You are invited to a Library Open House!

If you've been reading this blog this summer, you'll know that Cataloging Fellow Rachel Juris and Interns Gabrielle, Emma, Jessica and Brendan have been hard at work helping the Library accomplish some big projects. Before our interns return to their respective schools for the year, we invite you to stop by the Library Reading Room on Friday, July 31 between 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. to meet them and see some of the amazing work they've completed. This is also a wonderful opportunity to meet Rachel and hear about her excellent work cataloging the Library's backlog.

We look forward to seeing you on Friday!

And the Winner is.....

The results of the 2009 Jean Outland Chrysler Library bookcart decorating contest are in! It was a close contest, but the Alice in Wonderland Themed cart submitted by interns Jessica Dame, Gabrielle Barr, Emma Tisdale and Brendan Higgins is the clear winner! I hope you enjoy the following slide show with images of the entries.

Periodicals in Fashion...

My activities this week were devoted to cataloging periodicals. I added approximately 35 new titles to the library catalog, ranging from American and French fashion magazines of the early 20th-century (Signe: Les Modes à Paris, French Elle, Vogue) to art-related titles. As Jessica mentioned in her blog entry last week, fashion and art are closely related. Many early fashion magazines include articles about artists and artworks of the times, in addition to stylized fashion photography and graphic design advertisements. One art-related title of particular note is an issue of View magazine, a surrealist art and poetry publication. The Jean Outland Chrysler Library collection already contained a book about the history of View magazine (View: Parade of the Avant-Garde), which, over the years of its publication (1940-47) featured work by artists, including: Man Ray and Marcel Duchamp. Now, library users can see an original example of the magazine itself.

-Rachel Juris, 2009 Jean Outland Chrysler Library Cataloging Fellow

Item of the Week: Jessica's Favorite

After researching fashion and costume for a project, I came across an interesting book that I am calling my favorite item in the library this summer. It is Bravehearts: Men in Skirts by Andrew Bolton. It is a collection of photographs and the history of the skirt in men’s fashion. It is one of those items which on first glance one may think, “Is this really a book about men in skirts?” This question is soon followed by, “Why does the Chrysler’s library have this?” What may seem strange, and hilarious, after some reading you are reminded boys and men have been wearing both skirts and dresses since the beginning of time.
The history begins with Egyptian sculptures and relief in which male figures wore a wrap that was an early short-style skirt. Greek vases portray men in wraps and Greek sculptures have male figures in simple dresses. The Augustus of Prima Porta (1st Century Roman statue) wears armor over a short-style dress and wrap. Many occupations held by males in history have be synonymous with tunics, ropes and wraps such as monks, priests, kings, and gentlemen of high status. Little boys during the sixteenth century wore dresses in infancy and the first couple years of their lives. It was thought to provoke “precocious sexual curiosity” in children if parents distinguished between the sexes at an early age. Men in cultures from Africa, India and South America wore wraps and waistcloths which may have been in part to climate and the need to stay cool. Gowns and robes (such as the kimono) were also an important part of a man’s wardrobe in Asian cultures as well.
After picking up this book men wearing skirts doesn’t seem strange anymore. The one skirt worn by men that may stand out the most and be widely accepted today is the kilt. In today’s pop-culture, many fashion designers, models and rocks stars have taken on the skirt in a new way, which is OK, as long as it is David Bowie or Boy George.

-Jessica Dame, Library Intern 2009

Artist’s Books

I recently returned from the American Library Association 2009 Annual Conference in Chicago. Among the sessions I attended, More Than Paper: The Small Press and the Artist's Book was especially relevant to my work in the Jean Outland Chrysler Library. Panelists discussed not only the importance of preserving small press and artist’s books in libraries, but also the challenges of describing artist-made objects so that users can search for and identify these materials in library catalogs. Small press and artist’s books are often printed in limited numbers and may, therefore, be rare or unique items. The manner in which small press and artist’s books are printed and bound and the materials used in the bookmaking process can be as significant as the texts and illustrations. Some small press and artist’s books have more in common with book art and art objects than with traditional books.
We Apologize by the filmmakers and artists EIDIA (Paul Lamarre and Melissa Wolf) is an example of an artist’s book I recently added to the Jean Outland Chrysler Library collection. A book, a flow chart, and a manifesto printed on a napkin are all housed in a modified record album cover. Only 100 copies of We Apologize were printed; each copy is numbered and signed by the artists.
- Rachel Juris, 2009 Jean Outland Chrysler Library Cataloging Fellow

Recent Inquiries

One of the great things about working in the Library is helping visitors to the museum learn more about items in the Chrysler Museum's collections. When answering questions about items in the galleries for students, scholars, and other curious museum patrons, Library staff members have the unique opportunty of viewing the Museum's collections from new and unique perspectives. Here are just three of the many Chrysler Collection items for which information has been requested this week:

Peach Blow Pitcher in Tankard Shape with Rich Decoration,
ca. 1886-90
Blown glass Enamel
Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Location: Glass, Gallery 131.R6.C64
With poem: "On waste and woodland, rock and plain,/Its' humble buds unheed rise;/The Rose has but a summer reign;/The daisy never dies!/James Montgomery".

Use of Rouen
French Book of Hours, ca. 1480
Vellum Tempera Gilt Ink
Loan from the Irene Leache Memorial Collection
Location: The Dalis Foundation Galleries of European Art







Larkin Goldsmith Mead American (1835-1910)
The Battle Story (The Returned Soldier)

modeled ca. 1863-65, carved 1865-66

Marble

Gift of James H. Ricau and Museum Purchase

Location: Ricau Gallery

For more information about these items, or about any other items in the Museum collection take a look at the Chrysler Museum's Collection Online, or, stop by the Library - we're here to help.

The Changing Look of Art Exhibition Catalogs

During the past week, I catalogued approximately 75 art exhibition catalogs, ranging in date from the 1870s through the 1970s. Many of these catalogs are rare-- located in only one or two other libraries worldwide. Art exhibition catalogs from the late 19th century and first half of the 20th century bear little resemblance to the thick, glossy, color illustrated, essay-filled publications distributed by galleries and museums today. Earlier exhibition catalogs are smaller (sometimes only a single folded page), unillustrated or sparsely illustrated in black and white, listing artworks (title, artist, date, dimensions, medium, and sometimes price) for the purposes of promotion of the gallery and the artist, and sale of the artwork. Instead of a scholarly essay or note from the curator, a biography of the artist and description of his or her technique may be included. Although early exhibition catalogs do not make great coffee table books, they do provide scholars with valuable information about the provenance or artwork and the state of the art market at a particular time. Stop by the Jean Outland Chrysler Library to see the variety of art exhibition catalogs in our collection!

- Rachel Juris, 2009 Jean Outland Chrysler Library Cataloging Fellow

New Feature - Cataloged, Labeled and Shelved...

As you are scrolling down the blog this week you may notice a rather lenghty list has been added under our regular list of new acquisitions. This summer, with the able help of Cataloging Fellow Rachel Juris, the Library staff is working to catalog, label, and shelve as many uncataloged materials as possible. Previously part of our cataloging backlog and unavailable to researchers, the 150+ items listed this week were entered into our library catalog by Rachel between June 15 and June 30. Now all of these items are easy to find in our catalog and on our shelves. Rachel is still working away - so keep an eye for further additions in the coming weeks!