We're on the Move!

 

Source: http://blackparrotmaine.blogspot.com/

 

As we mentioned a few months ago, the library is preparing to move to a great new location on ODU's campus. In order to prepare all 113,000+ of the library's materials for the move, we are temporarily closing the library to the public. We will miss seeing all of our visitors, but we are looking forward to reopening in the new location in early 2015!

 

For the next couple of months, we will provide limited reference services about the Museum's collections via email only. Please submit all requests to library@chrysler.org. For more information about artwork in the Chrysler Museum, check out the museum's online collection.

 

We promise to keep you updated as we continue to prepare our many books, archives, and other special collections for the move. Stay tuned for posts about interesting things we find along the way!





The Chrysler Museum is open!

We're so excited to see visitors in the museum again after almost a year and half of being closed for renovation! If you want to see the museum's amazing transformation, check out this excellent video:

We are also excited to start the process of moving the library to our brand new building in the new Arts Village on Monarch Way near ODU! The move is currently scheduled for early 2015. While the library will not be re-opening with regular hours in preparation for the move, we are still happy to help you with your research. The best way to reach us with research requests is by emailing us at library@chrysler.org.

We're glad to be back and hope to hear from you soon!

Barry Arts Building on Monarch Way

Hot off the Presses! New Glass Publications

You may have heard that the museum's main doors are closed for renovation, but the Glass Studio is still open and offering an incredible array of classes, demonstrations and special events. With all of the exciting programming at the studio, the summer promises to be "hot" in more ways than one! Bad pun, I know...


Come visit. Every seat is a good seat, and the TV monitors are great for close-ups of the action.

Part of our job at the library is provide all of the glass artists and students with the most cutting edge information about the contemporary glass word, so we've ordered several glass and craft periodicals and books. In fact, our studio staff are so accomplished they are often featured in these publications. I hope you'll stop by the studio and take a class, or check out thes magazines to learn more about the exciting world of contemporary glass!

New Book Club Website!

As we approach the end of April, what better way is there to enjoy a rainy spring day than to curl up with a good book? Right now the JOCL Book Club is reading Shopping, Seduction and Mr. Selfridge by Lindy Woodhead, a biopic about the founder of one of England’s great department stories. If you are a PBS Masterpiece fan like I am, you probably recognize the book's title character from the series Mr. Selfridge currently airing Sunday nights on PBS. The book is also a great companion for the Chrysler's exciting new exhibition at the Selden Arcade "Let's Go Shopping."

The JOCL Book Club's spring selection. We'll be meeting on May 29th at 6:30 in the Moses Myers House
to discuss this fascinating book! 

 

A selection from the Chrysler Museum's Exhibition "Let's Go Shopping"
at the Selden Arcade in Downtown, Norfolk: March 19th-June 8th.

F. Luis Mora
Window Shopping
Oil on canvas
1934

 

If you are interested in joing our discussion, or would like to see a list of upcoming book club selections, check out our new website at http://www.chrysler.org/about-the-museum/library/our-book-club/.  During the next few months, we'll be solving mysteries with the brilliant Sherlock Holmes, traveling back in time to 17th century Venice to learn the art glass blowing, and searching for mysterious sounds coming from the floorboards of a 19th century home. I hope you will join us!

 -JR

What is the Circumference of a Squirrel?

Greetings from the Jean Outland Chrysler Art Library!

The Museum is closed but we have been incredibly busy here in the Library. Currently, our most important projects are processing our vertical file and cataloging backlogs. If you are curious what our work stations look like, here are some pictures:

 

Even though these piles look intimidating, I am happy to say we have made a ton of progress these past three months. We are almost done sorting through our vertical file backlog and have cataloged well over a hundred books. In that process we have found some really interesting things like, rare books, signed artist books, large promotional posters, hand-painted greeting card prints to Walter P. Chrysler Jr., interactive exhibition invitations, even a page-laminate full of seeds with an artist card that says, "MAN DOES NOT LIVE ON ART ALONE." The title of this blog was inspired by a promotional flyer for the play Circumference of a Squirrel that was found among the ephemera.

Having the opportunity to literally go through every inch of this Library reminds us of how special this collection is and we are excited to share all of our new finds with the public when we reopen.

Back to the Future: The JOCL in 2013

If you're like me, you heard that the Chrysler Museum will be closing for 14 months for renovation and thought "what about the library!?!?" Well I have some great news: the JOCL will be safe and sound during the renovation, and library staff will be available for you to contact via phone and email for all of your research needs! Unlike the museum's art collection, all 114,000 library materials will remain in the building and will continue to enjoy a cool, dry climate. Library staff will be available for you to call or email with your research questions and will send you scans of library books and vertical files. We will even do the heavy research lifting for you! The library's catalog will be available online, and college students and researchers can still request books via Interlibrary Loan.

The JOCL will also continue to offer our popular Art & Books book club! We will be hosting the book club bi-monthly in the beautiful dining room of the Moses Myers Historic House. Attendees of the book club will enjoy fun and engaging discussions, as well as tasty refreshments. Our first meeting will be Wednesday, January 30 at 6:30pm and we will be reading Caveat Emptor: The Secret Life of an American Art Forger by Ken Perenyi. Hope to see you there!

Have a safe and happy holiday!

Jessica Ritchie
Dickson Librarian

Ken Perenyi puts the 'Art' in Con-Artist

Greetings Folks!

We are very excited to present our next book for book club, Caveat Emptor: The Secret Life of an American Art Forger. Ken Perenyi started off as a delinquent with no goals, barely an education, and an apathetic attitude. But through a lucky series of events he fell in with some young, wealthy, hip artists who helped him shape his future. This book acts as a detailed confession written by the master, self-taught, art forger himself. He made a small fortune forging works by popular 18th and 19th century American Artists for nearly three decades and was thrilled by the sport of "fooling the experts." He sold his work at major auction houses like Sotheby's and Christie's, but the FBI eventually caught up with him and the pressure of the authorities caused him to sell his work as reproductions, which he still does today. This is going to be a captivating story and we hope that you will read it and join us at our next book club meeting! The meeting will be held at the Moses Myers Historical House on Wednesday, January 30th, 2013, light refreshments will be served.

 

Here is his website!

And here is a short interview with him!