Fenimore Art Museum

Cats on Canvas (as well as cloth, paper, chalkware...)

2011-12-29T10:13:00.001-05:00

By Chris Rossi, Associate Curator of Exhibitions

As someone who shares her home with three cats I am always on the look out for felines in art. Truth-be-told I have an unofficial competition going in terms of representation of dogs versus cats in the Fenimore Art Museum collection. So, when I was back in our newly renovated painting storage area I was delighted to find another cat friendly portrait - Four Children and a Cat. In this 1840s portrait the cat is batting one of the children’s locket - familiar behavior to anyone who owns a cat.

How many other cats were prowling around the galleries and collection spaces I wondered? A quick survey found at least 8 cats (big and small) featured in portraits, paintings, toys, prints, quilts and statues. No surprise as some of those pieces came from the Gunn family, whose collection is now part of our own.

Although Mrs. Gunn had a reputation for not being overly fond of children she was plainly an animal lover. The following was recorded before her death in 1957:

“Most of all I like dogs, but now I keep cats. I, of course, will soon go. Dogs would grieve for me, but cats will not cry, will live out their time.”

The interviewer relates that “Neighbors thinking that Mrs. G worshipped cats were bringing or stealthily abandoning kittens at her door…Finally the stray cats found their way to the house on their own.” I would add that they found their way into the artwork as well.

A Question For You

2011-12-22T08:55:00.001-05:00

By Jessica Kendrick, Development and Marketing Associate

I spend a lot of time thinking about why you should donate to the Fenimore Art Museum. My ideas range from funny (our rooster weathervane is quite the comedi-hen!) to the ridiculous (please, please, please, I’m on my knees begging!) to the serious (we depend on the support from individuals like you to present the high-quality exhibitions and programs you enjoy).

But in reality, no matter how many reasons I come up with, it comes down to you. What do you love most about the Fenimore Art Museum? How much do you value having this gem of a museum in our community? Do you want to make a difference?

Your support is vital to our continued success. Your donation could pay for the fixtures to hang your favorite painting in next year’s feature exhibition American Impressionism: Paintings of Light and Life. Or, it could cover the costs of updating our Art Carts, allowing your kids or grandkids to touch and feel the materials used to create the art they see. The difference you can make might be in our ability to research the amusing story behind a folk-art painting and share it with you on this blog. The list goes on and on. The next time you are at the museum, look closely around you to see the real difference individuals just like you make. I see it every time I walk through the museum, and I hope you see it, too.

So, in conclusion, think about what your life would be like if the Fenimore was not here. Think about your favorite painting, exhibition, or program. Think about the fun, educational, delightful receptions, films, and discussions we offer. Now, don’t get distracted. Keep thinking about all your favorite things about the Fenimore and click on this link and make a donation to the museum right now! (Best viewed with Firefox or IE). Your gift can be large or small; the important thing is your willingness to invest in us. It will make a difference.

Thank you!
-Jessica

Ring in the New

2011-12-13T08:55:00.004-05:00

By Chris Rossi, Associate Curator of Exhibitions

As the old year winds down we here in the curatorial department are deep into preparations for the New Year. The Fenimore Art Museum closes its doors to the public on January 1 and that is when we do our big 2012 makeover in preparation of our April 1 re-opening. The 2011 temporary exhibits come down and artworks are returned to various lenders or to our storage areas.

The paint colors and graphics for next year’s exhibits are being planned now. Fonts are chosen to fit the theme or sense of the exhibits with something exotic for Heavenly Aida: Highlights from the Metropolitan Opera, sensual for Spellbound: The Metropolitan Opera's Armide, and spring-like for American Impressionism: Paintings of Light and Life. Floor plans are devised on computer using sketch-up, InDesign or good old paper and pencil. We need to know where the objects are going and what they will be displayed on before we move them out of storage or ship them from another museum.

It is an exciting time of anticipation. Choosing colors and designing the look of a show is a challenge but is also good fun. Our curatorial team spars over what they think is wonderful or horrible. One person’s dream color or font can be another’s nightmare! In the end we come up with a look that we believe enhances the objects on display without dominating them. It’s a vision that we enjoy and hope our visitors will as well.

It's Never Too Late to Look Ahead

2011-12-08T08:55:00.001-05:00

By Stephen Loughman, Preparator

As we finish up a very successful 2011 season at Fenimore Art Museum my focus now turns to all the exciting exhibits coming up in 2012. As featured in one of my posts early this year, it really begins to sink in that the New Year is coming up when we begin to talk about wall colors for next year. It’s always a lot of fun to find the perfect combinations.

We start with a small color swatch, if a color passes the initial test, I make a larger paint swatch on cardboard that will give us a better idea of what the color will look like on the wall. Just the first of many steps that we take to getting a finished exhibit on the walls for everyone to enjoy!

You can make a difference

2011-12-06T13:43:00.000-05:00

By Dr. Paul S. D'Ambrosio, President and CEO

Edward Hopper once said, “All I want to do is paint light on a side of building.” Sounds simple, right? But his ability to capture light is transformative. Ugly freight cars are beautiful; the working dock yard dynamic.

That is the power of art. It makes you think about things in different ways. It tells a story that brings a community together and speaks uniquely to the individual. If you value having that resource here in your community, then please make a donation today to support the Fenimore Art Museum.

Simply put, your investment in us will make a difference. $20 could pay for the fixtures to hang your favorite painting. $50 would underwrite planting our Three Sisters Garden in Otsego: A Meeting Place. With $100, we can update the Art Carts, allowing visitors to touch the materials used to create the art they see. $250 pays for supplies to paint one gallery wall for our upcoming American Impressionism: Paintings of Light and Life exhibition. $500 covers the cost of printing all the informational labels for next year’s exhibition Artist and Visionary: William Matthew Prior Revealed.

This just skims the surface of how your dollars will make a concrete and visible difference. We are working hard to keep the same level of excellence you have come to expect. But to continue, we need your help. We depend on the financial support of friends like you. We value your involvement in our museum. Thank you. But by doing a little bit more, by making a donation, you will make a difference today.

We offer three easy, safe, and convenient avenues for you to make a donation.
Contribute online: fenimoreartmuseum.org/donate
Contribute by phone: 607-547-1433
Contribute by mail: PO Box 800, Cooperstown, NY 13326

Thank you.

The grand tour of Indianapolis!

2011-11-30T10:26:00.000-05:00

By Eva Fognell, Curator of the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art

I recently returned from a week installing Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. It was just great! Brittany, IMA's registrar, was a master organizer all went according to her plans and schedule. It was a smooth and easy installation. IMA and its grounds are a delight and I even got myself photographed with the LOVE sculpture.

There are a few Cooperstown Graduate Program alums here in Indiana and I got to visit with Jane Hedeen, my own former class mate. Jane came down and meet me for lunch at IMA.

On Saturday my coworker Chris Rossi, Dorothy (my neighbor back home in New York and a former Indianapolis native) and I went to visit Johanna Bluhm, associate curator of western art at the Eiteljorg Museum.

Johanna interned with me in the Thaw Collection while a student at CGP. I really enjoyed seeing her at "her museum, her collection and her exhibit." Congratulation on a job well done, Johanna! We had a ball at the Eiteljorg - I especially loved the Christmas Train exhibit.

We also went to their storage facility and looked at everything... what a treat! Thank you, Johanna!

Sunday, Dorothy and I, in this Fiat 500, went to Columbus, Indiana. That outing is known as the "Modernism on the Prairie" tour and boy did we look at architecture!

We also toured the Miller House, a recent acquisition of IMA. Getting tickets to the tour was a tricky business. They have been sold out for every tour they have done since opening in May! IMA does 1-2 tours per day with 20 visitors in each tour, and they have a waiting list. No photos were allowed so here is the link to an article from Architectural Record.

I had a lovely lunch in a sweet little ice cream parlor that has been in business for 100 years! They had already decorated for Christmas. Somehow it felt right in this little place.

Many thanks to Dorothy for her tour of Nashville, Bloomington and its university!

Final Destination - Indianapolis

2011-11-17T10:15:00.000-05:00

By Chris Rossi, Associate Curator of Exhibitions

Greetings from the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA), where colleague Eva Fognell and I are installing our traveling exhibition, Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection, at its last venue in this 2-year long tour. The IMA has a collection of over 50,000 works of art from a variety of cultures and periods in art history. It also features traveling exhibits such as our own. Situated in the midst of 152 rolling acres, which include a nature park, mansion and gardens, the museum is a lovely place to install an exhibit.

Once again we are working with a topnotch crew to unpack our collection and get the objects in place. Every venue has given us a new way to think about the collection and how to present it. David, the designer here at IMA has chosen wonderful colors and layout for the gallery to offset and compliment the objects.

Whodunnit at Night at Our Museum?

2011-11-10T08:55:00.006-05:00

By Amy Hollister, Cooperstown Graduate Program Student

If you didn’t attend Night at Our Museum last weekend at Fenimore Art Museum, you missed an evening of art, crafts, music, and mystery. Will & Will entertained with musical stylings for the entire family, while the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Cooperstown Art Association, The Glimmerglass Festival, The Brookwood School, and Cherry Valley Artworks provided art activities.

Will and Will were a highlight of the evening.

The excitement of the night centered on a mystery – just before the concert, a visitor’s purse went missing. Visitors divided into groups and worked with a detective and security to solve the case. And solve it they did! Using clues, young detectives roped off the galleries and scoured the crime scenes – and by crime scenes, we mean paintings. It turns out that at night the paintings come to life, and within the artwork lay the clues to catching the culprit!

Even if you didn’t attend, it’s not too late to solve the mystery. The clues and pictures of the crime scene are posted below. There are many things to consider when looking at art, but there are a few questions that provide a good start to your investigation:
1. “What is going on in this painting?”
2. “What do I see that makes me say that?”
Now it’s time to test your sleuthing skills! We’ve provided the clues and the paintings below.

Feathers at the scene of the crime
When our young detectives checked the purse’s last known location, all they found was bird feathers.

