Exhibit: Symbols of the Holidays: from the Jean Outland Chrysler Art Library Collection

Thomas Cole (American, 1801-1848)
The Angel Appearing to the Shepherds, 1833
Oil on Canvas, 101.5 x 182.5 in (257.81 x 471.17 cm.)
Chrysler Museum of Art

December is a special time of year for everyone.  The brisk wind and the hint of snow herald a time of year to celebrate.  Both Hanukkah and Christmas occur in the month and each has their most recognizable symbols, such as the menorah and the dreidel for Hanukkah and the Christmas tree and the Nativity for Christianity.

Various menorot used for Hanukkah.
From the 1901-1906 Jewish Encyclopedia
Courtesy of Wikipedia

Combing the Jean Outland Chrysler Library collection, we have found images of familiar holiday traditions both new and old to share with you.  Some are photographs from our Tidewater region, some are from the Holy Lands, some are clever references to traditional songs, and some are beloved paintings from Norman Rockwell.

Taro Yamamoto, American, 1919-
Christmas Card to Jean from the artist
Paper
Chrysler Museum of Art

These images also reflect the general collection of the Chrysler Museum.  As the Museum holds pieces ranging from the ancient to the modern, so does our selection of images.  See a menorah from the 18th century, a Nativity scene from the 15th century, and art glass from the 20th century among many others in the Library Reading Room.  To see the symbols of the holidays, stop by and have a look at the Jean Outland Chrysler Library.







Lynne Fors
Library Assistant

What's new?

There are many exciting new things happening at the Chrysler, and the library is no exception! Take a look at what the library and museum have been upto :

In order to celebrate the opening of the Chrysler's new Glass Studio, the library has purchased a number of excellent books on the art of glass making. Learn how to make glass beads, figurines, dinnerwear, christmas ornaments, jewelry and more! And make sure to sign up for one of the classes or workshops being held weekly at the studio, or stop by for a free demo!

You may have noticed that two of the Chrylser Museum's new exhibitions feature library materials:

Mark Rothko, No. 5, Untitled, 1949, oil on

canvas. From the Chrysler Museum collection.

© 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher

 Rothko / Artists Rights Society (ARS),

New York.

The exhibition Mark Rothko: Perceptions of Being, which is on view from Sept. 28 to Jan. 8, 2012, is accompanied by one of the library's monographs on Mark Rothko. The exhibition includes the Chrysler’s own No. 5 (Untitled), 1949, that serves as the centerpiece of this focused exhibition of work by the great abstract expressionist. Other works include five paintings on loan from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.—each a gift of the Mark Rothko Foundation. By displaying the library book along with the paintings, viewers are able to learn more about what they are seeing.

You may also have noticed library materials are featured in the new exhibition remix! The exhibition is ambitious undertaking by Amy Brandt, the Museum’s McKinnon Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art. “remix examines the distinct ways in which artists from many different backgrounds and generations respond to a common subject, theme or historical phenomenon,” says Brandt. The library was pleased to contribute a copy of Life magazine featuring the pop art exhibition American Supermarket. 

Al Capp's Pop Art

The Chrysler Museum of Art’s newest exhibition, the Pop Art of Al Capp, opened this week. Nine of Capp’s silkscreen prints will be on view in the McKinnon Galleries of Modern and Contemporary Art.

Capp, most famously known as the artist behind the long running “Li’l Abner” comics, was influenced by other pop artists of the time, including Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. The prints reflect important social movements of the 1960s and 1970s, including feminism and integration.

Capp swapped political parties in his later years, shifting from liberal to conservative. This alienated much of his audience – he received hate mail for years. In this video, Capp pokes fun at his new reputation, announcing himself as a “Neanderthal facist” when he meets John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

The video displays a side of John Lennon rarely seen by the public. As Capp questions his intentions of a peaceful protest-in-bed, Lennon grows flustered and angry. Two sides of the political spectrum, Capp and Lennon represent the growing frustration between the generations.

Eventually, Capp would mock the hippies of the 60’s, including a group of characters known as SWINE: Students Wildly Indignant about Nearly Everything.

Whether you agree with Capp's politics or not, his work reflects a time in American history when nothing was black and white and everyone had an opinion.

If you are interested in learning more about Al Capp, L'il Abner, or Pop Art, stop by the Library!

 - C.D.

Hooray For Monkeys! Curious George Comes to the Chrysler

      On Thursday, I was excited to get a tour of the newly opened exhibition Curious George Saves The Day: The Art of Margret and H. A. Rey.  The exhibit, which opened on the second floor of the Museum on April 27 follows the career of Curious George creators Margret and H. A. Rey and reveals their determination and courage during a daring escape from Nazi controlled Europe.  The exhibition combines the Rey's  original artwork with archival documentation of their escape from Europe.  Young visitors are sure to enjoy a number of impressive structures that recreate scenes from the Rey's work, and perhaps best of all, a fun reading room  featuring copies of some of Curious George's best adventures.

