Civil servants and faithful hounds

Tom Grady gets a bit lost in the Library catalogue. 

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I was doing some research recently, trying to find pictures of greyhounds in the Library’s Art Gallery Gift Collection. It turns out they’re difficult animals to track down (in more ways than one). We have a few books devoted to ‘sporting and animal prints’ but most of the ones I found depicted only stilted hunting scenes, improbably high-stepping horses, and barrel-shaped pigs.

A fairly typical 19th century depiction of a pig. "Gloucester Old Spot by John Miles 1834" by John Miles.
 Photograph of original. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

And then I came across this book and - as is often the case - I got a bit sidetracked: The German drawings in the collection of Her Majesty the Queen at Windsor Castle by Edmund Schilling [London ; New York : Phaidon, 1971].

It has an innocuous-enough sounding sub-title: “Supplements to the catalogues of Italian and French drawings, with a history of the Royal Collection of Drawings, by Anthony Blunt” but the name caught my eye.

Anthony Blunt. The wartime Russian spy.

The scandal of a Soviet spy-ring at the heart of the 1940’s British establishment tends to be the main thing everyone remembers about Blunt (and Burgess and Philby). Clearly I’m as guilty as anyone of that but, among many other achievements Blunt was responsible for the Queen’s collection of pictures, and was the director of the Courtauld Institute of Art for 27 years. He also published respected works on Nicolas Poussin, William Blake and Picasso. We have a few of his books in the Library.

According to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (which you can access with your campus login):

In almost every sense he was a superb [Courtauld] director. He had a natural authority, an infectious enthusiasm for his subject, and a winning way with students and younger colleagues. Teaching more by example than by precept, he inspired those around him to give of their best. Under him the Courtauld became the principal centre for training art historians in Britain, with a worldwide reputation for excellence.
from www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/30829

One of those younger colleagues was Brian Sewell, who went on to become the London Evening Standard’s art critic for decades. You may not know that as well as being a famously-acerbic critic of poor taste in art (“The public doesn't know good from bad” Guardian, 31 Aug 2009) Sewell is a passionate dog owner. He not only wrote a biography of all the dogs he’s owned and rescued (about 17 in total), but he has also commissioned and built an ostentatious tomb where he plans to be buried alongside the carefully-preserved bones of them all.

In a roundabout way, Brian Sewell’s canine mausoleum brings me back to where I began. Why did a book with a foreword by a former Russian spy catch my eye when I was actually looking for an illustration of a greyhound? Well, because this is on the front cover:

Detail from the cover of The German drawings in the collection of Her Majesty the Queen at Windsor Castle
by Edmund Schilling [London ; New York : Phaidon, 1971]

It's a funny-looking one and it's a bit hairier than most, but it's a greyhound nonetheless.

Further reading

If you’re interested in learning more about Anthony Blunt you can find Anthony Blunt : his lives by Carter, Miranda [London : Macmillan, 2001] in the Library; or for a fictionalised account of the days leading up to his fall from grace there’s Alan Bennett’s tremendous play “A Question of Attribution” which can be found in the Library along with its companion-piece “An Englishman Abroad”. They both appear in Single spies : a double bill or Plays: two and are both on the shelves at MA 192.9 BEN.

You could also try the book that precipitated Blunt’s fall from grace: Climate of Treason : Five Who Spied For Russia by Boyle, Andrew [Hutchinson & Co. Ltd ; London, 1979].

And if you’d like to know more about greyhounds, there are some fantastic groups around the country who rescue them from poor treatment at the hands of the racing industry. Here are two:

• www.greyhoundgap.org.uk
• www.houndsfirst.co.uk

There's an organised walk by the river in York on 21 June if you'd like to see some up close and maybe get a chance to walk a greyhound yourself. It's part of The Great British Greyhound Walk - an annual national event: www.greatbritishgreyhoundwalk.org.uk

In the Library: artists of the floating world

One of the most enjoyable aspects of our job is getting to see new acquisitions for the Library before they go out on the shelves. A few weeks ago, these books landed on Ilka's Heale's desk - they are part of the gift collection from York Art Gallery.