Quilting in the Clark
Two women sitting in the Unfolding Stories: Culture and Tradition in American Quilts exhibition were putting together a friendship quilt and had some conflicting tips. One woman said the purse thief was wearing black, and the other said she was wearing blue. It was hard to get a straight story, though, since they were arguing over quilting styles – and boy, was that a heated argument! We didn’t want our detectives to get caught in the cross-fire of fabric swatches and thread, so we left the gallery pretty quickly.

Young Boys Run Amuck in the Genre Gallery

Detective Henson and young detectives question the Village Post Office Lady and Mrs. McCormick.

In the genre gallery, we overheard Mrs. McCormick grumpily explaining to the Village Post Office Lady about the dangers of young boys. Unfortunately, neither Mrs. McCormick nor the Village Post Office Lady had much to contribute to the investigation. Do you see anything in the painting that could solve the case?

Eliza

Eliza rocks in front of her post-mortem portrait. Can you find any clues in the painting?

Poor Eliza; she’s sad, and we don’t know why. Eliza was rocking in her chair when we got up to the gallery. From her, we learned that the thief was skinny, mean, and had a covered head. But this describes too many people! Investigate the painting to see if you can figure out anything to add to the case – or a clue to Eliza’s melancholy state. Is she upset because she stole the purse?

Those were all the clues the young detectives found. With such little information, it would take outstanding skills to find the thief. But, by vote of applause, the case was solved! The thief came forward. Check the comments section of this post for the answer – but only after you do your best to solve the case. Who do you think took the purse and why?

Visitors voted, by round of applause, on who they thought stole the purse.

A Night at Our Museum was a great success. Next year will bring a new mystery, new clues, and new crime scenes. We hope to see you there!

The Native American Art Studies Association conference in Ottawa

2011-11-08T08:55:00.011-05:00

By Eva Fognell, Curator of the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art

I recently spent an interesting 5 days in Ottawa attending the 18th Native American Art Studies Association (NAASA) conference. It is a biennial event hosted at a different location each time. What the locations all have in common is a rich cultural scene with Native American art collections at their museums. This time we were guests on Algonquin land.

The program started with a board meeting for the members of the Otsego Institute for Native American Art History at one of the member’s houses.

Otsego Institute Board members; seated (left to right) Ruth Phillips, Aldona Joinaitis, Joe Horse Capture, Janet Berlo, standing (left to right) Jolene Rickards, Aaron Glass, Richard Hill and myself. (Evan Maurere and Jon Holstein could not make it to Ottawa.)

The Otsego Institute is a biennial conference and workshop held here at the Fenimore Art Museum for graduate students and junior professionals. The next Institute will be held May 20- 25th, 2012. Up to twelve participants are chosen on the basis of competitive application. The Institute pays for their travel and living expenses while onsite. It is a fantastic opportunity to develop relationships with prominent scholars in the field since they serve as faculty and mentors for the students. The Board spent a good part of the afternoon determining the program and discussing speakers to invite for the 2012 gathering.

For the next 3 days it was all business at the NAASA Conference with days joyfully crammed full of presentations. Here are some of the sessions: Object Lessons: Manifold Meanings in Individual Objects; Stand By Me: Activism and Aboriginal Curatorial Practices; Globalizing Native Art; Making the Past Present and the Present Contemporary. Interesting, invigorating and mind boggling at times!

Carlie Fishgold and Joe Horse Capture are enjoying themselves. Carlie was my intern in the Thaw Collection this past summer. It was great to see her again.

I also had a chance to catch up with student alums from past Otsego Institute conferences. At least 6 past students were presenting papers at the conference. On Saturday a group of us got together for lunch:

On Saturday evening NAASA's big gala dinner event was held at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. Here are some photos from that event:

What a setting for a dinner - among totem poles! About 200 people attended the dinner. I presented the first triennial $10,000 Thaw Publication Award to Jonathan Batkin for his book The Curio Trade in New Mexico. Afterward, I had moose stew and a glass of red vine. I am always amazed of what can happen "all in a day's work."

While in Ottawa, I had a chance to walk through town and look at the beautiful architecture and public art. Here are some pictures of what I saw:

Check out this view over Ottawa and the river from my hotel room.

Just a few weeks ago a young bicyclist died when hit by a car. A memorial to her sprang up on the sidewalk near the accident. Beneath all the flowers is a while bicycle. Ottawa is a bicycle friendly town with bike rental stations throughout the city.

Parliament buildings in the morning light.

Bronze sculpture of Joseph Brandt on Rideau Street

And another bronze this one of Champlain

Maman by Louise Bourgeois, 1999 in the background is the National Gallery of Canada.

NGC borrowed 9 objects from the Thaw collection a few years ago for their exhibit Art of This Land.

Sculpture of ... hmmm, forgot to get the title! Isn't it an amazing stainless steel line in the sky? It is located on the river side of the National Gallery.

And then the Byward market! On the second floor this wood and paper mâché sculpture by Victor Tolgesya titled, Mc Clintock's Dream, 1978.

And here is one of the booths outside selling --- I don't know what to call it!

Tote pole in front of Ottawa School of Art

It's Almost Time!

2011-11-03T10:55:00.000-04:00

By Olivia Cothren, Cooperstown Graduate Program student

We’re now just two days away from Night at our Museum at Fenimore Art Museum!

We’ve been hard at work putting together the mystery tour. We’ve chosen our cast, outfitted the actors in costumes from The Farmers’ Museum, and had fun, productive rehearsals. Only one more dress rehearsal and then it’s show time!

One of the many joys of studying at the Cooperstown Graduate Program is getting the chance to participate in all aspects of the local museum programming. Last year, I was delighted to play one of my idols, the Statue of Liberty, in the Night at Our Museum mystery tour. This year, I’ve gotten to work behind the scenes while another crop of my classmates gets to show off their theatrical talents. Night at our Museum is a fun, educational experience for the community as well as for the staff and students involved in the planning and implementation of the event.

Although the mystery tour will be a highlight of the evening, there will be plenty more to do and see on Saturday night. Be sure to take a moment to visit with representatives from local community groups who will be providing fun activities. Sad that your stash of Halloween candy is now a crumpled pile of wrappers? Save the tears—we’ll have plenty of treats on hand to keep the sugar rush going. And don’t even think about missing the evening’s musical act, Cooperstown’s own “Will and Will.” Everyone knows they say “where there’s a will, there’s a way”…but do you know what they say about two Wills? You’ll have to attend to find out!

We hope you’ll join us on Saturday night for this special event. We need as many detectives as possible to help solve the mystery! Did anyone use the clues in this post to figure out which galleries the mystery tour will take you? If you have, congratulations! You’re well on your way to helping us solve the mystery. Now that you know what rooms you’ll see, try to figure out which pieces of art will come to life using these new clues:

• I don’t mind if you call my work wacky, eccentric, or zany…but I think CRAZY might send the wrong message!
• You’ve chosen me as one of your favorite paintings in the museum. Well, my rose and necklace are quite lovely, so I can’t say that I’m surprised…but I never let my emotions show on my face.
• Oh goodness, I feel like I’ve been waiting on this line all day. If we don’t get moving soon, I might just go postal!

See you on Saturday!

Cameo Appearance

2011-11-01T08:55:00.001-04:00

By John Hart, Assistant Curator of Collections

Having worked at the Fenimore Art Museum and The Farmers' Museum storage facility for over three years now, there isn’t too much that surprises me when I stumble across it on a shelf. Except for a box of dozens of cameos. And not the cameo pins like most people are familiar with; these are plaster, and used to be glued into the trays in which they’re still contained. I’ve questioned for a few months now “What exactly are these?” They’re not jewelry, but they’re so small they can’t possibly be art to hang on a wall, unless you live in a doll house.

Well, looking under the lid helps.

The label is in Italian, and I’ll be honest, I haven’t spoken a complete sentence in Italian in over 20 years. Thank you Google! Given the translation of the first few words I figured out that this is a sample box of a cameo artists work, and the artist’s name was Giovanni Liberotti. I butchered the translation, even online, of the rest of the label, but it appears that the artist gathered the likenesses of other cameos and recreated them, showing off his own talent. Sort of an early artist’s portfolio I suppose, to help the artist have more work.

For some reason it never occurred to me until today that something like this sample set would have ever existed, but it certainly brings up other questions that the historian in me wishes could be answered. Was this kit brought from Italy by the artist to find work in America? Did someone find it in a dusty shop somewhere in Rome and bring it back as a souvenir? Who was Giovanni Liberotti? (I found a few answers to that question thanks to Google again!) In any event, it’s a very nice set of sample pieces that I can’t wait to work with a little more!

Cameos, Givoanni Liberotti, Plaster, various sizes, N0146.1969.

That's SOME quilt!

2011-10-27T08:55:00.003-04:00

By Chris Rossi, Associate Curator of Exhibitions

Quilt lovers have been flocking to our new Unfolding Stories: Culture and Tradition in American Quilts exhibition here at Fenimore. In addition to the raves about the expertise of the piecing, stitching or the creativity of our quilts many folks are dazzled by the sheer size of our “Star of Bethlehem” quilt. It was most likely created by either Providence or Henrietta Hildebrand Owens sometime around 1830. At a whopping 115” x 123” it is one big quilt.

As you can imagine, all of us –docents, visitors and staff– have spent some time trying to figure out why this terrific quilt is so darn big! Time to consult an expert! Jacquie Atkins, our guest curator, gave this response to my queries: “Quilts were functional objects in the 1820s, and although this may have been admired and used only for "best," it would not have been anywhere but on a bed…Keep in mind that many beds were higher in those days … so if the bed were five feet or so wide, that would have meant roughly a 2 1/2 foot drop on each side. Add a thick mattress (10-12" in well-off families) to an 18" high bed, and this does not seem so large after all.”

We can also say that in addition to its size, the quilt is a radiant example of the quilter’s skill and most likely created in a household that could afford the amount and expense of the fine fabrics.

