Ingalls Library & Museum Archives

One of the many joys found in the new East Wing is the establishment of the Mark Schwartz and Bettina Katz Photography Galleries. For those of us keenly interested in the history of photography, as well as lovers of the contemporary photography scene, these three galleries provide a perfect venue. Currently on exhibit is France at the Dawn of Photography,” photographs taken contemporaneously with the life of Paul Gauguin, the subject of our current main exhibition. Curator Tom Hinson writes in our Members Magazine, “France at the Dawn of Photography is a snapshot record of France during the Second Empire: the grandeur of its capital city, the beauty of its natural resources, and the vitality of its population.”

Camille Dollard, "Self Portrait" 1997.56

The galleries beckon the viewer with portraits of celebrated French artists. The first image is a large daguerreotype, a self-portrait of artist Camille Dollard. He is, not surprisingly, posed with easel and brush but right next to him is a giant hookah! Oh, Orientalist man of romance and pleasure – what’s not to love? Pierre Petit’s Gustave Doré , looking sexy and cosmopolitan, leans toward the viewer with a bold stare. We see captured images of Paris before the “Haussmannization” of the city’s medieval streets in Charles Marville’s untitled cloud study. Here the distant dome of Les Invalides towers over the city, under a race of clouds that pattern light and gray. A rare snow scene in the forest by Eugène Cuvelier is a study of entwined winter branches creating an almost web-like image. And Behind the Troglodyte Barn – a title so intriguing that this viewer had to read the label before looking deep into the image (“troglodyte” is a medieval term used to describe political activists who found their way around property taxes by living in caves) is a stone arch and structure built into a rock formation. Tools litter the ground but no figures are present. Caves? I need more to this story.

Lastly, this viewer’s favorite photograph and the one that graces November’s Member’s Magazine cover: Courtyard with Painters, by an unidentified photographer. Tom Hinson describes it as, “a captured wealth of detail in an intimate slice of 19th century village life in northern France.”

And is it ever! Amid Normandy barns and coops, laundresses deal with overflowing baskets of laundry. Two artists are painting – one hugging a little girl with woman reading her letters at his side, and another working under bright umbrellas, his clay pipe clamped in his teeth. His canvas reveals a woman bent over her sewing. And to the right of our scene is the innkeeper with his fancy vest and bushy muttonchops. He looks like a character right out of Émile Zola’s Rougon-Macquart novels. He faces the photographer, seeming to say: “Soyez le bienvenue! Qu’est-ce que vous voulez a boire?”

Yellow paper, yellow-back books, yellow prints. We are experiencing a tsunami of yellow for the opening of our exhibition, Gauguin: Paris 1889. The catalogue that curator Heather Lemonedes and Conservator Moyna Stanton labored over for years is finally here in the library! Their hard work has paid off handsomely, with groundbreaking scholarship and amazing loans from illustrious collections. The exhibition is beautiful – our museum staff is so talented.

The recreation of the exhibition installed in Monsieur Volpini’s Café des Arts, held on the grounds of the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris is brilliant. Dr. Lemonedes tells us that the Volpini prints on canary yellow paper were available for sale, to be viewed upon request (none sold), but here, we have them all framed on view together. One may ask, why is this so important? For the museum visitor, it is an opportunity of a lifetime to see works of art on paper — our complete Volpini Suite (never before on public view) and compare them to other Volpini Suite prints and paintings from museum collections that live most of the time in temperature and light controlled security. Look at the hand colored version of “Dramas of the Sea” (Van Gogh Museum) — what exquisite detail! Below a calm blue sea, dangerous waves churn around a fisherman and his red boat, all constrained in its finite fan-shaped print. One has to see it in person to understand the effect Gauguin sought to convey. There is so much to discover here, so many works of art that the visitor might not see again. As our Chief Curator, Griff Mann says: “Don’t miss it — this is the only U.S. venue.”

The Ingalls Library had an opportunity to assist in procuring various works on paper in the exhibition: maps, books, and the rare poster announcing the Volpini exhibition. We found a 1901 treatise examining yellow dyes in paper pulp that was so helpful to our paper conservator. A gift book from the Butkin estate provides illustrated highlights of the 1889 Expo. And we used our antique postcards from France to add introductory images to the gallery walls. It was an opportunity to feel like an active, integral part of The Cleveland Museum of Art team.

Finally, mention should be made of the accompanying photography show in the East Building, “France at the Dawn of Photography.” Drawn mostly from The Cleveland Museum of Art’s collection of photographs, one has an opportunity to view three packed galleries with images taken during the lifetime of Paul Gauguin. And the admission is free! A follow-up post about the photography show will be forthcoming.

In conjunction with the current exhibition, Streams and Mountains without End: Asian Art and the Legacy of Sherman E. Lee at the Cleveland Museum of Art, (June 27 – August 23, 2009) the Ingalls Library and Archives staff has organized a display of photographs, documents and objects from the Museum Archive which provide a glimpse into the many facets of Sherman Lee and his contributions to the museum during his long tenure (1952-1983).

Among the items included in the display is a photograph of Lee placing a time capsule in the façade on the Breuer Building. The trowel accompanying the photograph was used at the cornerstone laying in 1969. A certificate from the French Ordre National de La Légion D’Honneur awarded to Lee in 1966 is displayed along with a “Free Lee” bumper sticker. The bumper sticker was produced by the museum in response to the French government’s international arrest warrant issued for Lee and claiming that the museum’s Poussin painting, Holy Family on the Steps, lacked an export permit.

Other items include a portrait photograph of Charles Lindburgh inscribed to Lee as well as Lee’s college yearbook from American University, 1938. Perhaps the most interesting (and humorous) object on display is a plaster head of Lee. This imitation of the Eleven-headed Guanyin in the museum’s collection was given to Sherman Lee by museum benefactor Katherine White. The 13 heads atop the portrait head of Lee represent the museum trustees. The earplug is a facetious reminder that the museum director did not always listen to the squawkings of his board!

Visitors to the Museum are welcome to view the exhibit during regular library business hours (Tuesday-Friday, 10:00-5:00)

Lunch, for me, is a salad and an armful of auction catalogs. Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Bonhams and other international houses crowd the shelves of our Recent Acquisitions area – jewels in Paris, furniture in Amsterdam, or Old Master paintings in London, one can hardly believe the offerings available on the market today. As we ready for the opening of our new East Wing on June 27 which will, among 21 new galleries, showcase our Impressionist collection, I’m drawn to Christie’s Impressionist/Modern Works on Paper + Day Sale catalogs, for 24 June 2009. These gorgeous catalogs offer so much more than just works of art. Here’s Rodin! Le Baiser in bronze, only 15 inches in height, shines on pages also packed with bibliography. And here are pals of Gauguin, Claude-Emile Schuffenecker and Emile Bernard, soon to be highlighted in our upcoming Becoming Gauguin exhibition in October. A lot entry for Paul Sérusier chronicles his adventures in Brittany with Gauguin and the incredible influence Gauguin had on his painting. I’ve barely scratched the surface – come explore the best venue in town for the exciting world of art at auction.

As Art and Power in the Central African Savanna closes in the Cleveland Museum of Art’s special exhibition space,  visitors are reminded that the Ingalls Library maintains copies of every catalog for every exhibition we present.  Museum publications are available for browsing in the reference department of the Library.  This fascinating catalog is no exception, you will find it on the shelf at NB1099.C6 P48 2008.