Frick Fine Arts Library

University of Pittsburgh

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Color of the Middle Ages: A Survey of Medieval Manuscript “Aura”

Kenneth Wahrenberger: 2019 Archival Scholar, University of Pittsburgh

Uta Codex Frick Fine Arts Library facsimile of the Uta Codex, Clm 13601, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. Author: Karl-Georg Pfändtner, Published: Luzern : Quaternio Verlag,  2012.

What is lost in a reproduction of a medieval manuscript? Renowned twentieth century cultural critic Walter Benjamin argued that a reproduced work of art loses the “aura” of the original, stating: “that which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction is the ‘aura’ of a work of art.” According to Benjamin, ‘aura’ is an inherent quality of a work of art that means it is uniquely present in time and space, and therefore, authentic and authoritative.

 If this reasoning were applied to medieval manuscript facsimiles, then they have lost the ‘aura’ of the original artworks through the process of reproduction — that is to say, they have lost the original presence and authority of an authentic work of art. Regardless of the facsimile quality, it cannot deliver the same level of authority as the work of art it attempts to replicate.

Facsimile of Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, courtesy of Facsimile Finder

Yet, to break from Benjamin’s reasoning, I believe ‘aura’ is not a black and white idea; a facsimile is not entirely void of ‘aura.’ Instead, there exists a hierarchical ‘aura’ spectrum. All facsimiles reproduce some ‘aura’ or the original artwork, but some contain more than others. The quality of the photographic reproduction in the facsimile distinguishes the ‘aura’ hierarchy. In other words, the finest color facsimile of the Très Riches Heures contains more ‘aura’ (i.e. authority) than a black and white copy of the same book.

Dr. Carl Nordenfalk

Dr. Carl Nordenfalk acknowledged the spectrum of ‘aura’ in his 1976 exhibition, Color of the Middle Ages, curated at Pitt’s University Art Gallery. Using the facsimile collection of the Frick Fine Arts Library as well as loose single pages loaned from book publishers, Dr. Nordenfalk brought together over four hundred color and black & white facsimile plates of medieval manuscripts. Marching through the centuries of European manuscript production, Nordenfalk arranged an encyclopedic exhibition showing medieval illumination from the seventh century to the beginning of the sixteenth century.

Exhibition Catalog for Color of the Middle Ages (1976)

While every object in the exhibition was fake, the presentation still contained a strong ‘aura’ of the 700 years of artistry it surveyed. Without a single loan from a museum, Dr. Nordenfalk managed to educate the Pitt public on the brilliance of medieval illumination via the spectrum of reproductions that were available to him at the time. Color of the Middle Ages showed that physical facsimiles are not dead (even now in the age of high quality digital reproduction), but rather, they still relay a part of the original ‘aura’ of artworks to audiences that may not have access to authentic art otherwise.

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Final Painting Studio Project: A Reflection by Taylor Hauskins

Students in Mike Morrill’s Painting Studio Projects class were prompted to write reflections summarizing the outcomes of their final projects, which the initial ideas and research for originated in visits to the Frick Fine Arts Library led by librarians Kate Joranson and Kiana Jones.

This series of paintings intends to not only recognize convoluted beauty standards, but to identify the naturally, every-changing evolution of skin, providing a lens that embraces imperfect marks: flags of strength, growth, and change.

Each of us are one of a kind, and many of us struggle to see the beauty we naturally embody. We wrestle with disbelief, doubt, and fear, and often look to the world’s description of beauty to find self-worth. This sense of belonging often derives from the media and results in a lack of confidence from the swamp of perfectly airbrushed, slim models who promote the ideal female body. We tend to cover up our imperfections in an attempt to feel accepted. This series of paintings explore my personal growth and development towards my body, and my search for an identity that is accepting and flourishing with confidence. I want to challenge the world to look differently at the marks on not only their bodies, but to withdraw judgement on others.

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Final Painting Studio Project: A Reflection by Meghan Lee

Students in Mike Morrill’s Painting Studio Projects class were prompted to write reflections summarizing the outcomes of their final projects, which the initial ideas and research for originated in visits to the Frick Fine Arts Library led by librarians Kate Joranson and Kiana Jones.  

