This Archive Group refers to a project of the Culture Sector from 1949 to ca. 1979. Since 1949, UNESCO, with the assistance of its National Commissions, made contact with publishers of reproductions of famous paintings throughout the world. The reproductions were examined and the publishers were then listed as sources for accurate reproductions of masterpieces of world art. The reproductions could then be purchased and disseminated, rendering the masterpieces accessible to the world. UNESCO then published several catalogues and maintained a collection (called "Archives of Colour Reproductions of Paintings") which contained all reproductions received as samples.
The idea of the UNESCO project was to give the vast majority of people who never or only occasionally have the chance to see the originals of great paintings access to them by substituting these art works with high-quality colour reproductions.
With the aim of making the best colour reproductions more easily available to teachers, students and the general art-interested public, UNESCO, over a period of 30 years, produced catalogues listing by the end more than 15,000 paintings of which high-quality reproductions exist and could be obtained. The volumes were intended not only to bring art into homes and schools but also to encourage the increased production of colour prints and the improvement of reproduction standards and methods.
At UNESCO Headquarters complete sets of the prints were kept so that visitors would have been able to see the reproductions themselves.
The main criteria by which the prints have been chosen were the fidelity of the reproduction, the significance of the artist, and the importance of the original painting. The selection had been done by two committees of experts set up in agreement with the International Council of Museums that decided which reproductions should be included in UNESCO’s catalogue and collection.