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Torii Kiyonaga (1752 - 1815) was a Japanese printmaker and painter of the Torii school - a school of ukiyo-e painting and printing founded in Edo (now modern day Tokyo). Born Sekiguchi Shinsuke, he took on Torii Kiyonaga as a nom d'art and for much of his career he portrayed women, for which he was particularly revered.

'Evening by the Sumida River' by Kiyonaga (18th century) from Japanese colour prints : from Harunobu to Utamaro London : Faber and Faber 1952

This print, probably produced about 1784, is of special interest as it attempts to suggest the effect of twilight. It is taken from the book Japanese colour prints: from Harunobu to Utamaro with an introduction and notes by Wilfrid Blunt [London: Faber and Faber 1952]. (Wilfrid Blunt was an art teacher, author and artist, whose brother Anthony was a member of the Cambridge Five, a group of spies working for the Soviet Union from some time in the 1930s to at least the early 1950s.)

The ukiyo-e movement ("pictures of the floating world") is a genre of woodblock prints and paintings that flourished in Japan from the 17th to the 19th centuries. Aimed at the prosperous merchant class in the urbanising Edo period (1603 - 1867), among its popular themes were depictions of women; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk tales; travel scenes and landscapes; and flora and fauna.

Restored version of Katsushika Hokusai's 'Great Wave off Kanagawa'. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Katsushika Hokusai (1760 - 1849) is probably best known for the woodblock print series 'Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji' which includes the internationally recognised print 'The Great Wave off Kanagawa' created during the 1820s (above). He created the 'Thirty-six Views' both as a response to a domestic travel boom and as part of a personal obsession with Mount Fuji.

'Self-portrait in the age of an old man' by Hokusai  (19th century) from Hokusai : paintings, drawings, and woodcuts London : Phaidon, 1955

The picture above is a self portrait of Hokusai as an old man from 1839 and is taken from Hokusai: paintings, drawings, and woodcuts by J. Hillier [London : Phaidon, 1955].

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797 - 1861) was one of the last great masters of the ukiyo-e style and was a member of the Utagawa school.  He is known for depictions of the battles of legendary samurai heroes. His artwork incorporated aspects of Western representation in landscape painting and caricature. The picture below, 'Nichiren in the snow', was made by Kuniyoshi around 1835 and is taken from Japanese masters of the colour print; a great heritage of oriental art by J.Hillier [London : Phaidon 1954].

'Nichiren in the snow' by Kuniyoshi (19th century) from Japanese masters of the colour print London : Phaidon 1954

For further reading, you could try these other books on Japanese art in our collection:

Japanese colour prints by Edward F. Strange.
London: Printed for H.M. Stationery Off., by Wyman, 1908.
On the shelves at LK 9.952 STR

And if Japanese comics are more your style...

Manga: sixty years of Japanese comics by Paul Gravett.
New York: Collins Design, 2004
On the shelves at LH 1.5952 GRA

Virginia Woolf, Bloomsbury, and the art of making exceedingly good cakes

Ilka Heale peruses the Library's cookery books.

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"A good dinner is of great importance to good talk," Virginia Woolf wrote in A Room of One's Own. "One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well."

Detail from a 19th century cookery book by orangebrompton. Re-used under a Creative Commons licence.

On the top floor of the Morrell Library, you'll find the Library's small cookery section at Z 41.5. But you won't find any books by Delia or Jamie there, rather facsimile editions of 18th and 19th century cookbooks amongst other books on cooking and food, including Curries and other Indian dishes by the Indian novelist Mulk Raj Anand, and Beans: a history by Ken Albala (a history of beans from around the world, which includes a few recipes. Check out the recipe on page 185 for 'Pinto bean fruit cake' and yes, the first ingredient is two cups of well-cooked pinto beans!).

Then there's this gem about the Bloomsbury Group: The Bloomsbury cookbook : recipes for life, love and art [London: Thames & Hudson 2014]. Part cookbook, part social and cultural history, it includes over 170 recipes taken from diaries or letters.

The Bloomsbury Group was the name given to an influential group of English writers, philosophers and artists who frequently met during the first half of the 20th century in the Bloomsbury district of London, the area around the British Museum. The group fostered a fresh and creative way of living that encouraged debate - debate which took place, more often than not, across the dining table.

