One of Bryn Mawr College’s Lockwood de Forest Chairs Travels to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Posted on by

Later this month a side chair, ca. 1881-1886, designed by Lockwood de Forest will go to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts on loan for one year, with the option to renew.  The side chair, will be on exhibition in the galleries at the Virginia Museum of Fine arts as early as this Fall.  Below is a detail of the of the design on the chair.

Photographs by Karen Mauch.

For more information about Lockwood de Forest and additional works designed by him in Bryn Mawr’s Collection see:Lockwood de Forest: Furnishing the Gilded Age with a Passion for India by Roberta A. Mayer.

Renaissance Relief Reinstalled

Posted on by

Yesterday a reproduction plaster relief of the Tabernacle or Ciborium in the Medici
Chapel Church of Santa Croce in Florence was re-installed on the 2nd floor of Taylor Hall. It is a late 19th century reproduction after the original mid-15th century work by Mino da Fiesole (1429 – 1484).

To safely install the four-part plaster relief, a metal armature was constructed to support each section separately.  This insures that the weight of each piece is supported by the structure and not by the sections of the relief beneath.  The armature was installed first.

Then each section of the relief was installed one at a time, starting at the bottom, by professional art installers.




Triptych, is that you?

Posted on by

Triptych, the repository for special collections materials from the Tri-Colleges, got a new look last week, as we just completed an upgrade to CONTENTdm, the software that makes the site run. Triptych features materials from Bryn Mawr College Special Collections, Haverford College Special Collections, Swarthmore College Peace Collection, and Friends Historical Library at Swarthmore College. Triptych’s updated look and feel will allow for enhanced searching and browsing of collections.

Though the site includes collections such as the Catt Collection Suffrage Photographs, the Castle Collection of Natural History Illustrations, and the Early Advertising Collection, we have more recently been adding a number of archival collections. Highlights include:

 


Biological laboratory, Taylor Hall (from the Photo Archives)

 

 

Postcard of the New Gymnasium (from the BMC Postcard Collection)

A History of the Deanery in Bryn Mawr College Publications.
Currently, the site appears very much “out of the box,” meaning that little customization has been done to give it a look-and-feel unique to the Tri-Co. However, because the software is fully functional, we’ve made the decision to roll out the site as-is for now, with plans for small improvements in the coming months. Using this kind of “agile” development model means that users can benefit from the new features of the site right away while we learn more about what’s possible and what’s desirable from our users. Look for  more improvements soon – in the meantime, have some fun browsing the archival, historical and manuscript collections.

Behind the Scenes – Conservation

Posted on by

 

Today, paintings conservator Serena Urry conserved the painting Madonna and Child by Romare Bearden in preparation for an upcoming traveling exhibition.  In the image above she is consolidating a small scratch in preparation for inpainting.

Below is a before treatment photograph showing the entire image area.

After consolidation, the painting was surface cleaned with a mild enzymatic solution (above) then in-painting was performed in areas of abrasion (below).

After giving the in-painting time to dry the painting will be re-framed with new glazing in preparation for the upcoming traveling exhibition Ashe to Amen.  For more information about the exhibition see:

http://mobia.org/exhibitions/ashe-to-amen#slideshow1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PA Now Papers at Bryn Mawr College

Posted on by

The Library has a strong collection of items relating to women’s studies and women’s history. A donation from the Pennsylvania branch of the National Organization for Women (PA NOW) this spring doubled our preexisting collection of papers from the group. The earlier donation covered the 1970s through mid-1980s, while the new addition brings the collection up to 2007.

The National Organization for Women was founded in 1966 and is the largest feminist organization in America. Core issues that the group has been active in include abortion/reproductive rights, violence against women, and ending racism and sexism. PA NOW was founded in 1971, and the earliest dated materials in the collection date back to the very beginning.

The PA NOW papers consist of materials saved in the office files of the organization: articles, pamphlets, newsletters, meeting transcripts, convention planning documents, records of the political action committee, and publications from groups other than PA NOW, both for and against various issues.  The collection is substantial, occupying over 15 feet of shelving, and covering a very wide range of topics in addition to the major issues: information on legislators, pornography, disability, aging, child welfare, family medical leave, inequities in health insurance, body image, sexual assault/ abuse, violence against women, equal pay – issues that affect the lives of all women.

The bulk of the collection consists of internal administrative documents. The organization tended to focus on one key issue at a time. The organization’s support for the Equal Rights Amendment during the early 1970s is reflected in the quantity of materials dedicated to the issue. Abortion was a major issue for PA NOW in the 1980s. The papers provide many pro-choice arguments, support the right to abortion under both usual and unusual circumstances, and debate the rights of spouses, partners, family members, and the community to prevent abortions.

Office documents covered state and political news, updates from other women’s organizations, and information about women’s conferences held in other countries, such as China. Legal documents from the Philadelphia region listing PA NOW as amicus curiae demonstrate the organization’s activity and role as an authority on women’s rights in the local area.

