearly 4 million negatives and about 2 million positives. In 2005, the agency joined the Parisienne Group of Photography, a local public society in charge of digitization and dissemination of municipal iconographic collections, with which it merged at the end of 2014.
In addition to the exceptional wealth of the Roger-Viollet collection, there are the museums and heritage libraries of the City of Paris: more than 2 million works, already digitized or reproducible on demand, from the Musée Carnavalet, the Bibliothèque Historique, the Petit Palais and the Museum of Modern Art, or more specialized institutions: the Galliera Museum (fashion), the Forney Library (graphic arts), the Cernuschi Museum (Asian arts) or the Parisian houses of writers and artists (Victor Hugo, Balzac, Bourdelle, Zadkine).
Since 2005, the Roger-Viollet agency has been strengthening the attractiveness of its offering through the dissemination of comparable foreign historical collections and independent photographers who entrust it with the management of their archives.

Collection of the European House of Photography

The collection of the European House of Photography is representative of the international photographic creation from the 1950s to the present day. With about 20,000 works to date, it takes into account all artistic approaches, from reportage to fashion photography to contemporary documentary practices, to works on the border between photography and the visual arts. Collection of authors, it consists essentially of exhibition prints made by the artist or under his control.

Henri Cartier Bresson in the collections

The works of Henri Cartier-Bresson are present in the collections of many museums around the world. Some were lucky enough to acquire the "Master Collection" – 385 prints collected in 1973 by Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Daguerreobase, the collective catalogue for daguerreotypes

Online application with detailed information about daguerreotypes. Members can view, edit and store individual daguerreotypes records and build relationships with other records based on a wide range of characteristics. This includes collections, owners, designers, hallmarks, device models, sizes, materials and descriptions.