      Regular blog readers might already know that here in the Library we've got a soft spot for monkeys, so I happen to know that Curious George and his fellow Rey creations will find number of primate friends in the galleries.  This week,  for a little Friday fun - or if you will, monkey business - I thought I'd offer a challenge to our fearless readers.  Can you tell me which work in the galleries is home to this little fellow?

If you think you know where this fellow can be found  and  one other monkey who finds a home in the Chrysler collection, post a comment with the title of both works below. First correct post wins!  Next week I'll announce the  answers.  In the meantime, I hope you'll stop in and see Curious George Saves The Day - and remember, we also always have great illustrated books for readers of all ages in the Library!  Well-behaved curious monkeys always welcome.

 - LC

Top Shelf Books from the Age of Queen Victoria

The World’s Columbian Exhibition, 1893

As an ode to the beauty of Victorian book and their ornate bindings, we’ve filled the top shelves of the reading room with volumes most fitting of attention. One such is The World’s Columbian Exhibition, 1893. The pale blue, gold and black volume is lavishly decorated with scenes of innovation and antiquity. The inside is even more impressive than the binding. The book is filled with photographs and sketches of the exhibits and participants, architecture and inventions. The account of artwork and technology in each building was painstakingly compiled by Trumbull White, World’ Fair Correspondent and William Igleheart, World’s Fair Editor of “Chicago Record.” Others contributed introductions and commentary. Such a large exposition could not possibly be reported by just two journalists. With a full list of illustrations, a department by department introduction, and further commentary by luminaries of the time, this book would have been a must-have for anyone attending the exposition as well as those too far away to enjoy its wonders. Please stop by the Jean Outland Chrysler Library and have a look at this marvel of decorative binding and all of the other books on display.

-SCM

Intern Collections

During the summer, we asked Interns Chelsea and Casey to create a virtual collection by collecting digital images of some aspect of the library collection to be decided by them. For example, they could collect images of bookplates in the collection, of details on binding, books with funny titles, or books on a particular subject – the possibilities were endless. In July, at the Library Open House, each collection was presented.  You can see both collections scrolling below, or click on them to take a closer look. Thanks to our Summer interns for all of their hard work!


Casey’s Collection



Chelsea’s Collection

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: 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.

Kate Chopin's The Awakening at Art & Books, Wine & Cheese!

Please join us on March 17th at 6:30pm for Art & Books, Wine & Cheese in the Gifford Room at the Chrysler Museum of Art. We will be kicking off Women of The Chrysler by discussing Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. Kate Chopin, nee’ Catherine O’Flahrety, was born in St. Louis to an Irish father and a mother of French descent. She spent her life surrounded by strong women, including her mother and two grandmothers, and good friends who influenced her creative ideas and encouraged her writing. Her charming personality and quick mind led to friendships with the likes of Edgar Degas and George Sand. Chopin’s writing was both celebrate and heavily criticized by her contemporaries; quite notably Willa Cather.

Upon its publication in 1899, The Awakening was labeled as shocking, morbid and distasteful. Chopin’s depiction of the public and private life of a well-off woman of polite New Orleans society caused a fuss in its day, but was quickly forgotten after her death in 1904. A resurgence of the popularity of her work in the late 1960s and early 1970s once again brought Chopin’s novels and short stories to the forefront. Her work has become a permanent fixture in literature classes world-wide, The Awakening being arguably the most popular and thought-provoking. We hope that you will be provoked to join us on the 17th.

For more information about Kate Chopin, please visit http://www.katechopin.org/.

- Library Assistant Sara Mason

Thoroughly Modern

If it were 1913, we’d all be in a bit of an uproar at the moment. This week in 1913, Marcel Duchamp displayed his now-famous “Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2” at the First International Exhibition of Modern Art in New York City. We know this show, now a tradition, affectionately as “The Armory Show.” The American public was scandalized by the Cubist and Futurist-influenced piece. The art critic Julian Street went so far as to dub the painting “an explosion in a shingle factor.”

Scandalous or not, Duchamp was in good company. Other artists exhibiting included Kandinsky, Picasso, Brancusi, Sloan, Matisse, Munch, Redon, Cezanne, van Gogh, Prendergast and more. Kandinsky, Picasso and Duchamp were being shown in the United States for the first time. The show, organized over the course of a year by artists and critics, aimed to showcase the new era of thought and energy emerging within the art world. Though some patrons were hesitant at first, The Armory Show and its works - those loved and hated- sparked conversation all over the country and marked a change in American thinking about art.