For my painting project, I decided to create an artist book filled with a variety of ink illustrations.  Initially, I was planning on having each page be a standalone image with very little in common in terms of content or characters.  However, as the semester continued on, the images evolved into a small, dream-like narrative about a girl exploring a strange space.

The creation of this work can be split into two parts: the images themselves and the overall making of the book.  My process began with numerous amounts of sketching and planning, most of which I preferred to do through Photoshop.  Once I had a final sketch for the image drawn out, I utilized the art building’s light box to trace the image in pencil onto a sheet of 10 x 14 watercolor paper.  From there, I would ink the line-art of the images using waterproof ink through use of ink pens and small brushes.  In the actual painting process, I used a combination of ink and watercolor to give a loose shading to the subject of the page. I also made use of both masking tape and masking fluid to keep the white space of the paper as clean as possible and additionally allow me to paint the images in separate sections.  In the creation of the book, I took the eighteen finished pages and folded each in half with a bone folder.  I then glued the outside edges of the paper together with adhesive to create a flutter book –a format that allows the book to be read in both the traditional way and also to be pulled out and displayed in an accordion-like fashion.  

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Office pet dressed to impress on #fridaythe13th #cantspellartwithoutrat 🐀🔪🐀🔪🐀🔪🐀🔪🐀🔪. #ffal #nationallibraryweek #jasonvoorhees #funatthelibrary #artrat #upitt #officepet #mascot #tgif (at Frick Fine Arts Building)

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Provenance of a French Book of Hours (MSS. 1489-90)

Claudia Haines

When studying the history of books, one key consideration is always a book’s provenance, or who has owned a book since its creation. As I finish the last part of my Archival Scholars Research Award project that has focused on the text and contents of the French book of hours held in Special Collections, I am shifting my attention to the clues left behind in the book that point towards who has used it in the five hundred years since its production.

One helpful indication of ownership left behind in many historic books is a bookplate or label, often pasted into the front of a book. In the book of hours I have been studying, the inside cover contains a decorative label reading “Ex libris [from the library of] James Stewart Geikie M.D.,” along with a handwritten inscription reading “this book is given by me to Mary Murray this day 26th September 1939. With many happy wishes, J.S. Geikie.” My research into Geikie has not turned up any conclusive information thus far, but based on the information in the book alone, it is safe to conclude that Geikie owned the book during the 1930s before bequeathing it to Murray.

On the page opposite Geikie’s bookplate, a record cut from an auction catalogue has been pasted, likely by Geikie himself as the handwriting on the record matches his signed inscription on the previous page. The catalogue record contains a description of the book and states that it was sold at an auction as part of Lot 308. The accompanying note in Geikie’s handwriting reads “Bought at Sotheby’s April 30 1920 £182,” which leads me to believe that Geikie purchased the book in 1920, and then owned it for the next nineteen years before giving it to Murray in 1939, as indicated on the previous page. A Sotheby’s catalogue exists for a sale of “valuable books, illuminated & other manuscripts, etc.” that occurred on April 29th and 30th, 1920, but I have not yet been able to see the catalogue to confirm if it contains information about the sale of the book.

Another page in the front of the book of hours includes a signature from an H. Zouch, dated January 1st, 1791. My initial searches for a person by this name turned up a Henry Zouch who lived from approximately 1725 to 1795 near Wakefield, England. Although the dates of Henry Zouch’s life and the date written in the book line up, I couldn’t be certain that he was the owner of the book. In the hopes of finding another signature of Zouch’s to cross-reference with the signature in the book, I reached out to Sheffield City Archives, whose online records indicated that their collections contain letters written by Zouch. With their help, I was able to obtain scans of three of Zouch’s letters, all of which contained signatures that looked exactly like the signature in the book. With this in mind, it seems safe to assume that the Henry Zouch of Wakefield was the owner of the book of hours for at least a short period of time in the 18th century.