The collection also contains a small amount of ephemera, including T-shirts, buttons, and posters, the majority of which focus on LGBT issues, abortion, and racism.

A guide to the collection will soon be publicly available.

More information about PA NOW can be found at: http://www.panow.org/pages/keyissues.htm

Heather Davies is one of two Friends of the Library Undergraduate Interns.

Behind the Scenes – Ongoing Collections Care

Posted on by
Moche Stirrup Spout Before Treatment (69.1.3)

As part of the care of the collections, fine art, artifacts, rare books and other materials occasionally need to be sent to specialists for treatment.

During the Spring 2012 semester seven objects from Bryn Mawr College’s art and artifact collections were sent to the Conservation Center at NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts for conservation treatment.  The images shown here are of a Moche vessel treated by one of the graduate students at the Conservation Center of New York University.

Moche Stirrup Spout During Treatment (69.1.3)

 

 

Moche Stirrup Spout After Treatment (69.1.3)

 

Additionally four Greek pots from the Archaeology collections were conserved during the Spring and Summer of 2012 by Julie Baker, a local objects conservator with the Art Conservator’s Alliance.

Objects recently treated will be on display in Canaday Library on the Second Floor
beginning in September 2012.

More information about the Conservation Program at NYU can be found on their website at:http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/fineart/conservation/index.htm.

More information about the Art Conservators Alliance can be found at:http://www.artconservatorsalliance.com/

Information about the American Institute for Conservation can be found at:http://www.conservation-us.org/

Current Student Projects: Friends of the Library Summer Undergraduate Intern Hyoungee Kong

Posted on by

It has been three weeks since the Levine Collection arrived at Bryn Mawr College Special Collections. This generous gift from Jacqueline and Howard Levine has been cause for great excitement among all the members of the Collection department, especially those who, like me have been fortunate enough to work directly with the newly arrived pieces of art. While delving into the trove of artworks and helping to organize and catalog them, I have had priceless experiences that have encouraged and catalyzed my passion in art history.
The Levines’ art collection consists hundreds of prints, thus providing me with the rare opportunity to study numerous prints in minute detail. As for my art historical training, I have been exposed to and focused on paintings and sculptures; there simply weren’t that many opportunities to concentrate on studying prints. In the process of cataloguing the Levine Collection, however, I could scrutinize many prints and thus absorb technical and historical knowledge that I was hardly aware I was lacking, and I could acquire theoretical knowledge through practical experience. Every day was as if I was visiting an artist’s studio.

Andre Derain
(Chatou, France, 1880-1954, Garches, France)
L’Enfant
Color Woodcut
11 1/4 in. x 8 3/4 in.
Gift of Jacqueline Koldin Levine ’46 and Howard H. Levine

 

This fortune to study prints closely also provided a discovery of new aspects of the artists whom I thought I knew well. Last week, I came across two prints by André Derain, a French Fauve I studied last spring in Paris. His works that I had seen were all paintings with fierce, vivid colors. However, his prints that I found in the Levine Collection showed hardly any of his well-known Fauve characteristics. This discovery of new facet of Derain’s art let me observe the artist anew and have a better sense of how his art had developed.
The intimate contact with each work of art is another gift I was given from the Levine Collection. Physical proximity to the artworks made my experiences with them profoundly personal; by handling and assessing a piece of art closely, I have an individual and lively conversation with it. Each encounter with a piece of art becomes unique due to this direct contact, and thus creates an intimate connection between me and the work. This is, without exception, a very emotionally powerful event.
The Levine Collection has provided me with a precious opportunity to learn about and to communicate with art. This good fortune has been a catalyst for my passion in what I have been studying and will be a great encouragement to continue my journey to become an art history scholar. I truly thank Jackie and Howard Levine, who made this wonderful gift to the Special Collections. I would also like to thank Marianne Weldon, Collections Manager for Art and Artifacts in Special Collections, and Brian Wallace, Curator/Academic Liaison for Art and Artifacts of Bryn Mawr College, who have helped me discover and further appreciate the treasures of this donation.

The Levine Collection Has Arrived!

Posted on by

This blog post was created by Maeve Doyle, Ph.D. Candidate, History of Art, Bryn Mawr College

This past Tuesday was no ordinary workday in Bryn Mawr College Special Collections. By 10 in the morning, our seminar room in Canaday Library was overflowing with boxes and large bins containing the first shipment of the Jacqueline and Howard Levine Collection. If you’re walking past Canaday 205, be sure to stop and enjoy the sight of us squeezing through wall-to-wall crates of art!

