On View in the Library: John Taylor Arms: Tells How He Makes an Etching

Have you visited the exhibition An Eye for Architecture: The Etchings of John Taylor Arms currently on view in the Kaufman Theatre Lobby?

We've had a lot of visitors to the Library lately who are interested in learning more about printmaker John Taylor Arms and his work. While looking for more information about Arms' process we stumbled on a wonderful series of articles by him that ran in American Artist magazine in 1940-1941. Entitled "John Taylor Arms Tells How He Makes An Etching", the three part series walks the reader through entire process of making an etching in  Arms words. Illustrated with photographs of the artist at work, this is a great way to learn more about how he approached printmaking.  If you'd like to take a look, the whole series is on view in the Library reading room.  The exhibition An Eye for Architecture will be on view in the Kaufmann Theatre Lobby through July 24, 2011.

 

A Life Devoted to Better Glass

Here at the Jean Outland Chrysler Library, we spend a lot of time adding to our vast store of information by filtering newspaper clippings, gallery mailings, etc. into our artist files. Occasionally, we run across a wonderful surprise. While sorting a box of what we thought was artist information to be added to our vertical files, we ran across the history of a company, a career and a passion for better glass.


Edgar Bostock was apprenticed to the window glass trade by his father, Edward Bostock on October 14, 1890 through the offices of the Window Glass Workers Association. He was apprenticed for the designated period of 3 years. The files contain Bostock’s workers’ account book beginning date November 11, 1893, his Glass Workers Association due book – both of which any glass worker would have had – as well as a World Glass Workers Association Delegate pin. Correspondence, photographs and a beautifully-colored trade catalogue from the plate and decorative glass company that Bostock would later found called Bostock, Rhoades & Co., though undated, give us a glimpse of how far Mr. Bostock came in his career.

The files are based on Mr. Bostock’s professional life and also contain letters, chemical formulas, articles and hand-written notes pertaining to the chemistry of glass. Perhaps the jewel in the crown of this find are the writings of Edgar Bostock - handwritten and typed - including professional journal articles, speeches, and the manuscript for a book regarding the history of glass and other glass-related subjects. The articles and manuscripts were found bound with heavy twine and the pages are carefully numbered and revisions are included as if the author were preparing for careful professional editing and publication. Bostock’s chief concern appears to be maximizing the chemical composition and shape of glass for maximum lighting capabilities, though his company also made colored decorative glass, which accounts for the deep chemical interest in tinted glass. The bulk of the materials contained in these files appear to be from the nineteen-teens and twenties, and other than Bostock’s Union paperwork and wage books, there is no account of his early career.

Please keep an eye on our blog for more surprising finds!

- SMR

Visitors to the Library

The Tidewater Area Reference Librarians [TARL] enjoyed a visit the Chrysler Museum on January 20, 2011. Thirty reference librarians from libraries throughout Hampton Roads gathered for a quarterly meeting in the Gifford Room and a behind-the-scenes tour of the Jean Outland Chrysler Library.  Events such as this one help librarians advise researchers about other sources of information in the area and better yet, give librarians who are frequently asked questions a chance explore other libraries and ask questions of their own.

TARL Members in the Library Reading Room

Film Showing this Weekend: Waste Land

This Sunday, January 23 at 3 p.m. I'm planning to head to the Norfolk premier of
Waste Land  in the Kaufmann Theatre.  Here's a description of the film:


"Vik Muniz’s "Orestes Pursued by the Furies (Pictures of
Junk)" is among the most popular works of art in our galleries.
Learn the inspirational story behind the photograph in this
award-winning documentary (Arthouse Films, 98 minutes,
http://www.wastelandmovie.com/). In his native Brazil and the world’s largest
garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, Muniz proves that garbage can be art and that art can transform lives.
Stay after the screening for a discussion of the film in our Kaufman Theatre.
Cost: Free, with advance seating for Museum Members"

If you can't make it to the film, stop by the Library and take a look at Reflex: A Vik Muniz Primer  - it's on display in the reading room - to see more of Muniz's work.

Top Shelf Books From the Age of Queen Victoria - Last Week

This Fall we've enjoyed showing off some of the Jean Outland Chrysler Library collection's 19th Century books along the top shelves of the reading room.  Our Fall intern Whitney Frazier selected one of the books on display to write about for the blog. You can read about her selection below, but if you'd like to see the books for yourself, stop by the Library before they return to the stacks on January 28, 2011.

Caricature and Other Comic Art

In the Reading Room of the Jean Outland Chrysler Library, lining the top of the shelves is a collection of Victorian books. After looking into each of the interesting collection, I chose Caricature and Other Comic Art by James Parton. This book was published in 1878 by Harper & Brothers, Publishers. This publishing company is now known as HarperCollins. On the cover is a comic called Pigmy Pugilists—from Pompeii. It shows two men one on the ground reaching for help while the other is still ready to fight. This book offers a range of caricatures from the Romans through America 1875. The author, James Parton was a well known biographer, writer and historian of his time. His books were widely published and admired of his time. He was author of many presidents’ biographies, among other historical topics. This book is an interesting composition of cartoons poking fun at everything and everyone who was a popular topic at the time. The book explores political, religious, literary, social, and economic avenues. Caricature and Other Comic Art is greatly interesting as a social view of the times and what was historically critical at the time. I enjoyed reading into the Reformation and Roman and Greek historical caricatures and how they applied socially. This book is a fascinating resource into social and historical values.

 - Whitney Frazier, Library Intern Fall 2010

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.