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Category: Art and Design

Ramayana of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha

Erin Rushing
May 2, 2016
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This post was written by Leila Prasertwaitaya, a library specialist working at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Hidden amongst the Freer | Sackler Library’s much larger collections on East Asian, South Asian and Islamic art is a small gem-like group of books on Thai art and architecture.  Many of these books are in Thai, but with their magical illustrations of Dvarapala (guardians), gold-painted, bell-shaped chedi, five-headed stone nagas, a 70 cm. tall bronze Buddha head and murals of astonishing density and complexity, the books can open up a world of astounding beauty to anyone with a little curiosity.

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American Art and Portrait Gallery Library Celebrates their Volunteers and the Allentown Art Museum Vertical File Donation

Alexandra Reigle
April 28, 2016
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Paul and Janet, two volunteers at the AAPG Library who helped with the Allentown Vertical File Donation.
Paul and Janet, two volunteers at the AAPG Library who helped with the Allentown Vertical File Donation.

April is volunteer appreciation month and the American Art and Portrait Gallery (AAPG) Library would like to take the opportunity to highlight both the completion of a project as well as the volunteers that made it happen. The Allentown Art Museum donated their collection of artist vertical files to the AAPG Library in early November 2014 that consisted of ephemeral materials related to nearly 4,600 artists. The AAPG library was especially interested in the collection’s native Pennsylvanian artists who were missing from our Art and Artists File (AAF) collection.

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Newcomb Pottery – An Educational Experiment for Women Artists

Trina Brown
March 30, 2016
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Newcomb pottery pieces
Newcomb pieces in the National Museum of American History exhibit (Author’s photo)

I’ve been a fan of Newcomb pottery since I first saw an example on the Antiques Roadshow more than a decade ago. Currently I have the opportunity to see Newcomb pottery every day — three pieces are featured in an art pottery and glass exhibit at the National Museum of American History, the building where I work. Simple forms, lovely colors and nature motifs make Newcomb pottery very appealing and highly collectible. But there’s also a compelling story behind the pottery. For March, which is both Women’s History Month and National Craft Month, I want to share information about Newcomb College in New Orleans where the pottery was made. This college offered education and employment for women artists at a time when such opportunities were scarce, especially in the South.

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Experiencing “The Ultimate Safari”

Janet Stanley
March 25, 2016
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In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re highlighting a book written and illustrated by female artists, The Ultimate Safari. The book is currently featured in our exhibition, Artists’ Books and Africa, which is open until September 2016 and is located in the National Museum of African Art.

The short story “The Ultimate Safari,” by Nadine Gordimer, was originally published in 1991 in Jump and Other Short Stories (London: Bloomsbury).[1]  This new edition of The Ultimate Safari is distinguished by its illustrations:  twelve lithographs drawn by Aletah Masuku, Alsetah Manthosi, and Dorah Ngomane.  Mark Attwood at The Artists’ Press initiated and produced the book in collaboration with Tamar Mason, co-director of the press.

 

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Greek Wild Flowers: Dialogues and Diplomats on the Parthenon and the Athenian Acropolis in the nineteenth century

Erin Rushing
March 18, 2016
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This post was written by Dr. Alexander Nagel, Research Associate with the National Museum of Natural History’s Department of Anthropology.

Parthenon
The Parthenon on the Athenian Acropolis in 2012, Photo: Alexander Nagel.

 

In the fall semester of 2015, I was teaching a course on *Classical Heritage in Washington: Encounters in the Museum* for students from the University of Maryland. Every Friday afternoon around 2pm, students would meet with colleagues and curators, archivists and archaeologists, diplomats and thinkers who work on aspects of heritage preservation and connecting ancient Mediterranean, Near Eastern, and European traditions with those of Washington, DC. The students learned how to tailor and manage research projects, and they developed their own exhibition projects over the semester.

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Fashion in the Natural World: Fusing Science with Art

Grace Costantino
March 16, 2016
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This post first appeared on the Biodiversity Heritage Library blog in February 2016.

Emile-Allain Séguy was a popular French designer throughout the Art Deco and Art Nouveau movements of the 1920s. Often confused with the French entomologist Eugene Séguy who was active during the same time period, E.A. Séguy designed primarily patterns and textiles and was heavily influenced by the natural world. He was particularly fond of the intricate patterns and beauty of insects (Eugene would have approved), which he saw as “mechanic wonders” that provided abundant inspiration for interior design (Schiff, 157).

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