IMA Library & Archives

(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){ (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o), m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m) })(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga'); ga('create', 'UA-1868672-45', 'auto'); ga('send', 'pageview'); Featured documents, photographs, ephemera, artifacts, special projects, and daily life in the Stout Reference Library and IMA Archives. EXPLORE Library Archives Architecture Art Collections Artist Files Gardens Exhibitions Behind The Scenes In The Stacks Email us Visit our other Tumblr at Documenting Modern Living: Digitizing the Miller House and Garden

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Tilly

Percival Gallagher family photo, no date. Percival Gallagher Papers (M006), IMA Archives, Indianapolis Museum of Art.

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Not your average book: book/briefcase/LP

For National Book Lover’s Day, we’re sharing one of our favorite “not your average book” selections from the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s Stout Reference Library collection--a piece that is not only a book, but also a vinyl-record-containing briefcase, complete with lock and handle.

Hultén, Pontus, Jean Tinguely "Méta" [Trad.: Paul Lebeer et Anne Rubinlicht-Proux; Malou Höjer], Paris: Pierre Horay, 1973.

Explore more from the “Not your average book” series.

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Diego & Frida in Detroit

Rosenthal, Mark, Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo in Detroit, Detroit: Detroit Institute of Arts, 2015.

Explore more recent acquisitions.

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Not all books conform to the shapely norm.

Baj, Enrico, General Crisis: the large scale works 1964-1984, Miami, Fla.: Center for the Fine Arts, 1985 [catalogue by Jan van der Marck].

Explore more from the “Not your average book” series.

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Travel the world through print: Naples, Italy.

Fitzgerald, Sybil, Naples [painted by Augustine Fitzgerald; described by Sybil Fitzgerald], London: A. & C. Black, 1904.

Explore more from the “Travel the world through print” series.

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Not your average book: some assembly required.

Tuttle, Richard, Richard Tuttle: community, Chicago: Arts Club of Chicago, 1999.

Explore more from the “Not your average book” series.

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Stout Rarities: Kimono pattern book

Mori, Yūzan, Shiki no yosooi, Kyōto : Yamada Unsōdō, Meiji 29 [1896] Meiji 36 [1903 reprint].

Explore more from the “Stout Rarities” series.

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Decoding alphanumerics: N 7113 .G68 A4 2014

N 7113 (Fine Arts > History) .G68 (Goya) A4 (Reproductions/Collections)

Stepanek, Stephanie Loeb et al., Goya: order and disorder, Boston: MFA Publications, 2014.

Explore more in the “Decoding alphanumerics” series.

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Safety and Fitness for the Art of Lithography

In 1970, the Tamarind Lithography Workshop (now the Tamarind Institute) employed three physicians to study the physical problems and equipment and chemical dangers encountered by Tamarind lthographers at work. Their initial report led to the creation of the publication, Safety and Fitness for the Art of Lithography. Included in the publication is an illustrated guide to exercises to “strengthen your back and relieve back tension,” and to “strengthen the muscles of the abdominal wall”--key exercises for lithographers to avoid physical injury working with heavy equipment and materials.

A copy of this publication recently made its way to the Stout Reference Library at the Indianapolis Museum of Art as part of the Garo Antreasian Study Collection. Garo was a notable lithographer from Indiana, who taught at the Tamarind Workshop after his time as an instructor at the John Herron Art School (one half of the John Herron Art Institute, a predecessor to the Indianapolis Museum of Art).

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Christo and Jeanne-Claude ephemera

You never know what you will discover in our artist files, including fabric samples and exhibition ephemera for Christo and Jean-Claude’s environmental works of art. They have since been cataloged and moved to the library’s ephemera collection for preservation.

Collection of Christo and Jeanne-Claude ephemera and fabric samples, Ephemera collection, Box 4 Folder 2-3, Stout Reference Library, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN.

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Around the library: Reference Section

Have a burning art related question? The Stout Reference Library has you covered.

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#TBT 1971

In 1971, Robert Indiana’s original LOVE sculpture traveled to New York City where it was on display in Central Park. Today, the sculpture is protected from the elements (like the massive amounts of rain that we have been getting in Indianapolis this week) at its new home in the Pulliam Great Hall.