Will the conversation and questions end there? We are wondering if this quilt was used to tuck multiple siblings into one bed on Christmas Eve. Time for a little more research…

One Stitch at a Time

2011-10-25T13:00:00.000-04:00

By Stephen Loughman, Preparator

The gems of our quilt collection are currently on display in our exhibition Unfolding Stories: Culture and Tradition in American Quilts. Many of our quilts have previously been on display and were consequently already prepared for installation. However, one of our more important quilts, Trade and Commerce, had just returned from conservation (made possible with a grant from the Greater Hudson Heritage Network) and needed to be prepared for exhibition. All of our quilts have new acid-free fabric attached to the back of the quilt to protect it while on display, and to which we can affix hanging mechanisms. Our quilts in Unfolding Stories are hung with Velcro, which is attached at the top of this backing fabric so that there is no harm to the quilt from the Velcro.

Trade and Commerce also hangs on a very large slant, 8 feet by 9 feet to be exact, in order to reduce the pull of gravity on its fragile threads. The slant was built in two sections since I needed to be able to move it from my office on the 3rd floor of Fenimore down the stairs to the Clark Gallery. Once downstairs the two sections were attached and the whole slant was covered in felt fabric. The felt gives “tooth,” providing yet another layer of gravity resistance. The quilt looks fantastic in its new home, and I think its safe to say that visitors to the museum have been thrilled to see our masterpiece quilt on display once again!

Night at Our Museum returns!

2011-10-20T16:07:00.000-04:00

By Amanda Cohen, Cooperstown Graduate Program student

There’s a mystery at the Fenimore Art Museum, and we need your help in order to solve it. What is this mystery? It’ll have to remain a secret until Saturday, November 5. From 6:00 to 8:30 PM that night, the Fenimore Art Museum will open its doors to families, budding detectives, art lovers, and visitors of all ages to participate in Night at our Museum. Night at our Museum is an opportunity for families to share art experiences in unique ways. One of the highlights of the evening is a participatory tour of the museum, set around a mystery. Visitors will have the chance to interact with pieces of art come to life, finding clues that will help solve the mystery. The evening will also feature live music, food, and more.

As second-year students at the Cooperstown Graduate Program, a few of my classmates and I have the opportunity to help plan this special event. Our primary task is to make this mystery play happen, taking it from script to the galleries. As I work on this project, I’ve found that it’s a lot like producing a play. We must cast the actors, identify and secure costumes and props, make rehearsal arrangements, block scenes, and conduct rehearsals. Night at our Museum is a great way for us to hone our project management skills and gain valuable experience in implementing educational programs. Also, in working with museum staff on this event, we have the opportunity to collaborate with people outside of our usual cohort of classmates.

What are we up to right now? We’re casting the actors—they’ll be playing the artworks that come to life. We’re also picking out some great costumes, using resources from The Farmers’ Museum and thrift shops so our actors can dress like the characters in the art that they’re portraying. We’re very much looking forward to our first rehearsal.

Even though the subject of our mystery will remain under lock and key until November 5, I thought I’d give you a few hints as to which exhibits will provide the clues, witnesses, and crime scenes. This should give you a chance to sharpen your detective skills before Night at our Museum.

• We might keep you warm in the winter, but if you unfold us, we’ll tell you stories about the past.
• There’s definitely buzz about our art, but you won’t find any bees in our gallery; instead, you’ll find pieces picked by you.
• You’ll find a lot of genres in this room, but our paintings have nothing to do with rock, pop, jazz, or classical music.

Back Stage

2011-10-06T12:37:00.000-04:00

By Chris Rossi, Associate Curator of Exhibitions

Or should I say, below the stage?

One of the things I love about my job is going where mere mortals usually don’t get to go. Let’s face it, we all like to have the restricted access door opened for us, or the velvet rope pulled aside for our entrance into some institution’s inner sanctum. Viewing a museum’s inner workings or collections is a real treat.

So you can imagine my enthusiasm when coworker Michelle Murdock and I got a behind the scenes peek at the Metropolitan Opera archives. The Fenimore Art Museum and the Glimmerglass Festival are enjoying creative collaborations, with our museum launching exhibits that are in tune (pardon the pun) with Glimmerglass’s repertoire. On that note, the Metropolitan Opera has kindly opened its considerable collections to us for possible display next year.

If you are an opera fan a visit to the Met Opera archives is a plunge into sensory overload. Walls are covered with images of famous singers and conductors while the storage area is neatly packed with costumes sporting the Met Opera label and familiar names such as Price, Ponselle and Domingo. Music from the dress rehearsals, going on overhead, is piped into the archives. Heady stuff, and a wonderful way for us to shape up an exhibit for next year!

“Birds and Beasts in Beads”

2011-09-29T08:55:00.002-04:00

By Eva Fognell, Curator of the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art

On the weekend of September 17 through 19, Colgate University hosted an Iroquois beadwork conference in conjunction with their exhibition Birds and Beasts in Beads.

Samantha Clink, my student intern extraordinaire when she is not hard at work at SUNY Oneonta, joined me for a day of beads, bags and birds.

First we went upstairs to the Longyear Museum of Anthropology, to take a look at the exhibit.

There was lots of beautiful beadwork in the exhibit. The low light levels in the space (to preserve the textiles) makes the photographs a bit dark.

We enjoyed an interesting program with presentations by bead workers, scholars and collectors all day long.

The first talk of the day was by Karen Ann Hoffman from the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. Her talk was titled “Written in Beads: Iroquois Stories in Raised Beadwork.” She is a teacher as well as beadworker. The stories that she told, beaded into her work, were so fascinating.

On a light blue bag she beaded a turtle. A pearl in the corner is Sky Woman and Turtle is the land - these are part of the Iroquois Creation story. Here is Karen Ann holding her “Fall Map”, in her Council Map series:

The story she tells in this map is about 4 brothers and their dog named Four Eyes that hunts and kills a bear in the sky world. They butcher the bear and he bleeds, blood falls from the sky and that is why maple leafs turn red in the fall. Later the brothers have a great feast of bear meat and the fat sizzles down. That is why we have snow in late fall. The hunters’ slept the winter away and in early spring the bear constitute himself and he was off again for a new year. That is how the world continues.

Next up was Dolly Printup Winden, Tuscarora, a contemporary bead worker. Here she is talking about the familiy tradition. The photo in the background is of her grandmother selling beadwork:

There were also bead-workers there selling their amazing creations as well as a beadwork competition. Look at these photos of some of the amazing creations:

I also learned a lot about dating and styles of beadwork - information that will come in handy when working with our collection.

Cider time!

2011-09-22T08:55:00.001-04:00

By John Hart, Assistant Curator of Collections

All around New York State, apple orchards are opening up for people to pick every conceivable variety of apple you could imagine. Whether you’re making an apple pie, drying them for a snack, or some other culinary concoction, apples in New York are a perfect fall treat.

Places like Middlefield Orchard or the Fly Creek Cider Mill are busy offering U-Pick apples or making enough cider to stock up and have enough for all next summer. It’s really nice to walk into the Fly Creek Cider Mill and grab a gallon of cider in July!

Cider Making On Long Island, ca. 1870, by William M. Davis ( 1829- 1920),

Oil on Canvas, H: 17 1/8” x W: 27 ½”, N0368.1955.

I still remember my first trip to an apple orchard when I was in either preschool or kindergarten and ever since I’ve been hooked. Whether I’m going to pick some of my favorites or just grab some cider or warm apple cider donuts, every fall I make it a point to make sure I find an orchard, farm stand, or mill, and stop in and support the local growers and sellers. I’m just glad making cider is easier today than it was around the time William M. Davis painted Cider Making On Long Island (seen above); I’m not sure I could be patient enough to wait ! !

Tips from the road

2011-09-20T08:55:00.003-04:00

By Chris Rossi, Associate Curator of Exhibitions

After packing and installing our traveling exhibition, Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection six times I've picked up a few things. Curator Eva Fognell and I like to think that by the time we finish the tour we may have perfected installing and packing the 111 American Indian objects we have been traveling.

At each venue we have had the pleasure of working with talented preparators who have taught us a few new tricks about art installation. The Cleveland Museum of Art staff tipped us off on new ways to coat and pad our brass mounts.

Minneapolis Museum of Art staff introduced us to the use of magnets for hanging textiles. That technique was just the thing for installing the unframed canvasses by Awenheeyoh Powless in the 8th Contemporary Iroquois Art Biennial: 4 Artists Under 30 exhibit now on display at the Fenimore Art Museum:

Our last venue, the Dallas Museum of Art, ended with preparator Mary drawing a level mark on one of our more difficult to hang mounts. A seemingly simple act, but we have struggled for ages to get the Box and Border robe consistently hung at just the right angle. All we were waiting for, apparently, was a fresh perspective from a kind colleague at another venue:

We have one more stop in our tour. I am looking forward to meeting the staff at the Indianapolis Museum of Art and have no doubt they will add something new to my toolbox!

What a difference a day makes!

2011-09-16T13:10:00.000-04:00

By Eva Fognell, Curator of the Eugene & Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art

What a difference a day makes!

My colleague, Chris Rossi, and I were just in Dallas deinstalling our traveling exhibition Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Dallas Museum of Art. Dallas was dry and had a light smell of smoke in the air from the terrible fires that were burning in parts of the state. The drought was visible as I flew into the Dallas /Forth Worth airport and the city looked exhausted from the heat wave.

All went well when we took down and packed up the exhibition. I left Chris to finish up the last day of packing by herself while I flew to Naples Grand Resort in Florida to present a paper at the Embroidery Guild of America’s International Embroidery Conference. My paper was entitled THE EMBROIDERY OF THE AMERICAS AND INFLUENCE OF COLONIALIZATION.

So what difference a day makes. Look at this view out my hotel room in Naples! The Embroiders Guild sure knew where to hold a conference.

This may be where they dispose of presenters they don’t like? ☺

My talk was on moosehair embroidery on birchbark. I presented my paper on the opening night of the conference. It was followed by a dessert reception on the terrace.

The following 2 days were filled with interesting and lively presentations on various topics. My favorite might have been on the huipil embroidered blouse tradition made by Maya women in Guatemala.