These gatherings were organised by Thoby Stephen and his sisters Vanessa Bell (a Post-impressionist painter whose granddaughter, Cressida Bell, also illustrated this book) and the writer Virginia Woolf. They were attended by Stephen's Cambridge friends Leonard Woolf, Clive Bell, Lytton Strachey (whose favourite meal was rice pudding which he insisted on eating everyday!) and John Maynard Keynes. Well-known names today, they formed the nucleus of the group at the time.

Here's a sample from the book, featuring a recipe for chocolate biscuits which comes from Fry's Chocolate Recipes. The painting is by Roger Fry, art critic and Post-impressionist painter. He became part of the Bloomsbury Group in 1910 and was a direct descendant of the J.S. Fry chocolate dynasty.

Pages 48-9 from The Bloomsbury cookbook : recipes for life, love and art [London : Thames & Hudson 2014] by Jans Ondaatje Rolls. The painting 'Still life with biscuit tin and pots 1918' is by Roger Fry - the original is in the Walker Art Gallery.

You can find Library books on the artists of The Bloomsbury Group among the York Art Gallery gift collection and if you want to know more about the group in general, just search the Library catalogue for both print and electronic resources.

Celebrating the York City Art Gallery donation.... with more art!

Stephen Town continues his Night Shelf donations with a bumper collection of titles from the history of art.

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Last week we welcomed York City Art Gallery staff and the Friends of the Gallery to a reception celebrating the donation of the Art Gallery’s book collection to the University Library. This has already been reflected in previous blog posts, but it has provided me with the opportunity to continue my own donations through a gift of five art history works from my own collection.

Photo: University of York reception to celebrate the donation
of the York City Art Gallery book collection to the Library (picture credit Paul Shields).

I hope that the books I am donating this week will supplement, in a small way, the acquisition of this substantial and rich Art Gallery stock. I accept that this is not really night shelf material, but Christmas calls for something special and personal, and for a combined gift to cover the weeks until I return in January.

One of the perceived difficulties for a relatively young University is to amass collections of the depth and breadth of more longstanding foundations. This is particularly true in the history of art field, in which, as Professor Prettejohn pointed out in the reception, physical books have a particular importance and weight, especially those with illustrations. The Art Gallery gift is therefore of great significance and value to the University’s academic work, as well as providing a new link to the wider York community. So I'd like to reiterate my thanks to the York City Art Gallery and all involved in the donation.

As a serious librarian, with at least some basic skills remaining, I did think to test the unique worth of my gifts against our own collections, including the York City donated collections, and also the national COPAC catalogue of seventy research university and specialist institutions. Fortunately all turn out to be unique additions to York.

Old Master Paintings from the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection - exhibition catalogue

More than twenty-five years ago I was invited to a reception at the Royal Academy to view a collection of Old Masters from the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection. The invitation came through a potential library computer system supplier; this firm being part of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Group of companies. Similar opportunities rarely arise these days as modern day procurement rules quite rightly frown on such generosities. (As it turns out, we didn't buy that library system in the end!)

Old Master Paintings - exhibition catalogue

The collection was created by successive Barons Thyssen, and at that time in 1988 was probably the second largest private collection in the world after the Queen’s. Now exhibited in its own gallery near the Prado in Madrid, the collection is particularly strong in landscapes and portraits, and includes Holbein’s striking depiction of Henry VIII. The Library also has a similar exhibition catalogue of modern masters from the same collection but this is a personal reminder of a wonderful evening, and a period when buying a library system was an exciting adventure requiring visits to exotic locations.

Masterpieces of the world’s great museums

Masterpieces of the World's
Great Museums, 1988
ISBN: 0600559149

The Prado Museum is one of those featured in this coffee table style book, among others including the British Museum, Louvre and Metropolitan Museum of Art. The book contains good quality images of many of the western world’s most celebrated artworks, as well as plans of the museums as they displayed their collections in the late eighties (at the time of publication). Displaying these dispersed collections together not only provides a comprehensive introduction for those not already acquainted with the museums, but also gives those who have been fortunate enough to visit, an opportunity for contextualisation and re-evaluation.

Spanish painting – András Székely

Continuing the Spanish theme, this item is a real rarity, as there appear to be only four other locations of this work in the UK. The colour plates have been painstakingly added after the text printing. Coverage is from Mozarabic miniatures through to Miro and the Picasso works featured are from the Barcelona Museo; the most emotionally affecting collection I have personally experienced.