A final indication of the book’s ownership is a library inscription, which states that the book was purchased from Maggs booksellers on April 3rd, 1956, and assigns it a call number and the accession number 25225. According to the Special Collections record included with the book, the number listed in the book (ND 3363 P23 B5) was its previous call number before it was changed to “MSS. 1489-90.” It is likely that the purchase from Maggs in 1956 was by the Frick Fine Arts Library at Pitt, and then transferred to Pitt’s Special Collections at some point, where the book still resides.

Because the book of hours held in Special Collections is over five hundred years old, it would be impossible to trace each of its owners throughout its long history. However, thanks to small traces left behind by a few of those owners, I can get a better sense of who owned and cherished this book of hours before it came into the possession of the University.

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Ilana Curtis created these fun, colorful paths as a site specific installation- and a helpful navigation tool. Thanks for making the floor more interesting @ilanaec !! FOLLOW YELLOW TO THE LIBRARY! 💛💛💛💛 #ffal #studioarts #sitespecificart #navigation #buildingofforkingpaths #upitt #artlibrary (at Frick Fine Arts Building)

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#onthisday in 1866 Andrew Rankin received a patent for the urinal. In 1917 the urinal claims art fame through the work of Marcel Duchamp. #ffal #urinal #duchamp #historyisfun #march27 #dada #fountain #rmutt (at Frick Fine Arts Building)

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Elaborate Calendars in Medieval Books of Hours

Claudia Haines : 2018 Archival Scholar, University of Pittsburgh

Through the 2018 Archival Scholars Research Award, I have had the opportunity to do research with the Frick Fine Arts Library’s medieval manuscript facsimile collection, as well as with an authentic book of hours from ca. 1490 held in Special Collections at Hillman Library. Books of hours were hugely popular religious books containing prayers, psalms, hymns, and often elaborate illustrations, and during the Middle Ages they were often counted among people’s most prized possessions. One feature in particular I have noticed in nearly every book of hours I have studied is the calendar.

End of April / beginning of May (Book of hours: for liturgical use in Paris., University of Pittsburgh Special Collections)

In books of hours, calendars served the primary function of highlighting important saint’s days and other church holidays. The saints highlighted were typically those most revered in the region in which the book was used - in the book of hours I’m studying in the most depth, the vast majority of the saints listed are from France, more specifically Paris, which suggests that the book was first made and used there. Particularly important holidays were typically written in red, a practice which has led to the modern phrase “red-letter day.”

February - French saints listed here include Bridget (1st), Theodoire (7th), Iulien (12th), and Lucien (15th) (Book of hours: for liturgical use in Paris., University of Pittsburgh Special Collections)

Because of their elaborate illustration, books of hours were expensive, which meant that their calendars had to be re-used year after year. Consequently, medieval people determined the date using a system that would definitely be unfamiliar to modern people. This system was largely adopted from the Ancient Roman calendrical system, which assigned three fixed points in each month - Kalends (the first day of the month), Ides (the middle of the month), and Nones (the ninth day before the Ides). Each date was counted backwards from the closest of these points.

Each day was also assigned a letter between A and G, as well as a particular Roman Numeral. The letters were used to determine day of the week, and the numbers to determine the phases of the moon. Each new year was assigned a different combination of letters and numbers, which allowed the same calendar to be used in multiple different years. Because of this variation, simply determining the date each day required a lot of work on the part of the medieval reader!

Page from a Book of Hours: Calendar, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Artstor Database

As I mentioned, the calendars in books of hours were typically accompanied by beautiful illustrations. Certain imagery was common in calendars - each month was accompanied by a picture of the zodiac sign relevant to that month, as well as a depiction of the work or activity that people would have done most frequently during that time of year. In this image, taken from the February section of the calendar in the French book of hours I’ve been studying, the illustrator included images of two people warming their feet by a fire, as well as the zodiac sign Pisces.

