While I usually have artist books on-the-brain to some degree, they’ve been on my mind more than usual lately, as I prepare a presentation to Brooklyn Museum interns and staff in early April highlighting recent acquisitions to Brooklyn’s artists' books collection. I’d like to take the opportunity to share a few of these with our readers here at the NYARC.org blog.
Having a job as Senior Library Assistant at the Museum of Modern Art Library has been a big influence on my artistic practice. I use the library for research and inspiration, and as a site of investigation. In early 2010, I began the performance "Smelling the Books", which consists of me smelling every book in the MoMA Library collection. This performance was recently highlighted in New York Magazine as one of the many reasons to love New York.
"Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in.” Mark Twain (c.1910)
Dogs have held a special place in the lives of humankind for centuries. How long has Fido been man’s best friend? Surely before Mark Twain’s time (quoted above)! The art historical record is no exception and rich with canine imagery, as evidenced in the 2008 publication The Dog: 5,000 Years of the Dog in Art by Tamsin Pickeral available to all dog lovers at the Frick Art Reference Library. According to the detailed timeline located in the back of the book, the earliest evidence of the domestic dog was found in Germany and dates from 14,000 years ago. Since then, they have been depicted in the fine and decorative arts in a variety of ways. The author provides readers with splendidly illustrated, thematic chapters such as “The Romantic Dog” and “The Mythical Dog” to begin or further their knowledge of this animal in art.
Working in a library, it is amazing how consistently one is asked, “Which is your favorite book?” I generally stutter and give a muddled reply about how I like the idea of an accumulation of books, or something along those lines. If really pressed, I have recently started mentioning that I like books about books. In my case, given the nature of MoMA library’s collection, our books about books generally focus on the small and merry niche of modern and contemporary art publications and publications by artists.
Right now the display cases at the Brooklyn Museum Libraries contain a selection of our holdings of artists’ books from the Women’s Studio Workshop. These books complement the exhibition entitled “Hand, Voice & Vision: Artists’ Books from Women’s Studio Workshop” being held at the Grolier Club from December 8, 2010 through February 5, 2011.
Thanksgiving is right around the corner, offering friends and families the chance to celebrate by sharing a meal together. The centerpiece of the Thanksgiving feast is the turkey. A delightful book, available at the Frick Art Reference Library, examines all aspects of this iconic bird. Presenting the Turkey: The Fabulous Story of a Flamboyant and Flavourful Bird includes chapters dedicated to the once exotic bird and its relationship to the arts (fine and culinary), lore, and language.
In the Gilded Age, exhibitions at small galleries, society clubs, and associations played a significant role in the art world and are avidly studied by art historians now. The libraries of the Frick and Brooklyn Museum have been awarded a Metropolitan New York Library Council grant to digitize ephemeral exhibition checklists, pamphlets, and catalogs from eleven historically significant galleries, society clubs, and arts associations operating from the late 19th to early 20th century.
Hispanic Heritage Week is the first week of October, and this year NY1 featured an article titled “Hispanic Heritage Week: MoMA Helps Preserve Latin American Collections Across City,” on the Survey of Archives of Latino and Latin American Art at The Museum Modern Art. The article includes a video from an interview with Milan Hughston, Chief of Library and Museum Archives at The Museum of Modern Art.