Myth and ceremony in Islamic painting

- exhibition catalogue

Myth and ceremony in Islamic
painting - exhibition catalogue

This apparently insignificant item covers an exhibition which I remember viewing, although I have no recollection of where and when. The national research libraries catalogue is as confused as I am; no-one wants to commit to a firm date or location for the exhibition, and there is no other copy of this catalogue in research libraries in the north of England. An almost throw-away attribution links it to J.M. Rogers, now Honorary Curator of the Khalili Collection of Islamic Art and first holder of the Khalili Chair of Islamic Art at SOAS. Although the catalogue contains no images from the exhibition, it does give an interesting account of the history and development of Islamic art and its influencers.

La Dame à la Licorne

Paris is full of museums and art galleries, and one might be forgiven for tiring before reaching the Musee du Moyen Age at Cluny, the treasury of medieval art in Paris. The sumptuous and mysterious six tapestry panels of the Lady and the Unicorn are its bewitching and unforgettable centrepiece.

Photo: The Lady and the Unicorn by Terretta
Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence

One of the most famous tapestries in the world, this book guides the reader through each element before offering a more in depth study of the piece's significance. Interpretations of its meaning are debatable, but enjoyment of the five senses, together with a rejection of those passions generated by ill-control of sensory pleasure, as conveyed in the six panels, might be a salutary message for Christmas celebrations.

L.S. Lowry in the Library's Art Gallery Gift collection

More gems unearthed in the Art Gallery Gift collection

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We have now added over two and a half thousand items to the Library's stock from the York Art Gallery gift collection. Among my favourites are a collection of books detailing the works of Lancashire-born artist L. S. Lowry, best-known for painting industrial and urban landscapes of the North-West of England.

Cover / A memorial exhibition of paintings & drawings by L. S. Lowry, R.A., 20th May-3rd July 1976 
Lefevre Gallery, 1976

Lowry worked as a rent-collector in Manchester, wandering the streets he was fascinated with the urban world around him and its inhabitants. Many of his city landscape pictures featured crowds of enigmatic figures, barely distinguishable from one another, and reflected the complex and unresolved relationship between the people and the city. The image below, called 'Old Property', is a typical example of his style. The painting can be found on page 17 of A memorial exhibition of paintings & drawings by L. S. Lowry, R.A., 20th May-3rd July 1976, Lefevre Gallery, 1976.

Old Property (Main Street Tweedmouth) on the Lowry Trail in Berwick upon Tweed.
Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence by permission of the Europe a la Carte blog

Other scenes featured desolate wastelands; particularly brooding were those painted in the 1930s, a period of unhappiness and growing isolation for Lowry as he took care of his bedridden mother. Out of this period also came one of Lowry's most striking and disturbing works. The Head of a Man (1938) is a disconcerting portrait full of frustration and despair, a dark illustration of the artist's mental state at the time (page 78 in the  Lefevre Gallery book).

The Copley Prize December Winner, Lowry Gallery. Supervisor Jacob holds up Daniel's interpretation of Head of a Man (With Red Eyes) 
in front of LS Lowry's original. Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence.

Nonetheless, L. S. Lowry was a prolific and varied artist, regarded as one of the most important 20th Century British painters. To learn more you can find the books about him in the collection by keyword searching for 'Lowry York City Art Gallery' using the University Library catalogue here:

• http://yorsearch.york.ac.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do

And York has a direct local connection with Lowry too. According to the York Art Gallery's website:

In 1952 [we] commissioned L.S. Lowry to paint a picture of York. He chose to paint Clifford’s Tower and his painting is now one of the most important modern works of art in the gallery’s collection. (From 'Lowry in York School Challenge')

You can view his painting online here:

• www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/cliffords-tower-york-8311

and the rest of the Gallery's oil paintings can be seen here:

• www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/galleries/collections/york-museums-trust-1585

They're currently running a competition for schoolchildren to use his painting of Clifford's Tower as inspiration to create a new artwork. The winning entries will be displayed in York Art Gallery when it reopens in 2015.