Look at this beauty. Over 60 embroidered birds on this blouse. The little parrots sitting there in a row may be my favorites.

A very interesting and varied work week!

Ready for a fall road trip?

2011-09-08T08:55:00.002-04:00

By Christine Olsen, Registrar

For the last few weeks I have been preparing for an outgoing loan to an institution that to even those of us in upstate New York seems “way up yonder.” Fenimore Art Museum is lending Crucifix by Veronica Terrillion to the Traditional Arts of Upstate New York, which is located in Canton, for their exhibition Kindred Pursuits: Folk Art in North Country Life. The exhibition runs from September 16, 2011 – May 5, 2012. The loan has gone through all of the traditional steps that are required: the request went to committee for approval, a loan agreement was signed by both parties, insurance coverage was established, the object was condition reported and packed. All that is left is for the object to be delivered. Since it is somewhat fragile, I have taken special care to pack it well and have informed TAUNY that it should be displayed on the wall, at a 40 degree angle. It has been in storage here for some time, and it is nice to know that it will be seen by new eyes; I wonder how many visitors this exhibition will reach? If you are going to be out leaf peeping this fall, you should take a drive up to the North Country to see this show!

Installing "4 Artists Under 30"

2011-09-06T12:54:00.000-04:00

By Chris Rossi, Associate Curator of Exhibitions

Fenimore Art Museum's Lower Level galleries boast some very high ceilings and a sweeping staircase that one could imagine making a grand entrance on. Recently we installed some exciting new artwork that took advantage of both features.

Leah explaining how her sculptures hang

Leah Shenandoah’s vividly painted stretched cloth sculptures float before and above the staircase, suspended from the slatted ceiling. Using this vertical space is a treat for us and provides an opportunity to create a new vantage point for our visitors and truly fill the space.

The sculptures are part of our 8th Contemporary Iroquois Art Biennial exhibit titled “4 Artists Under 30.” The exhibit features work by Lauren Jimerson, Awenheeyoh Powless, Shenandoah and Natasha Smoke Santiago. Three of the women know each other from time spent studying and creating art at the Rochester Institute of Technology. You can see a shared sensibility between Shenandoah’s bright colors and the palette used by Powless in her danced canvases. Jimerson has captured schoolmate Shenandoah in pastels. Santiago is self-taught and expresses traditional techniques in a unique way.

These young artists “take their place as the latest installment of artists coming from the land of the Haudenosaunee – witnesses to the Indian Way of Life who seek visual expression for their time and place.”

The SWAIA market and White Hawk antiques show

2011-09-01T16:21:00.000-04:00

By Eva Fognell, Curator of the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art

I finally had a chance to go back to Santa Fe, New Mexico recently. It is the unofficial capital of American Indian art and both the White Hawk antiques show and SWAIA Indian market was happening while I was there. What a treat!

I arrived in Albuquerque and drove north to Santa Fe. It's a stunning drive.

The town is full of public art, everywhere you turn there is something else to look at:

“Redefining God I” by Bob Haozous

“ Santa Fe Current” by Colette Hosmer

“Migration" by Allan Houser

And everywhere you are encouraged to look and explore art and markets

Great little market for hot chili peppers

And yet more things to look at in the windows:

And then on Saturday and Sunday: The SWAIA Indian market. A feast for the eye and soul:

Me at the market!

What an amazing week so full with all things good!

Firefighting in the 19th Century

2011-08-26T13:28:00.000-04:00

By John Hart, Assistant Curator of Collections

Over the past several months, the curatorial staff has been busy moving things around in the basement of the storage facility to make way for upgrades to the ventilation system. While doing so, we’ve uncovered quite a few things, including the image below.

Oneonta Fire Company, ca. 1847-1855

Having more or less grown up at the firehouse at which my father volunteered, I’m not a stranger to old fire apparatuses. I used to pull an early hose cart in my hometown parades and even got in trouble one day when I pumped the siren control on the old Mack fire engine and it came screaming to life, much to everyone’s shock and surprise (the siren hadn’t worked on the truck in years and somehow I figured out how to make it work).

For the 2007 season, Fenimore Art Museum had an exhibit titled Folk Art on Fire, which exhibited early fire fighting and fire-related folk art. It was a fascinating exhibit and one that I truly enjoyed. It was at that time that I was able to get my first good look at the fire pumper, Neptune, which our sister museum, The Farmers’ Museum, has in its collection. Dating between 1820 and 1830, this pumper, seen below, was the third pumper used by the Cooperstown fire department, which acquired it around 1841 after a devastating fire in the village. It remained faithfully in service until 1901.

Old Neptune No. 3

You’ve probably seen old fire apparatuses in parades, rusting away quietly in a field, or in museums, but it’s nice to know that photographs of the men that used that old equipment survive today and show, in some pretty striking detail, what was used before today’s technologically advanced fire trucks.

A Posh Room of Requirement

2011-08-11T08:55:00.007-04:00

By Chris Rossi, Associate Curator of Exhibitions

There is one room at Fenimore Art Museum whose entrance is limited to only some of our visitors. It’s large, by most standards. In fact, larger than some Manhattan apartments I have lived in. It houses the most innovative early 20th century technology seen in the entire museum and one of its features is a constant delight to those who experience it. Yes, the magical place I am describing is the ladies’ lounge on the second floor.

Before Stephen C. Clark offered the property as a museum for the New York State Historical Association, the 1930s neo-Georgian house served as a home. The bathroom on the second floor had all the most modern conveniences, reflecting the sanitation movement of the early 20th century. The shower, which became popular for its healthful effects, is a great example of that trend. Rather than sit in a bath using stagnant water to cleanse oneself, people were urged to engage in showering for its “stimulating action on the skin and internal organs.” Multi-head showers, like the one in our ladies’ room, were very much in fashion for their health promoting benefits. Multiple showerheads could provide a therapeutic needle spray or shower spray directed at the back, legs or kidneys.

The shower stall is a source of great interest to our female visitors, but it does not provide the same level of delight as does the scale. Is it the historic nature of the apparatus that draws praise and attention? Could it be the tasteful way it is nestled into the floor of the room, between massage table and shower stall? No, it is the pleasure visitors derive from stepping on the scale and finding they have magically shed 15 lbs. simply by walking into the ladies’ room! Our miss-adjusted scale is a great morale booster and I strongly urge you give it a go while visiting.

I feel a little guilty flaunting all this glory in front of our gentlemen visitors. I have quietly taken an after-hours look into the second floor men’s room and can find little to recommend it. Our posh room of requirement is available to ladies only and gents will have to make do with this virtual peek at the inner sanctum.

Haida Totem Pole, One Year Later

2011-08-09T08:55:00.004-04:00

By Stephen Loughman, Preparator

When Fenimore Art Museum received its magnificent Haida Totem Pole last year, one of the first questions that many asked was, "What will it look like next year?"

This morning I snapped a few photos of what the Totem Pole looks like today. The very top of the pole has turned to a pale, weathered look, and as you work your way down the piece it changes from light to dark. This color change highlights all the detail work that went into the carving of the pole - features such as the beaver’s tail and the eyes of each character. Nature has really made the work come alive, and the Totem Pole has become a piece of art that is changing from day to day, which is very cool indeed.

Otsego: A Meeting Place update

2011-08-04T08:55:00.003-04:00

By Eva Fognell, Curator of the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art

Otsego: A Meeting Place officially opened on July 2nd. I have blogged a few times about this new outdoor site at Fenimore Art Museum, so I thought a follow up with some pictures of the site and of the activities that takes place there would be in order.

This sign greats visitors just as they are about to enter the site:

Mike Tarbell, educator at the Iroquois Indian Museum is here and talking to some of our visitors. Mike is Mohawk and a terrific teacher sharing his experiences and knowledge of the Iroquois culture.

There is lots to see in the log house. On one wall a finger-woven sash that is in the process of completion and beaded bags and splint basketry on the shelves help to tell the stories of the people that called a dwelling such as this one home. An interpreter is in the house and ready to talk about objects and art.

Outside one of the summer interns is chopping wood for the fire where he later will be cooking beans.

The garden is still in its infancy since the first plating was eaten by crows, but hopefully there will be something to harvest this fall.

The 8th Contemporary Iroquois Art Biennial: Four Artists Under 30

2011-07-29T08:55:00.013-04:00

By Eva Fognell, Curator of the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art

We are getting ready for the 8th Contemporary Iroquois Art Biennial exhibition and this years’ theme, Four Artist Under 30, is promising to be an exciting exhibition of young talented women artists. It will open at Fenimore Art Museum on August 27th and be on view until December 31. As in previous years the show is organized and curated by Peter Jemison (Seneca). Peter is a well-known artist and the Director of Ganondagan Historic Site in Victor, NY.

Here, Peter describes the show:

This year the exhibit features the work of four young women from the Haudenosaunee or Iroquois Confederacy; Lauren Jimerson, Seneca; Awenheeyoh Powless, Onondaga; Leah Shenandoah, Oneida; Natasha Smoke Santiago, Mohawk.

The artists are influenced by their heritage as Haudenosaunee but have sought unique ways to express their individual vision. Perhaps the most traditional in terms of media is Lauren (who is in her final year at Rochester Institute of Technology). She uses pastel on paper to create portraits including a self-portrait.

Crop Rot

Lauren Jimerson

Awenheeyoh is a recent graduate from the Rochester Institute of Technology and incorporates Iroquois music and traditional dance steps to create paintings with her feet on un-stretched canvas. In this process she listens to women’s dance songs through head phones and then steps in acrylic paint barefooted to apply it to the canvas using footsteps associated with Iroquois women’s dances.

Dance #4

Awenheeyoh Powless

Leah (M.A., Rochester Institute of Technology) has focused on three dimensional objects that are a cross between sculpture and painting. They are made of stretched fabric on a wire frame to which paint has been applied as a stain. They are exhibited hung from the gallery’s ceiling in a grouping. She is also a jeweler using copper and silver to create large necklaces.