Hyoungee dives in

This new wealth of works on paper is due to the generous gift of Jacqueline and Howard Levine. Jacqueline Koldin Levine, class of 1946, has long been an active member of the Bryn Mawr community, serving on the Board of Trustees from 1979 to 1991. The Levines’ art collection focuses mainly on prints and contains a wide range of examples of European modernism as well as a particular emphasis on American Social Realist movements, such as the Ashcan School. We are tremendously grateful to Jackie and Howard Levine; their donation of this superlative collection will allow Bryn Mawr students to discover, study, and enjoy its works for generations.

Howard Levine & Brian Wallace, Curator and Academic Liaison for Art and Artifacts, in the Levines’ home gallery, before the collection’s move

Before that can happen, however, we need to integrate these new pieces into our existing collections. That’s down to Hyoungee Kong and me: two students , twenty-two boxes and bins, and 482 works of art (so far!). Our first step is to assign a Bryn Mawr accession number to each object and to make a concordance between the Levine catalogue numbers and the new identifiers. Next we’ll be moving the works out of their temporary boxes and bins and into the archival folders and boxes that will be their permanent homes. While we do this, our eyes will be peeled for the best exemplars of the Levine Collection, which we’ll showcase in an exhibit next year. Our last step will be to catalogue each new addition and to make images and information about the artworks available on the Tri-College TriArte Art and Artifacts Database. We’ve been working closely with Marianne Weldon, Collections Manager, Art and Artifact Collections in Special Collection to complete this mammoth task.

Maeve starts the inventory for a new box; you never know what you’ll find!

As we pull works one by one from their boxes, we’ve come face-to-face with the works of master printmakers of the 20th century and earlier. From the artistic avant-garde of Pablo Picasso or George Grosz to the social commentary of Käthe Kollwitz or the Social Realist artists of the 1920s and 30s, the images are startling, challenging, touching, and beautiful. This is a collection with emotional as well as artistic range. Here is just a taste of what’s to be discovered in the Levine Collection …

Francisco de Goya, Tanto y Mas, 1810, 2012.27.241

Pablo Picasso, Nude (constructed title), 2012.27.457

Moshe Gat, Old Man in a Doorway (constructed title), 2012.27.432

Woodmere Art Museum exhibition features two works from Doris Staffel on loan from the Bryn Mawr College collection

Posted on by

The Woodmere Art Museum, (9201 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19118) is hosting a new exhibit titled ‘Doris Staffel: Painter, Teacher’ that will run through July 28 – September 30, 2012. It focuses on the work of painter Doris Staffel, described as one of Philadelphia’s preeminent abstract painters and colorists. This is the first exhibition to examine Staffel’s entire career, as well as her first solo show in a museum. Along with Staffel’s solo exhibition the Woodmere Art Museum will also be showing a smaller collection of works highlighting three-generations of Philadelphia artists: Staffel’s own teachers, her colleagues, and the students that she taught. Drawn mostly from Woodmere’s permanent collection, it includes several recent acquisitions and promised gifts exhibited for the first time.

The exhibition brings together all fourteen paintings and works on paper by Staffel that are held in the Woodmere’s collection, pieces that represent her various career phases from the 1940s to the present. The two pieces from Bryn Mawr College have been loaned along with other pieces from public and private collections to complete the exhibition.

The two pieces on loan from Bryn Mawr College Special Collections represent the different media within which the artist worked.

The piece below, Dragon’s Teeth, dates from 1984 and is a charcoal on paper (18 3/4 in. x 17 1/2 in.) and is from the William and Uytendale Scott Memorial Study Collection of
Works by Women Artists, a gift of Bill Scott.

This piece, Enfolding, from 1990, is an acrylic on paper (23 in. x 30 1/4 in.) and is also a gift of Bill Scott. Born in 1921 in Brooklyn, Staffel came to Philadelphia in 1940 to study at the Tyler School of Art where she stayed to teach for twenty-seven years at The University of the Arts in the city. She is described by the Woodmere Art Museum as being an influential figure to younger artists, and her work is displayed in galleries in Philadelphia and elsewhere in the US.

An interview with Staffel in which she discusses her work and life is available on You Tube

For more on the exhibition, please check the Woodmere Art Museum website.

Early Alumnae Bulletins now online!

Posted on by

Early issues of the Bryn Mawr Alumnae Bulletin (1921-1940) are now available online at the Internet Archive!

Funding for this digitization project was provided by The Albert M. Greenfield Digital Center for the History of Women’s Education and scanning was done by the Internet Archive with funding from LYRASIS members and the Sloan Foundation.

These items now join other materials from the College Archives online at the Internet Archive, including yearbooks (through 1949), annual reports, college calendars and catalogs, literary magazines and student publications (The Lantern, Fortnightly Philistine, Tipyn o’bob, Counterpoint, The Title). The collection at the Internet Archive also include some volumes from the Rare Books & Manuscripts collections that are in the public domain.

Questions about the Internet Archive resources should be directed to Cheryl Klimaszewski, Digital Collections Specialist at cklimaszew [at] brynmawr [dot] edu.