And finally, here's a photo of the man himself, taken in 1962, contemplating the industrial landscape of Stockport.

Photo Credit: Smabs Sputzer via Compfight cc

Do you know your Baskerville Old Face from your Gill Sans?

The books in the York Art Gallery collection aren’t all about art and artists; the collection also includes a couple of books on printing and typography.  We take a look at two on the Library shelves.

Metal type (IMG_7893) by Tom Page re-used under a Creative Commons licence

Notes on the selection and use of printing types, together with specimens of type faces [York : Ben Johnson & Co. 1921?]

This was written and printed by York printers Ben Johnson & Co whose head office and factory was on Micklegate.  Along with notes on the use of printing types, there are also pages and pages of specimens of different typefaces and borders and ornaments. The images below are typical page spreads, showing Caslon and Jenson Old Style (which are still in use today).

Images taken from Notes on the selection and use of printing types, together with specimens of typefaces

The book is available in the Library’s Special Collections section.

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A psychological study of typography Burt, Cyril, 1883-1971 [Cambridge : University Press 1959]

This book has an introduction by Stanley Morison.  A British typographer, designer and historian of printing, Morison was one of the most influential type-designers in the 20th century having commissioned the widely used Times New Roman typeface.

This is Times New Roman. The Quick Brown Fox Jumped Over the Lazy Dog.

If you're interested in all things typographical, then you may have already heard of Eric Gill (1882-1940), the sculptor and typographer who invented the typeface Gill Sans.

Gill Sans by Anthony Starks re-used under a Creative Commons licence

Created in 1926, the font had immediate success when London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) adopted it for all their timetables, posters and publicity material. Later it was taken up across all of British Rail, and Penguin Books also used the font for their front covers.  More recently, the BBC has used it in their logo.

For more information on Eric Gill’s work with type see his An essay on typography [London : J.M. Dent & Sons, Ltd. 1936]. For other books about his sculpture visit LG 0.942 GIL on the Library shelves.

Further reading:

• Spare a thought for the creator of the much-maligned Comic Sans type. According to one report, the social media giant Twitter devotes its greatest server space to complaints about airlines, followed by gripes about Comic Sans (in third are, gratifyingly, complaints about Justin Bieber). Its designer, Vincent Connare, stands by his creation however. You can read about its genesis here:
• http://www.connare.com/whycomic.htm
• Like it or hate it, Comic Sans is a cultural phenomenon. In his 2011 book Just my type: a book about fonts [London : Profile Books 2011] Simon Garfield devotes his whole first chapter to it. 

Ivon Hitchens: Forty-Five Paintings

Library Collection Space Manager Ruth Elder shares a lifelong interest in a little-known artist.

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I admit that this book has now been sitting on my desk for some time in the office.

All through my childhood a Hitchens print hung on the wall of my home. The same print now hangs in my parents' retirement apartment, and I have made them promise never to dispose of it without giving me first refusal. The print has, throughout my life, pulled me in with its sense of silence, shadows and the unshown, and still continues to do so.

'Divided Oak tree number 2' ; Photo courtesy of Paul Shields. Click image to enlarge.

I also remember a day trip to York in 1990 to see the  Ivon Hitchens Exhibition at York City Art Gallery. It is the catalogue to this touring exhibition which has now found its way to my desk as part of the York Art Gallery Collection, and which still holds me, absorbed by the shapes and shadows of the images.

Ivon Hitchens' lifetime was marked by two world wars and encompassed a period of enormous change and destruction on a global scale. Unfit for active service in 1914 due to a weakness from childhood, Hitchens studied art at the Royal Academy Schools, with a two year period of war effort in hospital supply.  With the end of the First World War and the conclusion of his studies, he set up his own studio in Hampstead in 1919.  Through the 1920s and 30s he lived and worked within the avant-garde circle known as the London Group, which included artists such as Paul Nash, Ben Nicholson and Henry Moore.

In 1940 Hitchens was compelled to leave London after a bomb landed next door to his studio. He and his wife moved to a patch of woodland near Petworth in West Sussex called Greenleaves, living at first in a caravan which later required numerous additional outbuildings. Hitchens was to work there for the next 40 years, painting mostly outdoors.

He lived in the midst of what he painted, and most of his work was done within a few hundred yards of his home, which provided the inspiration and subject matter he looked for.