Installation view of Leah Shenandoah's artwork

Natasha is a self-taught artist who has been actively exhibiting her art since she was a teenager. She casts the bellies of pregnant women then forms sculptural objects incorporating traditional Haudenosaunee craft techniques such as pottery making or basketmaking. The bellies are turned into pottery, or fancy baskets with materials resembling splints.

Belly Basket

Natasha Smoke Santiago

They have each found their unique voice at a relatively young age and they extend the tradition of art making among the Haudenosaunee, combining art school training and traditional knowledge of their heritage, to produce a new form.

Past Iroquois Art Biennials have featured art by the master carver Stan Hill (Mohawk), sculptor Diane Shenandoah (Oneida), painter Peter Jemison, and ceramicist Peter Jones (Onondaga) among others. We are looking forward to this year’s installation with great anticipation. We hope to see you here at the museum August 27 - December 31st.

Tales from the Exhibition Script

2011-07-28T08:55:00.001-04:00

By Emma Porter, Curatorial Intern

There is a first time for everything, and I have loved every “first” during my time here at Fenimore Art Museum. As I conclude my internship at the Fenimore, I reflect on all that I have learned and what I will now "do" with my newly gained experience. I am fortunate enough to have been given this opportunity and to have worked with such outstanding professionals who greatly improve our society everyday. My mentor, Michelle Murdock works with profound intention and articulation. She inspired me to do the same with my projects and collaborations.

Bye Bye House! (I mean the Fenimore Art Museum) I will miss you!

For my concluding project I am working on the exhibition script for a 2012 exhibition featuring Kevin Gray's modern tintypes. Corresponding with Gray and sharing materials and ideas is exciting, and a true treasure, to say the least.

Kevin Gray, Devils Den (2)

Studying Gray’s work, what he has to say about it, and reading his graduate school thesis has been the ground work for constructing the exhibition script. Researching and writing about themes that correlate with Gray's artwork will deepen the viewers’ experience of the work. The sub-themes, if you will, surrounding Gray’s modern tintypes are: Civil War photography/photographers, the place of Gettysburg, the history of the panorama, and contemporary artists who use and reinterpret antiquated photographic techniques. I have learned how to organize and edit ideas into a coherent message that is both informative and appealing. As the Fenimore aims to produce more and more shows based on contemporary art, it becomes an even more dynamic institution and important contributor to our culture.

I will be returning as much as possible to the Fenimore to see the exhibitions and to catch up with the people I have met and learned from. I cannot thank Michelle enough for letting an undergraduate art history student intern at such a prestigious institution. She took much of her time and energy to teach and mentor; I am eternally grateful. A big thank you to Christine Rossi, Stephen Loughman, Eva Fognell, and Caitlin Miosek and others! Parting is such sweet sorrow. But it is comforting to know that there are people like these who make the world more beautiful each day.

Nature and The Smith-Telfer Photography Collection

2011-07-26T08:55:00.001-04:00

By John Hart, Assistant Curator of Collections

I had a pleasant surprise during NYSHA’s Annual Meeting recently involving the work I used to do for Rights and Reproductions for Fenimore Art Museum and The Farmers’ Museum. David Stradling, author of The Nature of New York: An Environmental History of the Empire State, was the keynote presenter this year and discussed the examination of the idealized landscapes of the Hudson River School artists.

It was a fascinating presentation and before he even began, he took a moment to thank me for the images I provided him from the Smith-Telfer Photography Collection for his book! I would get thank you notes once in a while, but have never been thanked, let alone acknowledged, in a university professor’s presentation before. It was certainly unexpected, greatly appreciated, and a privilege to help him with his book project.

If you have an interest in environmental history, The Nature of New York: An Environmental History of the Empire State, is certainly a book you should consider reading. And since the weather is starting to cooperate (maybe I should knock on wood now…), go out and enjoy the nature that David writes about. There’s nothing like a nice hike up a mountain to see what the great artists of the Hudson River School admired so greatly.

Museum shipping crates

2011-07-21T11:15:00.000-04:00

By Christine Olsen, Registrar

Over the years we have acquired many shipping crates that are specially fabricated for artwork in our collection. I am currently in the process of physically inventorying our crates in order to dispose of ones that are no longer in good enough shape to travel and making sure that the ones we keep are properly numbered and tracked. They are stacked to the ceiling at our storage facility and are hard to move around given their size and weight, so it is a project that requires some help from my colleagues in the facilities department!

Whenever something travels outside Fenimore Art Museum, such as a loan to another museum for exhibition, it requires a specially built crate. Fine art shipping companies make crates for us, often building them at their warehouse and finishing the interiors once they arrive at the museum to ensure a perfect fit. In order to save money and materials we try to reuse and retrofit crates we already have whenever possible – an accurate inventory of our crates is therefore very helpful. Precise measurements and photographs of the artwork are provided to the crate fabricators when the order is placed as it must fit like a glove. They have to be sure not to put too much pressure on the artwork, especially if it is fragile, while ensuring that it doesn’t shift during transit; it truly is an art form in and of itself when you see it in person!

The Story Stitched In

2011-07-19T08:53:00.002-04:00

By Chris Rossi, Associate Curator of Exhibitions

One of the pleasures of designing an exhibit is getting to know the objects to be displayed. Behind the piece itself is usually a story about the maker and their life. Sometimes that is easy to read into a piece and other times the artist only leaves clues and little else.

One of the most intriguing pieces in Fenimore Art Museum's upcoming exhibit Unfolding Stories: Culture and Tradition in American Quilts, is the Trade and Commerce quilt. Created around 1835 the quilt is an exuberant depiction of life along a major river and truly exceptional for its conception and execution. The delightful vignettes of trade and commerce on water and on land reflect the observant eye and compositional expertise of its maker, Hannah Stockton Stiles. She clearly was familiar with the maritime trade, and her accurate depiction of the boats that formed part of the river traffic is remarkable.

Who was Hannah? She was born in Trenton, New Jersey to John and Hannah Stockton. We know she was married in 1818 to John Stiles of Philadelphia. That means the Delaware River was a familiar setting for Hannah in both her childhood and married life.

She stitched her story into the quilt with some references we can only guess at. Is it possible that the figures at the lower center of the outside border represent Hannah and her family? Perhaps she kept a cow and drove to market. Did her family own any of the boats depicted on the quilt? Whatever the answers, it is clear that life along the river was a major part of who Hannah was and how her life was shaped.

Remembering a colleague & making visitors feel welcome

2011-07-14T08:55:00.007-04:00

By Nancy Pfau, Museum Docent

There are so many "perks" to being a Docent at Fenimore Art Museum -- lunch on the terrace on beautiful days with the lake and the incredibly beautiful plantings as background! This year our staff room, "The Rusty Roland Room," has a computer plus snazzy new chairs in an animal print -- we feel very special. What a great way to memorialize a former docent!

But best of all are the chances to meet fascinating visitors. Joyce and Mike Stern from Philadelphia requested a tour -- I know I learned as much from them as they did from me! Since retiring, their vacations are spent traveling around to regional art museums. They were very impressed with both special exhibits [Edward Hopper and Prendergast to Pollack] and wondered how the Fenimore was lucky enough to get such treasures. I remarked that we have excellent curators and Mike said he thought the State Department should look to museums for our Diplomatic Corps!

Moosehair Embroidery on Birchbark

2011-07-12T08:55:00.002-04:00

By Eva Fognell, Curator of the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art

When you go through The Eugene and Clare Thaw Gallery of American Indian Art or the open-storage Study Center the next time you visit Fenimore Art Museum, look for the intricate small objects made of birchbark and embroidered with moosehair. If you didn’t read the material section of the object label would you guess that the embroidery floss is made of moosehair? I had no inkling of this amazingly creative use of animal hair until I started to study Native American art.

Moosehair also was used by Native people prior to European contact to decorate objects but Native artists did not embroider directly onto birchbark. Prior to the use of birch bark to make decorative items Native people used it for canoes, wigwams, baskets, and more.

French nuns brought European embroidery traditions with them to the new world and started using moosehair as embroidery floss on birch bark in the beginning of the 18th century. The convents had little access to supplies and goods (imported silk treads etc.), and turned to local converted Native people and their natural resources for new materials.

The Native phase of creation of these wares began in the early 1800s. The mid 1800s saw a major turning point in the art of moosehair embroidery as tourism and the popularity of Native-made art purchased as souvenirs increased. Women embroidered many different types of objects with moosehair, creating wonderful masterpieces; boxes, scissor cases, needle cases, spectacle cases, card cases, cigar cases, purses, trays, fan handles, screen fans, pictures, decorative panels pincushion, photo frames, blotters and notecases. Ruth Phillips in her book Trading Identities wrote that “The origin of these wares was a true contact zone event that fused the technological knowledge of Aboriginal peoples with the entrepreneurship of the Quebec Nuns.”

The most common types of decoration are either local village scenes or everyday occurrences and include people, animals and plants.

This tray is embroidered with animal as well as human figures. The many scenes speak of life around the village. The woman on the left, smoking a pipe, may be going to the market with baskets she made for sale.

This small card case shows that the birchbark was first covered with red trade cloth and then a beautiful spay of moosehair flowers were embroidered on both sides of the case.

The short length of the moose-hair, only about 9-12 centimeters, makes only a few insertions possible for each hair. Natural dyes from roots, as well as aniline dyes, were used. The hair was pulled from the mane, rump, and neck of the moose because that is where the hair is the longest. The moose’s fall and winter coats provided longer and better quality hair.

The loose ends of hair on the reverse were always hidden by a second layer of birch-bark. The two panels, the decorated panel and the lining panel, were joined together and edged with strands of un-dyed white moose-hair laid along the edges and over-sewn with stitches of contrasting dark commercial thread.

Shine a Light, Part 2

2011-07-07T08:55:00.008-04:00

By Steve Loughman, Preparator

In May, I told you about lighting the galleries in preparation for our exhibition openings of A Window Into Edward Hopper and Prendergast to Pollock: American Modernism from the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The process doesn't end there. One of my favorite parts of working at Fenimore Art Museum is being able to walk around the galleries first thing in the morning. It’s quite a different atmosphere when it’s just me and the art. Every day I do my rounds in the galleries at least twice a day. Before we open for the day I like to make sure that all our lights are working, labels still look good, and the overall appearance of the galleries is ready for the day's visitors. Checking all the lights is quite the task in itself. To give you an idea we have about 100 lights on the 1^st floor of the Fenimore Art Museum, and we have about the same in the Clark Gallery, where you can currently see Frida Kahlo: Through the Lens of Nickolas Muray!