As we look ahead to The Armory Show 2010, which will be held March 4- 7, I can’t help but be grateful for that first show nearly one hundred years ago. We live in a world where, on a whim and at the click of a mouse, we can travel to nearly any museum or stand in nearly any gallery in the world and see what’s new. And yet artists and patrons alike make the pilgrimage year after year to New York to see, to be seen and to see what everyone will be talking about tomorrow. The conversation that began on February 15, 1913 continues generations later.

Speaking of which, does anyone out there have an extra ticket?

http://www.thearmoryshow.com/cgi-local/content.cgi

Library Assistant Sara Mason

Item of the Week: The Norfolk Mace - January 27, 1926

If you’ve visited the Museum on a weekday morning, there’s a good chance that you encountered a school group on tour. Guided by able docents, children of all ages regularly fill the galleries with the hum of excited young voices. One stop on some school tours is the Norfolk Mace, an impressive historic item that many visitors remember long after their first visit to the Chrysler Museum. Recently, while doing some research in the archives, we came across this image from January 27, 1926 when “Children’s Day” brought record numbers of parents, teachers and children to an exhibition at the then Norfolk Art Museum. Note the two Norfolk Police Officers watching over the Mace. As a February 23, 1926 letter [below] from City Manager I. Walke Truxton reveals, at this time, the Mace was stored in a vault at the Norfolk National Bank. Whenever it left the bank police guard was required to go with it. Eighty-four years later, school children are still visiting the Mace here at the Museum. You can find more information about the Norfolk Mace here or by stopping by the Library.

Item of the Week: Egypt Delineated

         In 1798 Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt in an ambitious attempt to upset the balance of power in central Asia. While Napoleon’s soldiers went about the business of conquering and occupying Egypt, another small army of artists and scientists – called the Commission of the Sciences and Arts documented its antiquities, history and culture. Among them was Vivant Denon, a talented painter and engraver and an enthusiastic antiquarian. Sometimes called the first Egyptologist, Denon not only explored, sketched and described Egypt’s ancient monuments but also documented Egyptian life and culture at the end of the 18th century. Denon’s engaging work became part of the Description de l’Egypt, one product of the Commission of the Science and Arts, but he also published two volumes relating his personal experiences.

One of these, Egypt Delineated enjoyed great success and was reprinted in numerous languages. The Library is lucky to have an English edition of Egypt Delineated published in London in 1819. This large folio edition describes itself as “The celebrated work detailing the expedition of the French” and contains engravings “exhibiting the scenery, antiquities, architecture, hieroglyphics, costume, inhabitants, animals, etc” of Egypt. Denon’s engravings provided a wealth of information for the first generation of French and British Egyptologists, helped to inspire the use of Egyptian motifs in art, literature, architecture, fashion, and décor and also guaranteed a place in 19th century popular culture for a romanticized image of Ancient Egypt.

If a visit To Live Forever: Egyptian Treasures from the Brooklyn Museum has you dreaming of elaborate temples and tombs encircled by wind-swept desert landscapes, stop by the Library and ask to take a look at this monumental volume that helped to reintroduce Egypt to the European imagination.

In the Galleries....

Wow! The museum has been so busy lately! Of course, there are a number of exciting new exhibitions to take in. Here in the Jean Outland Chrysler Library, we have a few areas in our reading room dedicated to keeping up with current exhibitions - like the galleries these are constantly changing and are always available for browsing. I thought we’d let you know what is currently on display. Of course, the hot topic of interest in the Museum this fall is Egypt. Come by and take a look at the exhibition catalog To Live Forever: Egyptian Treasures from the Brooklyn Museum to get the inside scoop about the objects in the show, or take a look at some of our other Egyptian resources. Also featured in the reading room right now are books about Dutch Golden Age paintings to compliment a group of works on display in the Kaufman Furniture Gallery. We have a number of books on view about art inspired by war in honor of “At the Front,” which is currently showing in the Frank Photography Gallery. There is a section devoted to the photographic works of Eliot Porter, as well a selection of our many books on African art in celebration of the newly-reinstalled African gallery. Our newest display features Action painting; specifically books about the artists currently hung in the small changing gallery. (Outside of the café.) “Action painting” is a dynamic form of creation and free expression that involves the spontaneous splattering, dripping, scraping, etc. of paint onto canvas and occasionally mixing in other elements such as sand or strips of tape. This show is a great conversation starter, and will have a lot of visitors wanting more. We have several great books that are worth taking a peek at. One such book is The Gesture: Movement in Painting and Sculpture, which analyzes the ways in which the advent of Action painting affected the art world in the long-term. If you have a moment, please stop by the Library and learn a little bit more about your favorite exhibition.


- Library Assistant Sara Mason