The Greening of the Art World

It seems as if you can’t go anywhere these days without being told how to “Go Green.” Once a trend, green living has quickly become a way of life all over the world. In need of inspiration and materials, artists have always run to constructing works with natural materials or reclaiming one man’s trash as artists’ treasure. The Chrysler Museum is the proud owner of many Earth-conscious pieces of art including Vik Muniz’s 2006 creation “Orestes Pursed by the Furies (Pictures of Junk)” and David Smith’s 1961 construction “Gondola.” If your visiting the museum before July 2011, please be sure to stop by the Frank Photography Galleries and see the installation “Contrast: Interactive Works by Daniel Rozin,” an artist who works in reclaimed materials and electronic parts.

Care to learn more about green art and artists? Looking for some inspiration of your own? Stop by the Jean Outland Chrysler Library and spend a moment with our exhibit about eco-art. We are currently displaying recent craft and art education magazines focusing on making art with reclaimed, as well as books about green artists such as Rodney A. Greenblat (whose 1990 work "Confrontation in the North" is pictured above), Alexander Calder, David Smith, Vik Muniz, Andy Goldsworthy, Robert Smithson and more. Special thanks to the Chrysler Museum Facilities Department for feeling the green-spiration and lending us publications about sustainable facilities. We hope to see you soon!

- SMR

The Art of Correspondence

‘Tis the season to check the mail! It’s lovely to open the mailbox and find brightly enveloped cards, holiday letters, family photos, etc. from the ones we love near and far.

When was the last time you wrote a letter? Digital communication has changed the way we correspond – arguably for the good. While things like e-cards and greetings on Facebook have made communication much more convenient, it’s nice to return to the heartwarming days of good paper, ink pens and postage stamps. Some of the most treasured artifacts of human society are pieces of paper correspondence from days long gone by.

This holiday season, we’ve put together a slide show in honor of the ancient art of correspondence; letters, cards, penmanship, holiday envelope seals, pieces of handmade art crafted with love and stamps from today and yesteryear. Please take a moment to enjoy these gems from the collection of the Jean Outland Chrysler Library. If you like what you see, drop us a line! Happy holidays! -SMR



If you enjoy these handmade tidings, take a peek at the John Taylor Arms exhibition currently on view in the Kaufman Theatre Lobby - then take a look at some of the Christmas greeting created by John and Dorothy Taylor Arms here on our collection online. Search for
"Arms Christmas" to see them all.

Marley was dead, to begin with…

What better on a cold evening than to curl up with a classic tale of mystery and horror? Even the most cheerful holiday songs tell us “There’ll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories…” Spooky tales by the fire have been a winter’s tradition for time in memoriam, beginning as a Pagan tradition.  Over the centuries, the tradition has continued in many manifestations. Dickens visited upon Ebenezer Scrooge three spirits, the ghost of Hamlet’s father haunted the ramparts during Christmastide, J.M. Barrie and Robert Louis Stevenson both spun ghostly winter yarns, and Poe – of course – sat his lonely characters before the fire on a midnight dreary. To continue this haunting tradition and as a nod to the on-going London Calling: Victorian Paintings from the Royal Holloway Collection, the Art/Books, Wine/Cheese Book Club will be reading the spine-tingling classic A House to Let by Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Elizabeth Gaskell and Adelaide Anne Procter. Please join us on Wednesday December 15 at 6:30pm to discuss the novella. Busy that evening? Drop by the Jean Outland Chrysler Library Wednesday through Friday and leaf through favorite tales –scary and otherwise – by Charles Dickens, J. M. Barrie, Robert Louis Stevenson, William Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, Nathanial Hawthorne and many more. Happy reading!

- SMR

Picture from our past: Famous visitors to the Chrysler

With Thanksgiving upon us, many of us are getting ready to for house guests or to be house guests. Whether you’re preparing for visitors or traveling for a visit, we thought you might enjoy this image of famous visitors from the Museum’s past.  On November 26, 1977 the Virginian Pilot featured this photo of the band Queen during a visit to the Museum. The world-famous rockstars are peering into a display case featuring the work of Virginia Beach artist Kelly Freas – a well-known science fiction artist who also created one of the early drawings of MAD magazine icon Alfred E. Neuman.  Freas also designed the album cover for Queen’s “News of the World” Album – notable for the hit songs “We Will Rock You” and “We are the Champions”.

Happy Thanksgiving !

