This post was written by Stephen Van Dyk, Librarian, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Library.
The Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Library recently obtained this renowned example of early 20th century book and graphic design entitled Dlja golosa(For the Voice), published in Berlin in 1923. The sixty-one page softcover work, a collaboration of Russian poet Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893-1930) and designer El Lissitzky (1890-1941), rhythmically interlaces innovative constructivist style layouts and patterns with thirteen futurist poems.
This is a two-part series on the Hewitt sisters. Read part one.
By 1897, Sarah and Eleanor had collected enough to formally open their museum on the fourth floor of the Cooper Union. In the tradition of their grandfather, the Hewitt sisters wanted to actualize a museum and library that were not just a showcase, but also tools—places that students and designers could come to for reference and inspiration, then go out and create their own innovative objects. In the birth of the Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration, the sisters embodied the increasingly democratic attitudes that grew to dominate the 20th century. Their museum was to be open to everyone, with “no tedious restrictions and formalities,” which were often imposed by the exclusive art galleries of the era. Indeed, their museum provided a means for many women to gain economic independence through art and design.
Almost a year ago, the Libraries celebrated “Museum Cat Day”, a social media celebration of cat-related objects in museums which was organized by Culture Themes. To see the Libraries’ contributions to Museum Cat Day, check out our Storify account of the action. On the anniversary of such a fun social media event, we take a look at more cats in art! This post was contributed by Ria Witteman, intern at the American Art Museum/National Portrait Gallery (AA/PG) Library summer 2015. Ria is a rising third year at the University of Virginia, majoring in Art History and Spanish.
1894 stereograph of U.S. Patent Office Building west model hall
2014 marked the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Smithsonian American Art and Portrait Gallery Library (AA/PG) as a combined library for the newly-founded National Portrait Gallery and the National Collection of Fine Arts.
As a result of the development of Japonisme in the 1860s, Japanese art and crafts became increasingly popular, especially in Europe. Following the Meiji Restoration (1868), the Japanese government began exhibiting a vast amount of art and craft objects in world expositions, namely, World’s Columbian Exposition (1893) and Paris expositions (1867, 1889, 1900), which led to actively promoting domestic craft production.
~This post was written by Katherine Williamson, an intern at the American Art/ Portrait Gallery library.
Cast-iron Eagle in the Smithsonian NCFA/NPG Library c. 1975. Photo by Wolfgang FreitagSmithsonian NCFA/NPG Library, 1975. Photo by Wolfgang Freitag
As part of my work as an American Art/Portrait Gallery Library (AA/PG) intern, I answer reference questions from patrons that involve some type of research, either within our collection or using online sources that the library subscribes to. One of the most interesting reference questions I have received actually came from our Head Librarian, Doug Litts. Through his own research involving the original location of the AA/PG library – Room 331 of the main museum building – he came across a list of paintings, a marble bust and a cast iron sculpture, that were located in what was known as the NCFA/NPG Library when it was housed in the museum. Through circumstances unknown to us, those artworks were never transported to the Victor Building when the library moved here in 2000. He became very interested in the history of the artworks, as well as where they are now, and recruited me to help him in his research.
This post was written by Stephen Van Dyk, Librarian, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Library.