Rain Rain, Go Away

2011-07-05T08:55:00.007-04:00

By John Hart, Assistant Curator of Collections

There is a painting in the Fenimore Art Museum collection that always makes me stop and think, and this even after a few years of Paul D’Ambrosio explaining the work to my class as a student with the Cooperstown Graduate Program.

Poestenkill, N.Y., 1862

by Joseph Henry Hidley (1830-1872)

Oil on wood panel, H: 19” x W: 31 ¼”, N0382.1955. Photograph by Richard Walker

Poestenkill, N.Y., painted in 1862 by Joseph Henry Hidley, shows a typical New York in the 19^th century whose sight lines not only draw you to the village, but to the clouds above. It makes you stop and think, ‘Has the storm passed or is it just arriving?’

Given the weather we’ve had in Cooperstown over the past few days (torrential downpours, thunder, lightning and streets flooding), I was reminded of this painting. We’ve had cloudscapes the past few days that definitely make you wonder, ‘How bad are we going to get hit this time?!’ Several years ago the area received such bad storms that several roads were washed out, a bridge was destroyed, and other significant damage. I hope to not experience that anytime soon, and rather focus on the peaceful calm of the village of Poestenkill.

Rules of Attraction (and Organization) or, Interning @ Fenimore Art Museum, Part 4

2011-06-30T08:55:00.006-04:00

By Emma Porter, Curatorial Intern

I have been introduced to the realm of illustrated checklists and I am never looking back. Art museum professionals, not surprisingly, are visual learners, and these documents greatly help orient the museum professional to the works involved, the artist(s), and contexts. I was shown how to create an illustrated checklist, first in an Excel spreadsheet format, then in a Word document format. Here is a sample from the checklist for Fenimore Art Museum's William Matthew Prior Revealed: Artist and Visionary, for the 2012 season.

Mary Cary and Susan Elizabeth Johnson, 1848

William Matthew Prior

Terra Foundation

This image is under the section titled The Painting Garret – 36 Trenton Street, East Boston. Jackie Oak, of the Shelburne Museum in Vermont has organized this exhibit according to Prior’s personal life stages and periods of certain inspiration. For example, one section is about Abolitionism and another about Spiritualism.

I am currently completing an illustrated checklist for Michelle to use during her upcoming visit to the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, Connecticut. Her visit is to inform the Fenimore Art Museum’s upcoming American Impressionism exhibition. If you love American Impressionism I would encourage you to visit or just check out their online database.

Dogwood Blossoms, 1906

Williard Leroy Metcalf

Florence Griswold Museum

My illustrated checklist for American Impressionism is essentially a long series of images in order of the artist. Each artist entry begins with their personal information and details. Once these checklists are completed they serve as the founding reference document for the show.

I love organizing and greatly appreciate a good organizational system when I see one. Museum registrars and curators are champions of organizations to put it modestly. Every single work must go through the registrar. Christine Olsen is the FAM Registrar. She records every work that comes into or leaves the Museum, whether it's coming or going temporarily or permanently. Without the registrar the museum could barely operate and would be almost impossible to navigate. I sincerely enjoy compiling these lists. I get to familiarize myself with the artist and their work while letting my organizational flag fly!

Getting from P to P

2011-06-28T08:55:00.001-04:00

By Chris Rossi, Associate Curator of Exhibitions

Prendergast to Pollock: American Modernism from the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute represents a change in the usual exhibit fare for the Fenimore Art Museum. This foray into modernism comes from the collection of Edward W. Root, a native of Clinton New York, who had a keen eye for the emerging 20th century American art scene.

Mary Murray (facing camera) leading the tour

The works are colorful, engaging and sometimes challenging. Fortunately Mary Murray, curator of modern and contemporary art at the MWPAI, was on hand to give a Food For Thought tour and expand my understanding of modernism. Mary explained that over the course of the 20th century artists were making a move from strictly representational works to more abstract views and expressions of what they were painting. Traditional realistically rendered scenes or figures gave way to canvases with flat and abstracted views where paint, color, form, and sometimes the action of painting itself were central to the art.

Landscape with Figures, ca. 1912

Maurice Prendergast

Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Utica, New York

Jackson Pollock's Number 20 and Number 34, as seen in Fenimore Art Museum

The exhibit is a mini-course in that progression. It starts with Maurice Prendergast’s colorful Landscape with Figures and ends with two very abstract action paintings by Jackson Pollock. The experience is an enlightening journey through American Modernism as it developed and came into its own in the 20th century.

Interning @ Fenimore Art Museum, Part 3

2011-06-21T08:55:00.005-04:00

By Emma Porter, Curatorial Intern

How do art exhibitions happen? It’s kind of like asking how Disney World makes the magic happen. Art museum exhibitions are a cultural happening that the majority of society takes for granted. Unless you get an inside look into how a curatorial team conceives organizes, and produces an exhibition. Then this invisible world becomes very real. Curators make magic happen everyday across the world; these professionals are storytellers. They tell their stories with artworks, artists biographies, historical contexts, and other facets of culture and aesthetics, from the past and present. Curators must be excellent editors and stay focused on conveying a specific story, without dismissing its place within broader cultural themes.

The first day I started interning, the Director of Exhibitions, Michelle Murdock, generously loaned me a set of books to give me an introduction into museum work. The “Bible” for museum workers is Introduction to Museum Work by G. Ellis Burcaw. It literally defines museum work with a set of definitions, including what a “museum object” is, how objects are registered and catalogued, how objects are accessioned (“the acquiring of one or more objects at one time from one source, or the objects so acquired”), and collecting theories for different types of museums.

One of the most valuable and eye-opening experiences for me at the Fenimore Art Museum is observing Eva Fognell, Curator of the Thaw Collection, and Chris Rossi, Associate Curator of Exhibitions, put together the Thaw Homecoming exhibition for the 2012 season. This involves them filling in the floor plan with the sections that best suit the space and the story they were telling. They conversed as they edited how the pieces would be displayed and situated. Some pieces can stand by themselves and make a grand statement. Others need to be grouped together in order to communicate their purpose and context. Not all of the pieces currently travelling will be shown in the exhibition - some will be put back into the permanent collection. A cool fact is that returning pieces need to “rest,” or acclimatize, for twenty-four hours in order to adjust to the environment and thus prevent damage. Much care is put into these object’s “health.” So on many levels, museum work is a labor of love!

After editing, the floor plan was finalized and the works were listed. I am currently learning how to write section labels, and how to incorporate images into these labels in order to deepen the viewer’s understanding of the object. When I look for label images, in the case of a basket, for example, I would look for a photograph of a man or woman making a similar style basket, or the materials from which the basket is made from.

Learning how an exhibition happens is like going behind the scenes of a fantasy world, where I had previously only seen the pristine and yes, magical, end product. I get butterflies thinking about these sneak peaks into a once invisible world. I am lucky enough to get an up close and personal experience with the makers and the makings of this magic.

A small totem pole

2011-06-16T08:55:00.004-04:00

By Eva Fognell, Curator of the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art

Fenimore Art Museum recently received a small argillite totem pole from a generous donor in Princeton, New Jersey. It is a charming little carving about 6.25” tall. It was made by a Haida artist in the late 1800s. The Haida people live on Haida Gwaii, formerly known as Queen Charlotte Island, off the coast of British Columbia. Haida people started making bowls, plates, small totem poles and other types of souvenirs in argillite in the mid 1800s. Argillite is soft when first quarried but later hardens over time.

Julie, a CGP graduate student, spent some time researching the pole and trying to determine what animals were carved on its front. It turned out to be quite tricky since she could not find a photo of a pole with any exact match to the figures on our pole. We finally settled on what we think the images are starting from the bottom: a small human crouching, then an eagle, bear, killer whale, and then an eagle on top. If anyone out there is well versed in Haida traditional stories and knows if this pole has a story please let me know. In the meantime we will continue searching for more information about our new acquisition.

Lord Jeffrey Takes Manhattan

2011-06-14T08:55:00.002-04:00

By Douglas Kendall, Curator of Collections

Many of my posts focus on rarely-seen objects in the Fenimore Art Museum collections. All museums have great objects in storage, but today I’m writing about a desk-and-bookcase in our collection that’s almost always on exhibition, just 3 hours away from our Museum.

Desk-and-Bookcase

Wood, brass.

Made for W. & J. Sloane, New York, NY, 1926.

Museum Purchase, acquired with funds given by Horace Moses., N0003.1994. Photo: Douglas Kendall

It could be a long story, but suffice it to say that our parent organization, the New York State Historical Association, was headquartered in Ticonderoga, New York from 1926 through 1939, in a building commissioned for the purpose by Horace Moses, a paper company executive who had grown up in Ticonderoga. The building was an exact replica of the Thomas Hancock House, which was built in Boston in 1737 but was demolished in 1863 after the failure of an early attempt at historic preservation. Moses furnished the building with reproductions of colonial and Federal period American furniture, acquired from W. & J. Sloane of New York City.

Today, the building is still owned by NYSHA but is operated as a museum and research center by the Ticonderoga Historical Society. Although THS exhibits its own collections, NYSHA still owns many objects in the building, including the Colonial Revival furniture by the Sloane firm. The gem of this collection is a monumental desk-and-bookcase that features a bust of the British general Lord Jeffery Amherst on the pediment. Amherst was a prominent and controversial British general. His forces captured Fort Ticonderoga in 1759 during the French and Indian Wars.

