moma

At the MoMA Library we recently unearthed an intriguing box of ephemera by artist Ad Reinhardt (1913-1967). The material was gifted to the Library by Walter and Nettie Wittman, who were friends of the artist. The letters, photographs, tear sheets, and some original commercial illustrations form a vignette of the artist’s professional and personal life, glimpsed from the perspective of Mr. Wittman, a lawyer residing in New Jersey.

In 2009, The Museum of Modern Art’s Library Council published one of its most important efforts to date: a hand-printed scroll (the ancient "book form" of Asia) by the artist Yun-Fei Ji titled The Three Gorges Dam Migration.  The eight-foot-long image, at first glance resembling a traditional Chinese landscape, depicts the flooded landscapes of the Three Gorges area in contemporary China; it reproduces, in the artist's calligraphy, historic and contemporary accounts of the Yangtze River and the upheaval caused by the construction of the world’s largest dam.

The MoMA Library is hosting an Art Book Swap on Feb. 6. All are welcome – bring some books for swapping!   Art Book Swap New York   When: February 6, 2010 Noon to 5pm   Where: The Museum of Modern Art Cullman Education and Research Building 4 West 54th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues)   What:   Free and open to the public. Bring your art books and swap one-for-one with hundreds of donated art books.   

Check out these NYARC library events and exhibitions featuring library materials from our collections:

Lost and Found: The Work of Bern Porter from the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art Library
The Museum of Modern Art
April 7-July 5, 2010

 

Paul Rosenberg and Company: From France to America
The Museum of Modern Art
January 27-April 5, 2010

Wet: The Magazine of Gourmet Bathing was founded in 1976 by Leonard Koren in Venice, CA. The first issue in May/June of that year was a modest 8 ½” x 11” black and white paper pamphlet. In this issue, Koren introduces the magazine to his audience: “Wet is a magazine devoted to upgrading the quality of your bathing experience. Hopefully, in the great American tradition of Coca Cola, doggie diapers and Pet Rocks, Wet will become one of those things you never imagined you needed until you find you can’t live without it.” Early issues of Wet include articles about bathing, showering, hot tubs, personal hygiene, food, and yoga.

Barack Obama's first hundred days are over but artists are just getting started responding to his administration. While Shepard Fairey's Hope is now iconic, did you know that Obama has teamed up with the Youngblood superhero team? That in comic-land he got drafted to save the post-apocolyptic future? Or that he joined forces with Lycra-clad Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton to vanquish demonized versions of George Bush and Dick Cheney?

The Museum of Modern Art Library is a comprehensive collection devoted to modern and contemporary art. The noncirculating collection documents painting, sculpture, drawings, prints, photography, architecture, design, performance, video, film, and emerging art forms from 1880 to the present. Primary source collections are held by the Museum Archives.  Collection highlights include works on Dada and Surrealism, The Museum of Modern Art/Franklin Furnace Artist Book Collection, and the Political Art Documentation and Distribution (PAD/D) Archive.