The sculpture: Robert Indiana (American, b. 1928), LOVE, 1970, Cor-ten steel, 144 × 144 × 72 in. Indianapolis Museum of Art, Gift of the Friends of the Indianapolis Museum of Art in memory of Henry F. DeBoest. Restoration was made possible by Patricia J. and James E. LaCrosse, 75.174 © 2016 Morgan Art Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

The clip: Robert Indiana Portrait. Directed by John Huszar. 1973. Film transferred to DVD. Chatham, New York: FilmAmerica, 2008.

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Travel the World Through Print: Berlin, Germany

Collection of Die Mode (The Fashion) magazine from WWII era Germany.

Die Mode, Berlin: Verlag Otto Beyer, 1941-1943, Magazines, Pamphlets, Adult collection, Stout Reference Library, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN.

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Collection Connection: Dining Designs

Just in time for the weekend, we bring you a colorful Collection Connection from the Miller House and Garden collections of both the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the IMA Archives.

The Items: In the 1970s, Alexander Girard created custom monogrammed dining chair cushion patterns for each member of the Miller Family, as well as a simpler pattern for guests. Instead of having the cushions manufactured for the Millers, Xenia S. Miller (XSM) requested the patterns and color samples so that she and her friends could make the cushions themselves!

The Collection: When the Miller House and Garden was given to the IMA, the the property and many interior design elements became part of the museum collection, while the extensive archives documenting the design, construction, decoration, and maintenance of the home went to the IMA Archives. Though separated into two collections, the cushion patterns and the actual dining chairs and cushions can now be brought back together online!

Alexander Hayden Girard, Designer (American, 1907-1993), JIM cushion and XSM cushion, ca. 1974, cloth. Copyright Alexander Hayden Girard, Gift of Margaret, Catherine, Elizabeth and Will Miller, MH2010.53.4B and MH2010.53.1B.

Alexander Hayden Girard cushion patterns and material samples, ca. 1974, FF061, Miller House and Garden Collection (M003), IMA Archives, Indianapolis Museum of Art.

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Indianapolis Museum of Art gift brochure, 1976, Ephemera Collection, IMA Archives.

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Collection Connection: Easter Addition

The Items: In 1916, Hoosier quilt designer Marie Daugherty Webster created this blueprint and tissue paper placement guide for her “Bunnies” baby quilt pattern kit. The bunny, basket, and brightly-colored egg motifs make this pattern and quilt an irresistible Tumblr share in the week leading up to Easter.

The Connection: The quilt pictured was created in 1939, and is currently on loan to the Indianapolis Museum of Art from the collection of Rosalind Webster Perry. A collection connection couldn’t be more straight-forward than this!

Marie D. Webster, “Bunnies” quilt pattern kit, 1916, Mariety Webster Study Collection (M008), IMA Archives, Indianapolis Museum of Art.

Marie Daugherty Webster (American, 1859-1956), Bunnies (quilt), 1939, quilted and appliquéd cotton. Copyright Marie Daughtery Webster, Lent from the collection of Rosalind Webster Perry, TR7219/4.

Explore other “Collection Connections” from the IMA Library & Archives.

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IMA at VRA

Last week, former IMA Library & Archives Ursula Kolmstetter Scholar, Rebecca Pattillo, presented a poster at the Visual Resources Association (VRA) conference in Louisville, KY. 

In 2016, Rebecca returned to the IMA through the VRAF internship award program to work on a cross-departmental project with Conservation, Photography, and Archives at the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA). The primary purpose of her project was to establish a conservation image collection within the museum’s digital asset management system, Piction. As a test case, Rebecca worked with over 1,500 conservation treatment images of Old Masters paintings from the Clowes Collection--updating filenames to a new convention, adding embedded descriptive and technical metadata, creating a controlled keyword vocabulary, and establishing and documenting the workflow for adding those and all other conversation images to Piction. The result has been increased access and better organization and preservation of IMA Conservation Department photography--all stored in the same system as digital assets from around the IMA.

We asked Rebecca to take a picture with her poster while presenting at the conference so that we could share today on the Tumblr, along with details from the poster. Created by the IMA Design Department, the poster provides a lot of detailed information about the Clowes Collection Conservation Project.