Left to right: Grape-stomping (Sept.), Pisces (Feb.), Harvesting (July), Scorpio (Oct.) (Book of hours: for liturgical use in Paris., University of Pittsburgh Special Collections)

Given these features and images, the books of hours that have survived from the Middle Ages have the potential to tell modern scholars a great deal about the motivations, interests, and lives of their owners. You can learn more about medieval calendars here, here, and here.  

Explore the digitized version of the book of hours I’ve been studying this semester here

Sources:

http://www.medievalbooksofhours.com/tutorial/book-3/page-5

http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/whyread/calendar2.htm

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/medieval-world/medieval-europe/v/medieval-calendar

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The Graphic Design of Occupation

Ryan Scheuer

A continuation of responses to Occupurint from Kaitlyn Haynal’s Mass Communication Process class. This post contains sections of Ryan Scheuer's paper, "The Graphic Design of Occupation," in which the above poster is analyzed.

Thesis: "In examining these posters, I argue that the graphic design, typography, and symbolism of these posters reinforce the Occupy Wall Street movement’s grievances and identity and complements their efforts in awareness and action in a way that is not only logically effective, but visually effective as well."

"These protest posters show us a closer look at the motivations and the identity of the Occupy Wall Street movement.  The first poster I discussed, with its bold lettering, and Washington Monument symbolism exemplified the desire of OWS to meet in public space and create visible change.  It informs us of the relationship (or at least the OWS perspective) between the ultra-elite 1% and the 99%.  OWS paints it as an “us versus them” standoff and makes it into an inclusive team effort. The second poster, with its play on a classic British war poster, inspires its viewers to take part in the participatory media surrounding OWS.  Even if it is not explicit, it is demanding protestors to “catch” police in the act of excessive violence in order to further their messaging through meme culture on social media.  The wording is commanding, direct, and emotionless.  This style of direction implies the gravity of the protest and its cause.  My findings in the typographic style, color combinations, and symbolism of these posters demonstrate the Occupy Movement’s grievances with economic inequality and police brutality, as well as their goals at explicit awareness for these issues. The posters are excellent at conveying this to the general public as well as motivating those who are already involved in the movement.  I believe that typography can make or break any message, and the artists behind these posters have definitely engineered type and information architecture to their advantage.  Anyone who views these artifacts in context understands their message and understands how to respond."

You can see more Occuprint posters at

occuprint.org

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Damn, I Didn’t Know that Could be Sexist

Jordan Lutz

A continuation of responses to Occupurint from Kaitlyn Haynal’s Mass Communication Process class. This post contains sections of Jordan Lutz's paper, "Damn, I Didn’t Know that Could be Sexist: How the Occuprint Archive Mutes Feminist Voices," in which two posters were analyzed.

Thesis: "I argue that by curating the Occuprint archive to include a very limited number of posters representing feminist perspectives, it quiets the already diminished voices of women by creating an enduring narrative that excludes women-centric storylines from a movement that was heavily influenced by feminist leaders."

"Of the posters preserved by the physical Occuprint collection, only one out of 31 had an explicit feminist message. In this paper, I choose to examine that poster, titled Occupy Sisterhood by Favianna Rodriquez. The poster utilizes a pastel color scheme with pink as the dominant shade, a color often associated with women (Koller 399). The message carried by the woman on the poster is also written over a pink background, which suggests to me that the messages women send are framed by the realities of their gender.  The woman is illustrated with an angry expression, eyes narrowed, eyebrows pinched, her mouth is open in exclamation. While she is vocalizing something, her voice is unintelligible to us - the only message we can understand is the one clearly marked on her protest poster. She stands alone, her posture is aggressive. She is physically leaning in, a term that has been co-opted by feminists to describe the duality of pushing to have your voice heard while also helping your fellow woman. I would argue that this reflects the experience lived by the artist and so many others, in the solitary nature of campaigning for minority rights, especially when you have a vested interest in the outcome. The only touch of red, a color traditionally associated with power, is on the flower in her hair.  Flowers are often used as symbols for a woman’s genitalia or fertility (Frownfelter 21). This suggests that she is not strong despite her gender but because of it, which is a central tenet of modern feminist theory (Radtke and Henderikus 15). Finally, the bottom text of the poster reads “The war on women is a war on everyone,” which indicates that the marginalization of women is not an accident but a coordinated attack on their worth and status in society.

