Digitisation project of the Graphische Sammlung ETH Zürich

Aim of the project

The entire art collection of the Graphische Sammlung ETH Zürich is catalogued in detail and presented via the online collection 

Description of the project

The Graphische Sammlung ETH Zürich owns around 160,000 works of art on paper. The collection is primarily known for its high-quality holdings of Old Master and Helvetica prints, but it also comprises several thousand drawings as well as notable works of modern and contemporary art. The holdings of the Graphische Sammlung ETH Zürich are being catalogued and digitalized since 2002 using the MuseumPlus software and since 2020, intensified by additional staff. In total, 81,000 works have already been catalogued and 61,500 records are available to the public via the collection online, https://www.e-gs.ethz.ch/) (as of April 2024). 

Synergies and context

With the digital cataloguing of the Graphische Sammlung ETH Zürich, the protected cultural property is digitally secured and made accessible to the public. The meticulous and detailed cataloguing not only enables research in the field of graphic arts, but also on provenance, collection history, the history of art history and visual studies. 

Time frame

2002 - probably until the end of 2025 (extension under review)

As the Graphische Sammlung ETH Zürich continues to grow constantly through donations and acquisitions, digitisation remains an ongoing basic task of the collection, as does the adaptation of the data created to contemporary standards.

Supported by

Ernst Göhner Stiftung 
Georg und Bertha Schwyzer-Winiker Stiftung 
Stiftung Familie Fehlmann