New and Notable

New to Library shelves this week are two books about the work of 16th century Italian Painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo:

Arcimboldi, Giuseppe, and Pagden S. Ferino. Arcimboldo: 1526-1593. Milan: Skira, 2007.

Kaufmann, Thomas D. C. Arcimboldo: Visual Jokes, Natural History, and Still-Life Painting. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2009.


Best known for composing unusual portrait busts using plants, animals, and objects, Arcimboldo’s work has recently been reevaluated by scholars and noted for the scientific accuracy of his work. These two excellent catalogs explore the how and why of Arcimboldo’s unique work in context with the scientific exploration of the Renaissance and the context of visual humor. A feast for the eyes and for the curious mind, stop by the Library to take a look at both catalogs.

Interested in further the connections between science and art? On Saturday December 11, 2010 Jonathan Smith of the University of Michigan–Dearborn will explore the intersection of 19th century art, culture and science in his lecture "Charles Darwin, Evolutionary Aesthetics, and Victorian Visual Culture.” More information on the lecture is available here or by calling 757-664-6200

A View from the Stacks: Intern Collection



This Fall, we asked our Intern Whitney Frazier to create a virtual collection by collecting digital images of some aspect of the library collection. For example, she 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. You'll find Whitney's collection below, along with a brief explanation of how she chose her images. Great work Whitney!



Click on the  image for a larger version.

In order to find a topic for a collection found in the Jean Outland Chrysler Museum I had to think of someone or something that has inspired me. I thought back to my Art History classes at Old Dominion and I came up with the ever fascinating Salvador Dalí. His life, like his art, was questioned for their sanity and reason. His works allow the viewer into another dimension of manifestations and curiosities. He was a widely talented artist who used many mediums of art including, photography, painting, sketching, writing, etc.
Through my research, I was able to find many great resources including, gallery books, personal works by Dalí, photojournalistic novels, and homage’s to his life’s work. Through these many works, I have collected a fascinating arrangement of his evolution from a young painter to an award winning gentlemen. Dalí’s love of expressing himself through his art work and himself allowed the world a peek into his magnificent life. Some of my favorite pictures I’ve chosen were from a photojournalistic work called Dalí’s Mustache by Salvador Dalí and his long time friend and photographer Philippe Halsman. The photos of his mustache in figurative displays are part of a series of questions and answers from Philippe to Dalí utilizing his mustache. This brilliant and creative work is an instant smile upon ones face. The love for his mustache during and after his life is symbols of his quirky personality. Another favorite of mine is a picture taken from the photojournalistic work called Sight and Insight by his friend Halsman. The photo is called Dalí Atomicus, which took more than 20 tries to accomplish the picture shown. This photo is portrayed by the launching of cats into water and Dalí jumping gleefully with paintbrush in hand. This painting is an all in one view into the Surrealist mind of Dalí.

This research allowed me to explore the great treasure that is the Jean Outland Chrysler Library. I have learned more about the Library and Salvador Dalí in my research of this collection.

 - Whitney Frazier, Library Intern Fall 2010

Is there a Detective in the House?

Do you love a puzzle? The people in the Victorian era – both in England the United States certainly did. While preparing for the London Calling exhibition we came across three Victorian era puzzles that have us scratching our heads. Are you as clever as 19th century readers? Give these three a try:

A rebus is a word puzzle with where pictures and symbols are used to represent words or parts of words to spell out a message. In the 19th Century they often appeared in monthly magazines - with the answer in the next month’s edition. We imagine this particularly difficult (at least to us!) rebus from the December 1879 issue of Demorest’s Magazine encourages more than a few readers to order the next issue:



Click on the image for a closer view.



Victorian Ladies were also fond of a good puzzle. This riddle in the form of a poem was intended to entertain ladies while also helping them to learn the name and meaning of various types of flowers – can you name the blooms in the" Enigmatical Bouquet" from the Lady’s Almanac 1855?



Click on the image for a closer look!



Finally, this last item offers a puzzle on more than one level. Found in the archives of the Norfolk Museum, this pamphlet appears to be the catalog of an art exhibition held in Norfolk in 1887 on Granby St. . A closer look at the artists who created these works of art raises a few questions.

Click on the image for a closer look!

Unfortunately, this last puzzle remains unsolved – but who knows, perhaps with a little research you can be the one to discover the truth behind these less than believable nom de guerres.

All three of these puzzling items can be found in the Library….