           This poster calls on the audience to act on issues heralded by non-dominant voices, which sits at odds with the rest of the printed collection as it focuses on the aims of the 99% percent instead of the more specific platform issue, such as the gender wage gap (Deprez and Rhule). Despite that strong feminist theme in the Occupy movement, Occupy Sisterhood is the only poster in Occuprint’s physical archive that recognizes and calls for action on gender discrimination affecting 51% of the population."

"A curated collection is antithetical to the principles of the Occupy movement.  By installing gatekeepers that determine which voices are preserved, this collection performs a disservice to non-dominant communities by selectively archiving the primary sources that are used to construct subsequent historical narratives. This is made evident by inequitable representation of feminist themes in the selected protest posters of the physical Occuprint collection, and will undoubtedly result in the in the perpetuation of the very inequities the movement sought to eliminate (Seltzer).

           Archives have the potential to be a powerful tool to preserve messages and maintain momentum for causes, and as any tool archives themselves are not inherently good or bad.  For the most amount of good to come from archives moving forward, the struggles they preserve need to be documented as they unfold, offering an accurate representation to all of the voices involved. Gender inequality and gender wage gap remain a pressing issue, six years after Occupy. “The camps may be gone and Occupy may no longer be visible on the streets, but the gulf between the haves and have-nots is still there, and growing” (Levintin). By documenting this ongoing struggle, it allows us to ensure that the feminist message of Occupy can be utilized to inform future activist, build on past achievements, and keep up the momentum. Better curated archives could be used by activists in this movement as a vehicle for progress."

Learn more about the physical Occuprint portfolio collection here.

You can see more Occuprint posters at occuprint.org.

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Power Versus the People, Not Power of the People

Gupta Neha

A continuation of responses to Occupurint from Kaitlyn Haynal’s Mass Communication Process class. This post contains sections of Gupta Neha's paper, "Power Versus the People, Not Power of the People," in which two posters were analyzed.

Thesis: "I argue people with power have a negative interpretation of protest, seeing it as an inconvenient, fruitless effort, which is only useful in prompting frustration; however, the masses who lack power interpret protest positively seeing it as a means to inspire and unify for a cause that benefits the majority."

"The first poster I examine, When in Riot Gear by John Emerson, exhibits the text “When you’re in riot gear, everything looks like a riot.” I analyze this poster to represent views from the 1%, which display the point of view of people in power with authority. Notice the use of the colors yellow and black. Yellow is often associated with caution and black with power, so it is as if those in power feel threatened by the masses congregating. This interpretation shapes how people view Occupy by affording a rationalization in having people with authority enforce their power. As Paul Mason points out in his article Demonstrations Matter- They Create the Kind of Power Politicians Despise, “putting your body on to the street, or into a mass meeting, or getting it thrown into a police van… creates power of the kind professional politicians despise” (Guardian)."

"Contrastingly, the poster about Occupy Jakarta depicts the views of the masses, or rather can be considered propaganda for the people. As Clive Bloom discusses, the general public has a tendency to manipulate the media in order to influence the law during protests (47). Employing the Guy Fawkes mask, a common symbol for civil disobedience and anonymous activism, the poster focuses more on gaining attention than providing a real message, which can be considered manipulative. It strategically uses red, a color of passion and determination of the people, contrasting with the black representing the voices of authority. In comparing this poster with the first, however, we see the voices of authority and the mask of the people are similar in size, showing the equality the people are fighting for and so passionately desire."

You can see more Occuprint posters at occuprint.org.

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Hegemony: Class, Economic Inequality, and Social Divide

Mackenzie Osborne

A continuation of responses to Occupurint from Kaitlyn Haynal's Mass Communication Process class. This post contains sections of Mackenzie Osborne's paper, "Hegemony: Class, Economic Inequality, and Social Divide," in which she analyzed the above poster.

