Photography and the Civil War at the Met

An ambrotype image of the Pattillo brothers, from Georgia

Credit: Jack Melton, David Wynn Vaughan Collection

More than two hundred of the finest and most poignant photographs of the American Civil War have been brought together for this landmark exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Through examples drawn from the Metropolitan's celebrated holdings of this material, complemented by important loans from public and private collections, the exhibition will examine the evolving role of the camera during the nation's bloodiest war. The "War between the States" was the great test of the young Republic's commitment to its founding precepts; it was also a watershed in photographic history. The camera recorded from beginning to end the heartbreaking narrative of the epic four-year war (1861–1865) in which 750,000 lives were lost. This traveling exhibition will explore, through photography, the full pathos of the brutal conflict that, after 150 years, still looms large in the American public's imagination.

Mid-Century Wallpaper: Neue Dekorationsstoffe Tapeten und Teppiche

While *weeding in the stacks we often come across items that we call "gems." Those rare fragile items that either don't circulate very often or those that are are not in great condition to be checked out.

Decorating (747) is one of the areas I was weeding in and found this great book on Mid-Century wallpaper. Mid-Century modern is an architectural, interior, product and graphic design that describes mid-20th century developments in modern design, architecture, and urban development from roughly 1933 to 1965. It is now recognized by scholars and museums worldwide as a significant design movement.

The book is Neue Dekorationsstoffe Tapeten und Teppiche, that translates to new decorative fabrics wallpapers and carpets. This book contains many images of Mid-Century wallpaper in black and white. The interesting thing about the book is, it contains about 30 full color original wallpaper pattern pieces from that time period, complete with texture.

If you are a lover of Mid-Century modern come take a look at this book. The book is reference and must be used in the library. Click on the cover above to connect with our catalog.

Here are some sample images.

Artist Books and Altered Books Exhibit

Click image for more information.

Pantone and Pantyhose

In the 1960s Lawrence Herbert came up with the universal language of color, called Pantone. He was tired of each manufacturer having their own colors for specific shades. When you ordered a color like "wheat," you never knew exactly which "wheat" color you would get.

So he created a unified system where each shade was a number, sort like Hex color codes.

 “If somebody in New York wanted something printed in Tokyo, they would simply open up the book and say, ‘Give me Pantone 123,’ ” Herbert says; 123 (a daffodil yellow) would look exactly the same the world over. Herbert created a sample page to show how the system worked and sent it to ink makers. Fifty years later, he still owns a copy of that page: “I’ve got it right here in my office in Palm Beach.” Read more about Pantone at the New York Times. 

What’s the most unusual use of the Pantone system? Calvin Klein kept a Pantone chip in the kitchen to signal to his chef what color he wanted his coffee to be.

New Book by Kate Breakey: Las Sombras/The Shadows

Las Sombras/The Shadows

Eric Standley’s Intricate Laser Cut Stained Glass Paper Windows

Eric Standley works with hundreds of layers of colored paper creating intricate laser cut stain glass windows.He begins with a drawing, this helps him create the complex range of imagery needed to make a workable design, before cutting and assembling the paper pieces. Standley’s windows are similar in complexity to that of traditional stained glass, and bring to mind the beautiful Northern Rose window of the medieval Chartres Cathedral in France.

More at Hi Fructose

Robert Ernst Marx: Printer, Painter, and Sculptor

" Robert E. Marx is part of a small group of important American figurative artists who comment on what it means to be human in an inhuman age. A kindred spirit with such great but often overlooked social protest artists like Leonard Baskin and Leon Golub, Marx's work speaks only to those who wish to be challenged by an artist's idea -- those who seek an intense and enduring dialogue with works of art. One of America's most important exponents of the north European expressionist tradition that goes back to Bosch, Grünewald, and Bruegel, Marx's work explores the futility of trying to bring universal order or give conclusive meaning to the human condition." From the Davidson Gallery

Robert Ernst Marx may live in western NY but his work reaches far beyond Rochester. His etchings, paintings, and sculptures have been exhibited in museums, galleries, and rare book rooms both here in the United States and in other countries. Marx has a BFA in painting and an MFA in printmaking. He has taught at many institutions including SUNY Brockport before he retired in 1990. Brockport is where I met him and studied printmaking under him.

Now I am an Art Librarian at the Central Library in Rochester and develop our art collection in many areas including printmaking. I have wanted to bring his work to the attention of our library patrons and to other members of the Rochester art community.  When I studied with Marx he was doing etchings with very dark backgrounds known in the etching world as an aquatint. He is now doing figurative oil paintings on linen and also doing sculpture.

As I find many critiques about the way an artist works or what they meant to convey inaccurate, I am not going to try and interpret Marx’s work except to say what he has said, that he is interested in the human condition and the abuse of power. Some have described his work as haunting some see references to painter Francis Bacon, others to Leonard Baskin, still others see Mennonite, Puritan, or Victorian images.
Read his artist statement here and below.

Marx shared how he works on another site. He works on 20 - 25 paintings at a time, often taking years to complete. He walks into his studio each morning, and looks through the unfinished canvases and pulls one out. He says most paintings are 4-5 layers of paintings, because he sands them down quite often. He says it took him 20 years to figure out what he wanted to do with figures.

When I studied printmaking he was doing figures with tall oval shaped hats on a very dark aquatint background. He called many of the results that were returned after he pulled a print, “gifts.” Working on an etching or any type of print process is very different than working on a painting. You can see what you are painting and how it will look. Not so with the printing process, you never know if a scratch, a blotch, or a beautiful line will show up after you roll the plate through the press. These are the “gifts” Marx was referring to and these gifts are one of the many reasons I’m drawn to printmaking.

Robert E. Marx is part of a small group of important American figurative artists who comment on what it means to be human in an inhuman age. A kindred spirit with such great but often overlooked social protest artists like Leonard Baskin and Leon Golub, Marx's work speaks only to those who wish to be challenged by an artist's idea -- those who seek an intense and enduring dialogue with works of art. One of America's most important exponents of the north European expressionist tradition that goes back to Bosch, Grünewald, and Bruegel, Marx's work explores the futility of trying to bring universal order or give conclusive meaning to the human condition.

Watch an interview with Robert Marx

Below are some sites where you can read about the work of Robert E. Marx and view his work

Artist Studio: Robert Ernst Marx

The Art Out There

Davidson Galleries

Asheville Art Museum

Seattle Weekly: Review of His Work

Robert Ernst Marx: Recent Works: Brilliant, Rebellious, Indefatigable An essay on his work

The Print Revolution in America: A Renaissance

This book is being purchased by the Art Division about Robert Marx and his work