'Boathouse early morning' ; Photo courtesy of Paul Shields. Click image to enlarge.

“To look at the 'Boathouse, Early Morning' is to enter a world of stillness and expectant silence, and to become still oneself” Peter Khoroche, Forty-five paintings, London:Serpentine Gallery 1989.

It is this stillness and silence that continues to draw me back to the work of Hitchens.

Further reading:

Forty-five paintings
Hitchens, Ivon, 1893-1979 ; Serpentine Gallery ; South Bank Centre.
London : Serpentine Gallery 1989

Ivon Hitchens : a retrospective exhibition
London : Arts Council 1963

(Both from York City Art Gallery Collection)

T. G. Rosenthal, ‘Hitchens, (Sydney) Ivon (1893–1979)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2009 (Library subscription)

Behind every great woman...is herself

Rummaging through the York Art Gallery collection again, we found a clutch of artists sometimes better-known not for their art, but for the men in their lives. Ilka Heale puts them back in the spotlight.

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Hilda Anne Carline (1889–1950) was a British painter and (coincidentally) first wife of the artist Stanley Spencer. Born into a family of painters - her father was George Carline and her brothers Richard and Sydney - she studied at the Slade School of Art.

Self-portrait. p. 57 in The art of Hilda Carline: Mrs Stanley Spencer
Lincoln : Usher Gallery, 1999

In 1919 she first met Stanley Spencer at a family dinner; they married a few years later in 1925 and had two daughters. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography notes that "the years preceding her marriage were particularly productive: she benefited from the intellectual stimulus and challenge provided by ... the gatherings at the Carlines' home ... and like her brothers she exhibited regularly with the London Group."

In 1932, Spencer started a relationship with Patricia Preece which would lead to Hilda and Stanley separating in 1934 and divorcing a few years later.

The first retrospective of Hilda’s work was in 1999, nearly 40 years after she died. A book in our York Art Gallery Collection was published to coincide with an exhibition of her work: The art of Hilda Carline: Mrs Stanley Spencer (on the shelf in the Library at LJ 9.2 SPE).

Winifred Nicholson (1893-1981) painter and writer, was born in 1893, as Rosa Winifred Roberts. Her grandfather was the painter George Howard, 9th Earl of Carlisle.  She trained at the Byam Shaw School of Art in London in 1912 and showed a watercolour in her first exhibition at the Summer Exhibition of the Royal Academy.

Portrait of Winifred p. 41 from Winifred Nicholson by Christopher Andreae, 
(Farnham: Lund Humphries, 2009)

Ben with Jake 1927, p. 102  from same

In 1920, Winifred met Ben Nicholson and married him later the same year. But 11 years later Ben met the sculptor Barbara Hepworth, and by the end of the year he had left Winifred for Barbara. Unlike Hilda, Winifred continued to paint and exhibit throughout her life, sometimes in joint exhibitions with her husband and later in group shows.

For further reading see Winifred Nicholson by Christopher Andreae (LJ 8.1 NIC/A - quarto) along with other books in the collection about Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth.

Gwen John (1876-1939) was the sister of artist Augustus John but she's now probably more highly-regarded than her brother. He himself said "Fifty years after my death I shall be remembered as Gwen John's brother". She attended the Slade School of Fine Art and later studied with James McNeill Whistler in Paris.

Self-Portrait by Gwen John - Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Cecily Langdale's essay in The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography remarks:

Gwen John's art is consistently described as ‘private’, ‘quiet’, ‘reticent’. She herself said: ‘As to whether I have anything worth expressing … I may never have anything to express except this desire for a more interior life’... She was not a major historical force who influenced those after her. Although perhaps a minor master, she was surely an enduring one, possessed of genius.

We have a few books about Gwen in the Library (LJ 9.2 JOH) and you can see one of her paintings for yourself when the Art Gallery reopens in Spring 2015: Young woman in a red shawl is owned by York Museums Trust.

William Etty, Charlotte Brontë and a French connection

Looking through the Art Gallery Gift Collection Ilka Heale found some surprising connections

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The York Art Gallery collection consists mainly of books on, and about, art and artists - which is why this book about the French actress Eliza Felix (1821-1858) is an unusual addition to the collection: Rachel by Joanna Richardson (London : M. Reinhardt 1956).

