Out of Storage and Into the Stacks

Are you a glass collector or enthusiast? This Wednesday May 5 at 6 p.m. the Jean Outland Chrysler Library will host Curator of Glass Kelly Conway in the Library Reading Room for a unique opportunity. Join us for Out of Storage and Into the Stacks and view fine pieces from the Chrysler’s glass collection alongside rare books from the Chrysler Library’s extensive glass research collections. Treasures from both collections will be on display and we will discuss how to use the Library’s resources for glass identification and research.


Whether you already have an extensive collection of glass or would like to learn more, this is a great opportunity to learn how to begin your research.

Space is limited to 20 participants and room is still available, so please R.S.V.P. For more information, contact Laura Christiansen at (757) 965-2035 or at lchristiansen@chrysler.org

Women at the Chrysler : Making Beautiful Music

During the exhibition Women of the Chrysler: A 400-Year Celebration of the Arts, we’re celebrating the contributions of women to the history of the Chrysler Museum. Women from all backgrounds have played an integral role in the creation, development, and operation of the Museum from its very beginning. Each week during the exhibition, we’re a story about a woman or group of women accompanied by an online album of images from the Library's collections. We also invite you to join us in the Library to learn more about these dedicated women.



From the days of Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences musicales to modern musical performances such as Art Riff and The Art of Jazz, music has always been a large part of life at the Chrysler. This week we've created a slide show of just a few of the many talented women who have filled the galleries and grounds of the Museum with beautiful music. Please help us continue to celebrate women in art and music by joining us for a performance by Bellisima!, the South Hampton Roads auditioned ensemble performing music written specifically for the voices of women. Bellisima! will make beautiful music on Sunday, May 9 at 2pm in Huber Court.

"Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?"

When ArtNews published feminist art historian Linda Nochlin’s essay “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” in 1971, it set off a firestorm of discussion in the art world. Nochlin focused on the male-centric world of art history. Were there really never any great women artists, or had their accomplishments been misattributed and played down? Thirty years later Nochlin’s question became the topic of a conference at Princeton on the state of women artists, and her new essay “Why Have “”There Been No Great Women Artists” Thirty Years After” was published. Are you interested in weighing in on this issue? Please join us at the next Chrysler Museum Art & Books, Wine & Cheese on Wednesday, April 21, 2010 for what is sure to be a lively discussion. Please e-mail us at library@chrysler.org if you would like to have digital scans of the articles sent to you. We hope to see you there!

Happy National Library Week!

This week is National Library Week  - a time to celebrate the important role that libraries play in our lives and in our society.  In the Museum today (April 17)? Stop by the Library between 12 - 4:45 p.m. to help us celebrate.

Happy Library Week!

Women at the Chrysler: The Galleries in Bloom

During the exhibition Women of the Chrysler: A 400-Year Celebration of the Arts, we’re celebrating the contributions of women to the history of the Chrysler Museum. Women from all backgrounds have played an integral role in the creation, development, and operation of the Museum from its very beginning. Each week during the exhibition, we’re a story about a woman or group of women accompanied by an online album of images from the Library's collections. We also invite you to join us in the Library to learn more about these dedicated women.
Outside the temperatures are rising and the spring flowers are in full bloom. It's the perfect time to enjoy a lovely walk outside in one of the Museum's two gardens. The beautiful blooms also reminded us of one wonderful feature of the Chrysler. Every week and at every event we enjoy beautiful flowers, artfully arranged in the galleries.  This week's album features the dedicated ladies (and gentlemen) who have worked throughout the years to keep the gardens and galleries of the Museum beautiful with blooms.

Women At the Chrysler -All A Bloom

Picture this...

Have you seen Dawoud Bey’s Class Pictures? Bey’s provocative exhibition got us thinking about the history and many types of portraiture. This extremely personal style, often used as commentary on identity, has interested artists and art lovers alike throughout history. Interested? Please stop by the Jean Outland Chrysler Library and have a look at a sampling of our volumes about portraiture and portrait artists.