Thesis: In examining the poster America is Broke, I argue those who normally lack the sense of power in the social sphere utilize movements, particularly by the universal means of posters, to gain a voice and a feeling of power in a society where socioeconomic statuses are controlled by hegemonic structures.

"The words “America is Broke” are significant in the fact that they relate back to the hegemonic American structure with the 1% controlling most of the system on which the 99% depends. This power hierarchy is considerably dependent on socio-economic status.  Anthony Ross Dimaggio presents the argument of how:

Hegemony refers to the power of business elites, owners of industry, and entrepreneurs to exercise ‘leadership’ over the public via the construction of public support for capitalism and pro-business values” and how this hegemonic structure allows the upper class [to pursue] ‘conscious ideological warfare’ on the public by promoting a pro-business agenda that is pursued at the expense of the masses, the disadvantaged, and the poor (Class 496).

Effects of hegemonic structure in the capitalist system include growing economic inequality as well as social divide, causing those in the 99% to feel powerless compared to the 1%. Additional ramifications of hegemony include “ultimately constructing a counter-hegemonic bloc.” (Carroll and Ratner 8), which develops and engulfs the individuals involved in the social movements, such as Occupy with the desire to eliminate being pursued by the 1% for their own benefit. In the poster, the author portraying a message that the 1%’s control of the other 99% has created such significant economic inequality that America, in general, is broke.  Langdon’s recognition of this idea in the poster’s message provides him with a feeling of power in expressing his counter-hegemonic points of view against the 1%’s control and gives him a newly developed voice in society about the animosity towards his resulting economic situation."

"Although the poster is titled America is Broke the “N” on the third line displays a second message that in addition to America being broke, America is also broken. This other meaning within the poster further displays how detrimental hegemonic structure within American society is."

You can see more Occuprint posters at occuprint.org.

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Is Historical Humor the Right Man for the Job?

Spencer Segal

This semester, Kaitlyn Haynal's Mass Communication Process (COMMRC 0320) class visited our library to see our Occuprint poster portfolio, a portfolio published in 2012 containing posters in response to the Occupy movement. Each student was tasked with writing a paper about one or more of the posters. This post contains sections of Spencer Segal's paper, "Is Historical Humor the Right Man for the Job? An Analysis of Historical Humor and its Success at Conveying a Message," in which he analyzed the above poster.

Thesis: "In examining this artifact, I argue that the use of humor combined with historical references does not properly inform its audience of its symbolism and how it is meaningful."

"Humor is implemented into the poster by inclusion of obscene language and as a result of knowing this, I can now evaluate whether humor combined with historical references is successful at fully conveying a message. When I was looking though the posters at the beginning of the project, “Let’s get Medieval” stuck out to me because of its humorous caption. It made me smile. Generally, most people understand that it’s message is that money and greed are bad and that actions need to be taken against it. The only problem was that people typically didn’t know that they really weren’t understanding the full message. The monk is a religious figure. In Medieval Europe, Monks lived on the wealthiest lands, and acted as doctors, scholars, and holy men. People would work for them without compensation. This combined with the use of a medieval theme can create a comparison between the 1% of the present and the Roman Catholic church in medieval Europe. The medieval monks’ modern-day counterpart can be compared to surgeons, physicists, bankers, and authors, all of which are highly esteemed and wealthy. These types of people make up the 1%. The medieval Church was one of the most powerful institutions with great influence. Their restriction on printing the bible in vernacular languages and only printing them in Latin gave power to only a few people, because only church officials could read Latin and religion was a very big influence on people’s lives. They even made a list of books that weren’t allowed to be published or distributed called The Encyclopedia of Censorship. After Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press around the 1440s, the churches’ power started to decline. It made the church no longer the sole keeper of religious knowledge, thus not giving them as much sway in the lives of everyday people as they used to (Mass Communication, Media, and Culture, Creative Commons. 2012. PDF). The Occupy Wall Street Movement’s main platform is that the 1% have all the power and money and the other 99% are weak. In this way, the church is the 1% of medieval Europe, and the 99% are the people taking back the power from the church. In this fashion, this poster represents the history of a social movement that changed the power structure. Now if the person reading the poster understood the medieval imagery the message would take on a much more powerful role and have greater impact because it would carry the history of a continent behind it. However, most people don’t know the implication of this medieval oriented poster. Only after research did I fully acknowledge its message."