Yet there is a connection: Eliza's portrait was painted by York born artist William Etty, and is held at the Art Gallery, along with other works by the artist.

'Rachel' by William Etty. Licensed under public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Eliza, who used the stage name Rachel, was known for playing tragic heroines at the Comédie Française and from 1843 she made annual trips to Britain to perform.

It was during one of these performances in 1851 that Charlotte Brontë was in the audience - she based the character Vashti, in her 1853 novel Villette, on Rachel (see shelfmark MA 163.6 for this book and other works by the author and her family). You can read more about Rachel's life here.

Villette by Charlotte Brontë ; [edited by Temple Scott]. Edinburgh : J Grant 1905, verso p.1

'Portrait of William Etty' Royal Academy LACMA AC1993.204.4 by David Octavius Hill (Scotland, 1802-1870), Robert Adamson (Scotland, 1821-1848) used by permission. Who was William Etty? William Etty (10 March 1787 – 13 November 1849) was born in Feasegate in York and moved down to London in 1805 where he became a student at the Royal Academy in 1807. He spent most of his career in London, but was buried in York. His grave is in the yard of St Olave's Church, Marygate and can be viewed from within the ruins of St Mary's Abbey. Further info: Oxford Dictionary of Biography (Library subscription).

Parmigianino in the York City Art Gallery

Art Gallery Gift Collection cataloguer Matt Wigzell unearths more treasure.

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Another highlight from the York City Art Gallery collection emerges, with several books on 16th Century Italian artist Parmigianino ("the little one from Parma") recently added to stock. In particular, The Art of Parmigianino by David Franklin (LJ 9.5 MAZ/F Quarto) has many great images of his work, and interesting details of his turbulent life.

Madonna of the Long Neck,
from The Art of Parmigianino, Franklin, D.  p. 22

He travelled Italy to avoid the frequent wars that raged during his lifetime, and was forced to flee Rome after its sacking by Imperial forces in 1527.

He spent his last days in exile from his native Parma, having been disgraced and imprisoned for defaulting on an agreement on a major commission for the Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Steccata church. There are also rumours of an increasing obsession with alchemy in his later years.

However, Parmigianino was a prolific artist and a student of Raphael, creating many memorable paintings, drawings and etchings. One of his most famous works is the 'The Madonna of the Long Neck' (pictured right), exemplifying the artist's characteristic elongation of form.

Flicking through the book, I also discovered Parmigianino has a slight York connection. One of his paintings 'Portrait of a Man with a Book' (pictured below) is owned by York Art Gallery, and is currently on display with three other York-owned paintings in the National Gallery in London.

Once the refurbishment is complete, Parmigianino's man and his book should once more gaze down from the walls of York City Art Gallery.

Portrait of a Man with a Book, from The Art of Parmigianino, Franklin, D.  p. 97

Sketching York Minster by torchlight

Matt Wigzell explores the York Art Gallery collection.

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While flicking through a lovely book from the York Art Gallery gift collection a familiar scene caught the eye. From Dennis Flanders' Britannia comes a stunning image of York Minster illuminated against the night sky.

p. 67 from Dennis Flanders' Britannia Stocksfield : Oriel, 1984
Click to enlarge.

Flanders travelled Britain, drawing historic locations and buildings, with a particular passion for churches, cathedrals and castles. While visiting York, he worked by torchlight to sketch this striking picture of the west front of York Minster, and left us wondering about the shadowy figure at the end of the street.

The book provides a fascinating record of the great, the grand and the slightly quaint architectural landscapes of Britain.

For further resources on art and architecture, try exploring the E-resources Guide through the catalogue.

The book that didn’t win the Bailey’s Prize this week

Despite picking up the Pulitzer Prize this year, Donna Tartt’s novel The Goldfinch lost out this week to a novel by first-time author Eimear McBride. McBride’s book, A Girl is a Half-formed Thing, won this year’s Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (formerly the Orange Prize).

The Library has The Goldfinch on the shelves (at MB 83.9 TAR) but we also have another couple of interesting items that I stumbled across when looking for it.

Ever heard of Carel Fabritius?