When the Sloane furniture was acquired for Hancock House, it was intended to be used. But now, over 80 years later, the Colonial Revival is a subject of historical study and Colonial Revival furniture is sought after by museums and collectors. This month, the Museum of the City of New York is opening an exhibition called The American Style: Colonial Revival and the Modern Metropolis and NYSHA’s desk-and-bookcase is a key element in the show. This week I drove to Ticonderoga to meet the THS curator, Bill Dolback and oversee the packing and shipping of the desk by Chad and Josh of Bonsai Fine Arts. It is no mean feat to dismantle a piece like this and then wrap it safely for the 5-hour drive to Manhattan. We discovered some interesting construction details in the process of packing. For example, the interior cubby holes in the upper section are actually an insert that can be fully removed to allow the top and bottom to be separated.

Lord Jeffery will be on exhibition in New York from June 14 through October 30. After that he will once again be on view at Hancock House in Ticonderoga. In either location, he’s well worth a visit.

Interning @ Fenimore Art Museum, Part 2

2011-06-09T08:55:00.005-04:00

By Emma Porter, Curatorial Intern

Yesterday I spent time exploring the traveling exhibition organized by the Fenimore Art Museum called Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection. I read over the beautifully compiled and designed exhibition book with the same title.

The Fenimore has lent pieces from its outstanding Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art (which it received in 1995 from the Sante Fe based couple). Mr. Eugene Thaw was an art connoisseur, dealer, and collector who amassed a collection of more than 850 objects! The exhibition has so far been exhibited by the Cleveland Art Museum, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and is now on view at the Dallas Museum of Art. On December 4th, 2011 it will open at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

A great quote from Eugene Thaw that Eva Fognell includes in her Introduction to the book is: “I want to stress that I look at Indian material culture as art. To me, it is co-equal to any of my own highest experiences in pursuing the art of many nations both as dealer and collector. It stands rightfully with ancient art, with masterpieces of Asia and Europe, as their equivalent, and I wish it would be looked at this way”.

I am learning how the art museum loan process works and the many details it entails; such as the correspondence between the organizer (The Fenimore Art Museum) and the exhibitor (Dallas Art Museum, for example) and the types of paperwork and agreements it involves. As I looked at the exhibition photos taken by Cleveland and Minneapolis, I realized how differently curators interpret a collection, from the script to the lighting and wall colors. These two museums had different emphases, and in turn communicated these in a variety of aesthetic ways. I am so excited to gain further understanding of the art museum loan process and how travelling exhibitions work from an organizer’s view and an exhibitor’s view. I am particularly thrilled by how curators have different interpretations and presentations of collections, and all tell different stories to the public.

As I dive further into the Thaw Collection, from understanding the objects within their own contexts to how they are important for the art world and society as a whole, I expect to gain a wider and deeper view of the cultural history of American art.

Interning @ Fenimore Art Museum

2011-06-07T08:55:00.003-04:00

By Emma Porter, Curatorial Intern

Hi! My name is Emma Porter and I am a volunteer curatorial intern at the Fenimore Art Museum this summer. In December, I will graduate from S.U.N.Y Geneseo as an art history major. I am very excited to share my experience as an intern and hope it creates a space for learning, discussion and exploration.

All of the staff here at Fenimore are so helpful and they all work together as a team. Communication is critical to everyone here, and that is what makes this museum so prolific and run so effectively. For example, I was given my internship projects at a table with the Director of Exhibitions, Michelle Murdock, Associate Curator of Exhibitions, Chris Rossi and Preparator, Stephen Loughman. Each project was explained to me thoroughly and there was active dialogue amongst all of us. I love the communication; it does make the world go around! Something Michelle told me my first day was that I should look at museums and, all of my surroundings for that matter, as a curator. This is a different way of seeing and I am confident that by the end of my internship here, I will be able to “see” like a curator. There is a lot to look forward to this summer at the Fenimore, and I cannot wait to visit in the fall and in 2012 to see the final products of our research and planning.

Also notable is the close tie between the Fenimore and The Farmers’ Museum, a rural life museum that gives an up close and personal view of life in the 19th century in New York. I love the stoneware collection in the Herkimer Kitchen and the wallpaper in the Jonas More House. When you visit, be sure to take time to pet the baby sheep in the Smith Morey Barn.

Currently at the Feimore, there is the A Window into Edward Hopper exhibition in the Scriven Gallery on the second floor. It tells the story of what Hopper chose to focus on in the places he temporarily or permanently resided in New England, such as Gloucester, MA and Rockland, ME. His wife Jo was his main model for his well-known works depicting lonely people in Manhattan cityscapes and desolate interiors. The Glimmerglass Festival, just down the road from Fenimore, is adopting the opera called Later The Same Evening which is based on five on Hopper’s paintings from is Manhattan period. The exhibition at Fenimore was developed in conjunction with the Festival's production.

Projects:

I am currently looking at the work of Tasha Tudor, an icon for the “home-grown,” and “back to the old way” lifestyle. Tudor lived in Vermont and aimed to mimic a life from the rural 1830s. The Fenimore is planning an exhibition of her paintings, drawings, and holiday cards, along with other artifacts from her life. It is obvious how Tudor’s work and lifestyle are relevant to both the Fenimore Art Museum and The Farmers’ Museum. I am looking through her images that the Fenimore is borrowing from the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA, and figuring out how to tie in images from the Farmers’ Museum with the labels that will be in Fenimore. For example, the label for Tudor’s In April the Birds Return (below) could feature a photograph of two of The Farmers’ Museum’s own oxen yolked and plowing the farm field.

Children and gardens are prevalent in Tudor's work. Gardens can be seen as a metaphor for the intellectual and physical growth of children. Tudor published a Caldecott Honor children’s book that counts to ten using flowers. The Farmers’ Museum has a children’s garden near the Dimmick House. To provide an connection between the Fenimore and the Farmers’ Museum, I think a children’s gardening workshop that incorporates Tudor’s work, especially her children’s books illustrations, would be a lot of fun.

I'll keep you posted as my internship progresses!

Head Start Day

2011-06-02T08:55:00.001-04:00

By Nancy Pfau, Museum Teacher

On top of all the other special reasons to visit the Fenimore Art Museum, the magnificent floral arrangements are a constant delight, changing dramatically as the seasons ripen from Spring to Summer to Fall!

May 10th was Head Start Day at the museum, a day when local Head Start students are invited to bring a parent or guardian with them to tour the collection. A rare treat for the docents, as well, to see the museum through the eyes of 3 and 4 year old children!

Shine a Light

2011-05-31T19:25:00.000-04:00

By Steve Loughman, Preparator

As we finished our May installations I was thinking about how important lighting is to all of the shows that we put on here at Fenimore Art Museum. While lighting Prendergast to Pollock: American Modernism from the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute which has just opened here at the museum, many people stopped to watch me up in the lift since the gallery was open to the public as we were finishing.

And here are before and after pictures of the lighting in our other new exhibit, A Window Into Edward Hopper, which really shows of how much of a change the right lighting brings to a show.

Seneca Log House updates

2011-05-27T08:55:00.003-04:00

By Eva Fognell, Curator of the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art

I’m here to update you on the status of the Seneca log house, now that spring has made it possible to see it out from under all the snow!

Here are a few photos showing the additions and changes that have taken place.

A fence marks the boundary of the site, and new trees, shrubs and grasses have been planted to create a space distinctly different from the great lawn that surrounds the museum on the lake side. Indigenous plants used by the Iroquois people for utilitarian purposes and for food will grow all around the Seneca log house.

As an aside, when I was out taking the log house photos I noticed lots of work taking place to make the museum grounds in tip top shape for the spring and summer season. New plantings and big baskets of yellow flowers adorn the back terrace, planted by the Clark Greenhouses.

When a Horse Isn't Just a Horse

2011-05-25T12:26:00.000-04:00

By John Hart, Assistant Curator of Collections

I cant put my finger on it, but it seems like at every museum that I’ve ever interned, volunteered or worked (with the exception of a historic battlefield) something from China always appears. In my first experience it was ceramic jugs that had been turned into electric lights. A few years later at a different institution I ran into two statues, a horse and a camel, referred to as Sancai (pronounced sāncǎi), which were previously owned by an Asian art collector. Fast-forward three years and lo and behold, now it’s two other horses, one made into an electric lamp and the other left as a statue.

My first reaction was “Hey, I didn’t know we had any Sancai pieces in the collection!” That is, until I saw them. Sancai is a glazing technique, literally meaning “three colors,” using different elements that turn to yellow, green, and white when fired in a kiln. While the form is certainly correct (Sancai pieces tend to be horses or camels, and this prancing horse is a common theme), it’s pretty clear from the surface that these were never really glazed and the paint has certainly seen better days.

Electric lamp, date unknown, earthenware, N0547.1948(01) #1

Statue, date unknown, earthenware, N0547.1948(02)

Could they be from the Tang Dynasty, which is when this art form was at its height? Certainly, but there’s no way to know for sure until an expert looks at them and compares them to other known pieces and styles of construction. In the meantime, they’ll remain safe and sound in storage for someone else to find and become interested in.

Sprint to the Finish Line

2011-05-17T08:55:00.003-04:00

By Chris Rossi, Associate Curator of Exhibitions

This has been a busy season for the curatorial department. The Fenimore Art Museum opened on April 1 with some wonderful new offerings. Hard to believe it is already time to change out some of these exhibits. A Window Into Edward Hopper and Prendergast to Pollock: American Modernism from the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute both open Memorial Day weekend. We have been hard at work with the help of our fantastic maintenance crew, shuffling walls, laying out galleries, painting, and designing new graphics for the exhibits.

All of this activity is mirrored across the street at The Farmers’ Museum where we are simultaneously preparing New York’s Good Eats: Our Fabulous Foods for opening the same weekend. One of the joys of working for both The Farmers’ Museum and the Fenimore Art Museum is the diversity of the objects I connect with. I can go from hanging an Edward Hopper painting to filling a case with Shredded Wheat artifacts in the space of an hour. It makes for an interesting day, which helps make lighter work of a busy installation schedule.

Assorted objects for New York’s Good Eats. Wings anyone?