You can see more Occuprint posters at occuprint.org.

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The House I Once Called Home by Duane Michals

Victoria Bovalino

Rainy days in Pittsburgh remind me of rainy days in London, where I had the opportunity to work with Enitharmon Editions. I’m a small-town girl from Pennsylvania, so the one book that kept bringing me back home while I was abroad was The House I Once Called Home by Duane Michals. I was excited to find it in the stacks of the library while I was shelving one day.

The book documents the current state of Michals’ family home in McKeesport, overlaid with images of how it was in his youth. There are featured poems describing his family and the importance of his home. The book is rife with old-time Pittsburgh sentiment.

In an age when many of Pittsburgh’s steel neighborhoods are falling into disrepair, this book captures the hominess of what used to be and the nostalgia that comes from looking at what remains.

“McKeesport is a myth in the fable that is my life.

It only exists in the library of my imagination.”

Michals didn’t remain in the steel city long after growing up. He went to college in Denver and spent much of his time since in New York City. He addresses this in one of the final poems of the collection

“I threw a penny into the Youghiogheny and made a wish,

                               that I might float with it,

down the Monogahela to the Allegheny.

                               Then further still below the Ohio,

until I reached the Mississippi and the sea.

               There the tides would carry me away,

                               To where I cannot say.

Someplace fair and new.

And I would to things I had never done before.

               And my penny wish came true.”

One of the most stunning features of the book is the endpapers. Illustrated with night scenes of McKeesport, the endpapers bring color into the otherwise gray volume.

Duane Michals’ book is a bittersweet reminder that the home we remember is not always the home that remains. Like people, places change over time. When we leave, it’s hard to say what we’ll come back to. Even stone can turn to dust.

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Rare Book Files: Sandro Botticelli

Kiana Jones

Yukio Yashiro's three volume set, Sandro Botticelli, was published in 1925 by the Medici Society, and the Frick Fine Arts Library owns copy 234 out of the 600 that were for sale at the time. This set was part of the library's founding collection.

Yukio Yashiro was an influential Japanese professor of Art History during the early 20th century in both the West and in Japan. In his three volume set, as well as in a preliminary article Yashiro accepted, and was the first art historian to accept, Botticelli’s altarpiece –Trinity with Saint Mary Magdalen and Saint John the Baptist, Archangel Raphael and Tobias (1491-1494) —as authentic to Botticelli with help from an apprentice.

The altarpiece now resides at The Courtauld Institute of Art and Botticelli is still accepted to this day as its main artist.

Harvard University has digitized all three books for study and they are freely available on the following website: http://yashiro.itatti.harvard.edu/botticelli

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Asian Art Curated Browsing part 4

In this series, students from Introduction to Asian Art respond to texts on Asian art, exploring specific works, representation, changing perspectives, provenance, and their own process of learning about Asian art history. Today we see reactions from students who were surprised to see everyday objects as a point of focus in Asian Art.

Everyday Objects

“Before reading this book, I was not sure about the definition of art. Sometimes, I thought art could not be defined becsuse the concept of art is always changing with time; even the computers we use today could be art in the future. I thought art must convey the creator’s emotions, imagination, or technical skill. This book, however, contains many daily objects people used in the past, such as bowls, plates, rugs, and even clothes. For example, there is an imperial robe from the Qing Dynasty, covered with dragon patterns and made of gold silk and cotton. How can those daily objects relate to art? These people of the past put effort into making everything attractive. I think the attitude of making everything ‘artistic’ is what the authors respected. I still do not have a specific definition of art, but now I realize that art comes from life and makes life better.” - Xiaomeng Niu