Me neither, but he painted the picture that features in the novel and peeps out from the front cover of the book.

Photo of front cover from Library copy.

p. 26 Carel Fabritius: complete edition
with a catalogue raisonné Oxford;Phaidon, 1981

It’s hanging in the Mauritshuis Royal Picture Gallery in the Netherlands - coincidentally the same gallery that houses Johannes Vermeer’s famous Girl With a Pearl Earring, which was also the subject of a modern novel.

We have a complete edition of Carel Fabritius’ work in the Library and, courtesy of the York City Art Gallery Gift Collection, we also have a book on the work of his brother, Barent Fabritius. Carel studied under Rembrandt, and it seems he was a promising young artist until he was killed in a massive gunpowder explosion in the city of Delft in 1654.

And, in keeping with our theme, the National Gallery has a painting of what Delft looked like after the explosion.

The artist JMW Turner in Yorkshire

How many of you knew that the great landscape artist JMW Turner (1775-1851) spent time sketching and painting in Yorkshire?

York Art Gallery held an exhibition in 1980 that featured many of his works from around our area and we have the exhibition catalogue on the Library shelves. It’s only a slim booklet with black and white images but it makes for interesting reading. Turner painted scenes all over the county, including Ilkley Moor, Knaresborough and Whitby, and produced this beautiful painting of York Minster, viewed from the River Ouse, c.1815.

View of York Minster from the River Ouse
Image courtesy of www.william-turner.org  - click to enlarge

It's difficult to tell exactly where the artist must have been positioned for this view. Does anyone have a suggestion?

***

Snow Storm, Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps 1812
Image courtesy of www.william-turner.org - click to enlarge

The picture to the left is Turner's Hannibal Crossing the Alps. According to William-Turner.org, the tempestuous backdrop of this famous scene is "reputed to have been inspired by a storm over Otley's Chevin while Turner was staying at Farnley Hall".



(For those readers who have completed the gruelling Boxing Day Chevin Chase run this information will come as no surprise.)

Caravaggio - self-portrait as a severed head

Image from The complete paintings of Caravaggio London : Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1969

As we gradually catalogue more of the York Art Gallery Gift Collection, we’re beginning to unearth some real gems.

This image of David with the Head of Goliath appears in The Complete Paintings of Caravaggio and it’s noteworthy because the severed head - mouth agape, blank eyed, dripping blood - is actually a portrait of Caravaggio himself.

The artist was reportedly something of a firebrand: according to Michael Kitson’s introduction "[Caravaggio] is recorded as sometimes walking the streets... carrying a drawn sword in front of him, and he was often involved in fights, one of which (in 1606) ended in a murder and his subsequent flight from Rome" (p. 7).

You can find this painting hanging in the Galleria Borghese in Rome, or on page 63 of the book if you don’t have the airfare.

(Image and quoted text from The complete paintings of Caravaggio London : Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1969 found in the JBM Library at LJ 9.5 CAR Quarto Oversize Books)

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas…

Receiving a new gift collection into the library always feels a little bit like Christmas - you unpack it with hope and excitement that it will have all kinds of wonderful items in it… 

And so it was when we first unpacked the book collection that was given to the University of York by the York Museums Trust last year. We were not disappointed!

The collection of approximately 5000 items, which was previously located at York Art Gallery, was transferred to the Morrell Library in Spring 2013. Library staff are currently adding the collection to stock with completion by Spring 2015.

All photos are by Paul Shields, the University Photographer, and are used by permission.

Click on any of them to enlarge the image.

The subjects covered by the collection range from woodcuttings to Warhol, sculpture to sign-painting, and from Hogarth to Hepworth; they will undoubtedly enhance the breadth and quality of the art related stock available at York.

We want to keep you informed of our progress and to highlight some of the items which interest and excite us as we add them to stock. It is a great additional resource for the Library and we want to make sure that our users are fully aware of the collection and can take advantage of the wealth of material it offers, so keep an eye on this blog for updates.

You can also check on our progress by simply searching through YorSearch using the Advanced Search option - selecting Provenance and entering York City Art Gallery.

All photos are by Paul Shields, the University Photographer, and are used by permission.

Click on any of them to enlarge the image.

Ruth Elder,
Collection Space Management Co-ordinator