Scope and contents
The Roloff Beny fonds consists of textual records; photographic prints, transparencies, and negatives; sketch books; audio tapes; and videotape and motion picture film reels. The textual material is arranged in 25 series, and includes: personal material, memorabilia and diaries; addresses, lectures, interviews, and writings; financial records; family and general correspondence; project and exhibition files; catalogues; scrap books; research material; and posthumous material. The general correspondence series includes correspondence with publishers, including Longmans, McClelland & Stewart, and Clarke, Irwin & Company. The financial records series includes royalty statements.
BRS Assigned Accession Number
000001411
Birth or creation dates
1924
Death or termination dates
1984
Inclusive dates of creator
1924-1984
Start date of records
1924
Date of creation of records
1924-1993
Extent of descriptive unit
30.095 m
Physical description
Includes textual records, visual records, and other materials.
Linear metric measurement
more than 30 m approx.
Restrictions on access
Some access or reproduction restrictions apply. Contact archives for details.
Type of publishing represented
art and architecture -- illustrated and fine editions; geography, travel, regional studies -- regional; humanities and social sciences -- history
Telephone number - main
(613) 995-5138
Telephone number - fax
(613) 995-6274
Street address
395 Wellington Street
City and province
Ottawa, Ontario
Postal code and email
K1A 0N3
Biographical sketch
Artist and photographer Roloff Beny was born Wilfred Roy Beny in Medicine Hat, Alberta, in 1924. He changed his name as a young man, adopting his mother's maiden name. After an education at the University of Toronto, Columbia University, the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and the State University of Iowa, Beny was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for printmaking and painting, and travelled through Europe with the American School of Classical Studies between 1948 and 1952. Beny began his artistic career as a painter and graphic designer, staging 25 one-man shows in North America and Europe between 1941 and 1952; he is best remembered now as a photographer of monuments of the ancient and classical worlds, and as the designer of coffee table books. He published many collections of his photographs, including JAPAN IN COLOUR (Longmans, 1967), THE GODS OF GREECE (McClelland & Stewart, 1983), with Arianna Stassinopoulos, and VISUAL JOURNEYS: ROLOFF BENY (published posthumously by Douglas & McIntyre in 1994). Beny died in 1948.
Name of repository
National Archives of Canada
Fonda identification number
MG 31 D 241
Finding aids
An inventory is available. A partial copy has been obtained by CPRD.
Language of material
Some of the material may be in French.