Women at the Chrysler; Fashion is an Art Form

During the exhibition Women of the Chrysler: A 400-Year Celebration of the Arts, we’re celebrating the contributions of women to the history of the Chrysler Museum. Women from all backgrounds have played an integral role in the creation, development, and operation of the Museum from its very beginning. Each week during the exhibition, we’re a story about a woman or group of women accompanied by an online album of images from the Library's collections. We also invite you to join us in the Library to learn more about these dedicated women.

The Chrysler has a long tradition of hosting fashion shows. Over the years there have been events featuring modern fashions, bridal couture and, of course, period fashions. Here are a few of our favorites from past and present…

Sara Mason in the News

Library Assistant Sara Mason has been receiving a lot of notice lately for her work as a busy Graduate Student in the University of South Carolina's College of Mass Communication and Information Studies. She's been featured on the school's e-news letter here.  Sara is also featured on the Hermitage Museum's Collections blog for her work as an intern - take a look here.

Way to go Sara! Keep up the hard work!

Take a Peep at what's going on at the Chrysler Museum of Art!

The Peeps Present 10 Fun Things to Do at The Chrysler This Spring:
1. Take one last look at the Eliot Porter exhibition.
2. Enjoy a children's book.
3. Participate in Yoga for Art Lovers.
4. Try your hand at drawing in the galleries.
5. Visit the shop.
6. Talk to a helpful gallery host.
7. Take time to enjoy the tulips.
8. Check out the Boncori restoration.
9. See what's new in the Jean Outland Chrysler Library.
10. Visit the "Women of the Chrysler" website at http://www.womenofthechrysler.org/ and post to the blog http://www.womenofthechrysler.org/guestblog/

Happy Spring!

Women At the Chrysler: Annie Wood - Author

During the exhibition Women of the Chrysler: A 400-Year Celebration of the Arts, we’re celebrating the contributions of women to the history of the Chrysler Museum. Women from all backgrounds have played an integral role in the creation, development, and operation of the Museum from its very beginning. Each week during the exhibition, we’re a story about a woman or group of women accompanied by an online album of images from the Library's collections. We also invite you to join us in the Library to learn more about these dedicated women.

This week we thought we’d share an interesting aspect of a well-known figure in the Museum’s history. If you are a regular Museum visitor or a Norfolk native, chances are you’ve heard of Irene Leach and Anna Cogswell Wood) and their contributions to the establishment of an Art Museum in Norfolk. (If you haven’t stop by the Library and take a look at our
Women at the Chrysler exhibit to learn all about it.) What you may not know, however, is that Annie Wood was also a prolific writer, authoring and co-authoring numerous works of fiction and non-fiction. Beginning in 1891 with the novel Diana Fontaine written under the nom de plume Algernon Ridgewood (taken from Wood’s Father’s name) Wood followed this work with the 1892 novel Westover’s Ward. Over the next forty-nine years, she published five other works of non-fiction and essays on topics ranging from her travels in Europe to parlor dramatics to criminal psychology. Wood also tirelessly compiled albums of her thoughts and ideas in beautifully leather bound books she called her “pensées”. Many of these were donated after her death to the Norfolk Museum of Arts and Science and remain in the collections of the Chrysler Museum and the Irene Leache Memorial Foundation. In the attached slide show you’ll find images of works by and about Wood. If you’d like to learn more, we urge you to stop by the Library or to read Jo Ann Mervis Hofheimer’s 1996 biography Annie Wood: a  Portrait.

Westover’s Ward is also available through Google Books.

L.C.

Trompe l'Oeil - More than meets the eye.

Is there a man leaning out of that picture frame? Are there angels flying down from the ceiling? Is that a window or a painting? Who would pin those letters so carelessly to a wall? Fear not! You’re eyes are playing tricks on you. Or rather, some very talented artists are playing tricks on your eyes. Trompe l’Oeil painting – literally “trick the eye” is meant to amuse and confuse, with the added benefits of allowing the artist to show off and forcing the viewer to think harder about the piece in question. The ability to create the illusion of three dimensions on a two dimensionally surface has long been prized. Laura and I are so enthralled with the genre, in fact, that we will both be taking up Trompe l’Oeil paintings in our free time. Watch out before you walk through that new door in the library. Want to learn more about Trompe l’Oeil? Topeka it!

 April Fools.

By Library Assistant Sara Mason