Milton S. Eisenhower Library South Asian Architecture Photographs. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the Milton S. Eisenhower Library, Johns Hopkins University, 1989.
Permission to reproduce and publish an item from the Archives is coordinated through the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery's Rights and Reproductions department. Please contact the Archives in order to initiate this process.
Collection Citation:
The Elizabeth Moynihan Collection, FSA A2013.06. National Museum of Asian Art. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of Elizabeth Moynihan, 2013.
This series documents Ms. Moynihan's various travels. The slides include images from South Korea, China, Israel, Jordan, Turkey, and India. Please see the below container list for more details.
This collection includes research documentation, photographs, slides, and diaries related to Ms. Moynihan's Moghul garden surveying. This information ranges from the Lotus Garden to Rajasthan Gardens to various garden reference materials. There are also various notebooks and annotated maps.
Elizabeth Moynihan Collection, Series 4: Slides
Arrangement:
Organized and arranged in two boxes.
Biographical / Historical:
Ms. Moynihan is an architectural historian and travel throughout India for several years. She was married to Senator Daniel Moynihan for 48 years. She served on the Indo-U.S. Sub-Commission on Education and Culture for many years. While living in India, Ms. Moynihan authored a survey of surviving Moghul gardens, which was published in 1979 as "Paradise as a Garden in Persia and Moghul India." She also did research on Babur, the founder of the Moghul dynasty. In the process, she located and documented four previously unknown 16th century gardens built by Babur.
Local Numbers:
FSA A2013.06 04
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce and publish an item from the Archives is coordinated through the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery's Rights and Reproductions department. Please contact the Archives in order to initiate this process.
The Elizabeth Moynihan Collection, FSA A2013.06. National Museum of Asian Art. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of Elizabeth Moynihan, 2013.
59 Items (items (5 linear ft.), 20 x 24 or smaller)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs
Typescripts
Papers
Place:
Ajanta Caves (India)
Ellora Caves (India)
Khajuraho (India)
Fatehpur Sikri (India)
Lal Qila (Delhi, India)
Date:
1947-1994
Scope and Contents:
Papers, 1947-1994, of photographer and author Volkmar Kurt Wentzel, regarding a two year survey conducted for the National Geographic Society during 1946-1947, to visually document caves, temples, and sculpture of India, including: his typescript draft (photocopy), [after 1946], written for the National Geographic Magazine on the Ajanta and Ellora temples; a proof, 1953, of his article entitled "India's Sculptured Temple Caves"; a lecture typescript entitle "A Walter Mitty Fantasy," presented to the Literary Society, 1994, along with a brochure and checklist for his related exhibition of photographs of Indian rock-cut temples and sculptures held at the Cosmos Club, Washington, D.C.; and 54 photographs, silver prints and five cibachromes, 1947, many signed by the photographer, dated, and captioned. Photographs depict the temples, sculpture, and frescoes of Ellora, Ajanta, Khajuraho, Halebid, Fatehpur Sikri, and Red Fort ,Delhi.
Arrangement:
Records; Organized in four boxes ; Arranged by form of material: Boxes 1-3: Photographs. Box 4: Typescript, Brochure, Printed Material, Photographs.
Biographical / Historical:
Volkmar Kurt Wentzel (1915-2006) was an accomplished photographer, particularly in the 1940's. Born in Dresden, Germany, he emigrated to the United States at around the age of 20 and immediately began work as a photojournalist at Underwood and Underwood. He served as an aerial photographer and photo-intelligence officer during World War II. After the war he spent extensive time photographing Ladakh (western Tibet), Nepal, and India. He photographed widely in the United States, Europe, and Africa as well. He wrote and documented photographically cave temples in India as a correspondent for the National Geographic Society between 1946-1946. He received many accolades for his photography and has exhibited his work both in the United States and abroad.