“This class, along with the curated browsing activity, helped open my eyes to the collection of works commonly referred to as Asian Art. For this activity, I chose to work with a museum catalogue of the Rockefeller Collection of the Asian Society. Of the artwork included, the South Asia works contained numerous Hindu statues/idols, usually depicting a god. The Southeast Asian section also had many idols; however, they are Buddhist in nature. East Asia was characterized by many ceramics and scrolls. The designation of a piece as ‘art’ stemmed from its ornamentation and the obvious incorporation of aesthetics and design on top of utility. For example, many of the pieces displayed are bowls, vases, and other utensils that we carefully crafted with intricate detail. It’s clean that the beauty of an item was considered rather than mere functionality.” - Abhilash Dhanvada

“This book contains a large variety of works including both decorative and utilitarian objects, ceremonial and utilitarian vessels, figurines and statuary, pendants and wearables, illustrations, and paintings. I was somewhat surprised at the inclusion of certain objects which appeared to be essentially utilitarian in function and with little adornment. However, with further reading it seems that these objects are included because they evince stylization and aesthetics that were indication of broad cultural aesthetics and customs.” - Casey Connelly

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Asian Art Curated Browsing part 3

In this series, students from Introduction to Asian Art respond to texts on Asian art, exploring specific works, representation, changing perspectives, provenance, and their own process of learning about Asian art history.

Today, students reflect on the limited representation of all Asian countries within these Asian Art textbooks.

Limited Representation in Textbooks

“Upon reading just the title and seeing how massive the textbook was, I had assumed it was going to represent every Eastern Asian country. What was represented, however, was only India, China, Korea (North and South), Japan, Cambodia, and Indonesia. This was surprising to me, to see what was chosen to be represented in this book as ‘far eastern art’ and what was not. But, what was shown of China and Japan demonstrates different periods and dynasties, and how the art had slowly changed over time, though continental representation was not complete. Maybe it just comes down to what is defined Far Eastern and what is not?” - Joseph Decoto

“Going through this catalogue, I saw many different forms of art. There were sculptures, paintings, scrolls, a tabernacle, old artifacts, and tapestries. Each image gave the reader insight into the country and time period, accompanied by a brief history. The artwork was spread out into three sections, starting with artwork from China and Central Asia, then India and Southeast Asia, and lastly, Japan and Korea. It is difficult and inefficient to try to obtain art from every country in Asia and I believe the authors did their best to represent artwork from countries from each major region.” - Christina Ortiz

“Why are some countries represented more in art research than others? My first postulation to this questions would be that these countries, Japan, India, and China are studied more often than any other country in Asia. These are the three richest countries in Asia – and therefore of most interest to collectors and historians in terms of history, because with riches some power, and with power comes an interesting historical narrative. These countries have also existed for a long time, whereas other countries may have changed borders and names several times, especially the smaller ones. I think this narrow focus is changing in art history based on my short experience with this class and other in college which point towards a more global view of history rather than a national one, but I’m sure these three are still studied the most, even today.” - Grant Birdsong

“Because this is a book on specific museum collections, it tends to focus on smaller items and other types of media such as statues, bronze work, wood art, etc., while other important aspects of Asian art history are not shown in this book such as architecture (tombs, etc.), and the art attached, such as murals. The text also contains fewer paintings than I expected. Paintings are the most common form of art I think of, perhaps these items were included in previous issues of the collection introduction.” - Jane Kong

“It was the binding that first drew me to this book above all the others – and evergreen spine and a cover with a delicate pink pattern. What is Japanese art? The first images that came to mind were of temples and a wave that may or may not be relevant. While other students were analyzing photos of Asian art for the assignment, I began to read the introduction to my picture-less text. I learned that the eastern hemisphere is responsible for its own artistic progression, independent from European thought, regardless of potential similarities. And Okakura, a man who could be called the premier Asian art historian of his time, takes a unique approach to the central topic of his work, namely that it is Japan that sees the culmination of Asian artistic though. By no mean is this work a comprehensive look at all Asian art, but it also does not pretend to be; Okakura uses his native Japan as a template to trace back the ideals of Asian art and their independent progression through time and history.” - Olivia Gonsalves