Wall of graphic samples in preparation for production

Initial layout for Prendergast to Pollock

The Great Hall gallery being painted by our wonderful painters, Pete and Chiba, in preparation for Prendergast to Pollock

Experimenting, with the Preparator

2011-05-10T08:55:00.001-04:00

By Stephen Loughman, Preparator

One of my favorite parts of working in the Exhibitions Department of the Fenimore Art Museum and The Farmers’ Museum is when I get to experiment. Last year it was coming up with a way to keep our Totem Pole covered for a month before its grand unveiling. This year, I was given a stack of plates (purchased – not from the collections!) and told to figure out a way to make them stay on the walls of The Farmers’ Museum for our upcoming New York’s Good Eats! Our Fabulous Foods exhibition opening on May 28. After a trip to the hardware store, I began testing different epoxies, glues, gels and other adhesives trying to find a winner. I was looking for an option that could withhold the weight of the plate while also being able to withstand the climate fluctuations of the Main Barn gallery. Everyone will be happy to know that no plates were harmed (yet) in the making of this exhibit!

Opening Week for Art of the American Indians at the Dallas Museum of Art

2011-05-04T08:55:00.001-04:00

By Eva Fognell, Curator of the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art

I recently spent a great week at the Dallas Museum of Art doing what I love doing; talking and thinking about American Indian art.

I arrived in Dallas on Monday the 18th. Tuesday morning was off to the DMA for press tours at 10 am. It was an impressive event as their Board President introduced the exhibit and its sponsors. My guess is that about 35-40 people were there for the tour. Here are a few of the reviews that were published by various organizations in the following week: Dallas Art News, D Magazine and Art & Seek. At the bottom of this blog is the review from the Dallas Morning News.

Wednesday was the big opening evening event for a select group of members and sponsors. Carol Robbins (the DMA curator of the show) and I took a group of people on a tour and after drinks and snacks and much talking about the exhibit we later went for a wonderful dinner at Stephen Pyles restaurant around the corner from the museum.

On both Thursday and Saturday I did a few more tours of the exhibit with members and other interested parties. On Thursday we were joined by Lou, (“doing a tour with a dog named Lou” is my new opening line to that famous song …) who was an adorable little Chivava service dog accompanying her owner:

Thursdays, the DMA is open late night and there was live music and lots going on in the museum. The glass flowers are by Dale Chihuly:

Monday was for training docents and a wonderful, interesting and thoughtful group they were! Maybe about 70-80 docents attended the talk and although I had a few hours to take them round the galleries there just is never enough time!)

Spiritual works: Thaw Collection brings American Indian creations imbued with a sense of the sacred to the DMA

To a Texan overdosed on Santa Fe blankets, kokopelli dolls and turquoise bracelets, a museum show of American Indian artifacts might not seem a prime draw.

But “Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection,” which opened Sunday at the Dallas Museum of Art, will open eyes to wonders far beyond clichés of Southwestern tchotchkes.

Exploring widely varied indigenous cultures from the Northeast to the Great Plains to Alaska, stretching back a whole millennium, it’s a revelatory display of earthy vigor balanced by exquisite detail, visual fantasy by material practicality. From cultures that sensed supernatural forces in earth and sky, rain and wind, coyotes and snakes, items as different as capes, war clubs, masks and pottery exude totemic resonance.

Organized by regions, more than 100 items are on a national tour from the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y. The show was assembled by Eva Fognell, curator of the Fenimore’s Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art.

Eugene Thaw had a distinguished career as a dealer and collector of European art. But on retiring to Santa Fe in 1987, he was captivated by the purely aesthetic qualities of American Indian artifacts. By 1995 he and his wife had amassed a substantial collection they offered to the Cooperstown museum, which built a new wing to house it.

There are some eye-poppers here: a circa-1850 Chilkat robe boldly patterned in cream, black and white; a 15{+t}{+h}-century clay jar with amazingly modern-looking geometric designs; a Navajo blanket brilliantly striped in red, white and black.

At the other end of the spectrum are finely woven baskets by early 20{+t}{+h}-century artists Scees Bryant Possock, Louise and Elizabeth Hickox. The 19{+t}{+h}-century introduction of tiny colored beads, bought in trade from the white men, inspired finely worked garments, bags, even saddles. French missionaries taught embroidery to the Hurons in Quebec, with results including a miniature settee with exquisite floral designs on birch bark.

The hybridization of aboriginal and invasive cultures is a recurrent counterpoint. A paint-decorated circa-1800 hunting coat is made of caribou skin, but in a contemporaneous European cut. Commercial cloth, silk ribbons, glass beads and ostrich feathers are incorporated in an exuberantly decorated hood presented around 1850 to Lord Elgin, the British governor-general to Canada.

“Eye-dazzler” serapes in the Southwest were made possible by commercial, synthetically dyed yarns. As the 19{+t}{+h} century progressed, the American flag began to appear as an emblem of power.

More striking, though, is imaginative use of indigenous materials, and not just animal skins and bird feathers. The Indians of the Pacific Northwest were particularly ingenious in steaming and re-forming wood and even animal horns into food containers and implements. Looking at a silky waterproof parka, decorated with zigzags of dyed walrus and polar bear fur, you wouldn’t guess it’s made of seal intestines dried, sliced into strips and stitched together.

Spirituality imbues much of what we admire. Prayers were offered as Indians scooped clay out of the earth to make pottery, and as weavers began to make baskets. Garments and masks had ritual uses; animal skins and hair incorporated animal forces into clothing. A Lakota lyric says, “Something sacred wears me.”

Add deep, nature-based spirituality to imaginative use of materials and real visual flair, and the DMA show is well worth a visit.

Reorganizing Photographic History

2011-05-02T08:55:00.001-04:00

By John Hart, Assistant Curator of Collections

In other posts I’ve mentioned the thousands of glass plate negatives in the collection of the New York State Historical Association, but something exciting is happening to those plates once again - they’re being moved. Not off-site, but rather into a newly renovated space in our storage facility. We’re in the midst of a project that will give us heat, ventilation, humidity control and air conditioning control of the space; part of that is reshousing nearly 60,000 glass plate negatives. It’s a long and tedious project that requires us to be very careful as we move groups of plates from one shelving system to the next, not only because they are fragile, but we need to keep them in order to find them later.

Current storage area for the plates is pretty tight and difficult to maneuver.

As difficult as it is to move these plates, the project is coming along well. With the help of assistants like Elizabeth Nerland of the Cooperstown Graduate Program, and others, we’re making steady progress towards completing this phase of the project. It’s a worthwhile cause and will allow us to access the plates quickly and easier than before, as well as consolidate our storage space, freeing up desperately needed space for other objects.

New storage area for the plates is open and more accessible.

It’s a win-win for access and preservation, even if it will take us a few weeks to move the plates and make all of the other necessary changes in our database.

A Camera Which Shall Be Wholly Concealed

2011-04-21T08:55:00.003-04:00

By Douglas Kendall, Curator of Collections

These days, cameras are everywhere. Wherever there’s a smart phone, there’s a camera. Sales of dedicated cameras are down; the almost-universal acceptance of the camera in a phone has even affected recently chic devices such as the Flip Video camera, which is going out of production.

The only thing really new about this phenomenon of cameras that don’t look like cameras is its ubiquity. There must have been a demand for concealed cameras early in the development of photography. By the 1880s, inventors had created cameras designed to look like hats, satchels, books, binoculars, walking sticks and (my personal favorite) revolvers. Pulling a camera that looks like a gun seems like a sure way to reduce the population of photographers quickly.

Cooperstown’s own Arthur Telfer, whose photographs can be seen via the Fenimore Art Museum’s Collections page, owned a camera designed to be hidden behind the photographer’s vest. The disc-shaped design was patented by Robert D. Gray of New York City in 1886; he soon sold the patent to one C. P. Stirn. The camera was manufactured for and marketed by Stirn & Lyon of New York and was also sold in Germany. The relatively thin disc was held behind a man’s vest; the lens aligned with a buttonhole.

Vest Camera

Nickel-plated brass

Made for Stirn & Lyon, New York, NY, ca. 1888

Gift of Arthur J. Telfer, N0064.1945. Photo: Douglas Kendall

How did the Vest Camera work in practice? The directions made it sound simple: “place it under the coat or vest in such a manner as to show only the lens, which, in the shape of a button, is fastened in a button-hole, thus giving the Camera a firm, steady position. In order to secure a good, clear picture, place your right hand over the vest exactly where the Camera is hidden, point the lens toward the centre of the object to be photographed and, by pulling with your left hand on the string hanging from the lower part of the Camera, you secure the first picture. Now turn the centre screw or button of the Camera with the dart to No. 2, which causes the Dry Plate to change its position and makes it ready for the next picture; continue thus until six pictures are taken and after that change the Plate for a new one in the dark-room and again you are ready for six more pictures."

I have to wonder how long the secretive camera bug would be able to maintain the deception while engaged in all those awkward hand movements. But apparently the idea of the Vest Camera captivated a lot of Americans. The company’s ads claimed that 13,000 had been sold within two years of Gray’s patent. In 19th century terms, it was probably nearly as big a sensation as the Flip was in the 21st century. It’s not clear how long the craze lasted, but specialized accessories were still being introduced in 1889.

“C. P. Stirn’s Patent Concealed Vest Camera”

Advertisement for the C.P. Sterns, Concealed Vest Camera, published in the April issue of Scribners magazine, 1889. Found at: Historic Camera

We don’t know why Arthur Telfer acquired a Concealed Vest Camera, but he kept it until 1945, when he gave it to the New York State Historical Association, parent of the Fenimore Art Museum. A few years later, Telfer gave NYSHA the entire collection of glass-plate negatives taken by him and his predecessor and partner, Washington Smith, beginning in 1853.

New York State Postcards

2011-04-19T08:55:00.003-04:00

By Susan Deer, Associate Librarian, Head of Tech Services, New York State Historical Association Library

The NYSHA Research Library’s “New York State Postcards Collection” has quietly been growing over the past 60+ years, to its current size of 22,800 postcards, contained in 12 cubic feet of cabinet space. Postcards are often overlooked as a source of historical documentation.

Library volunteers, Lu Gotti and Richard Johnson, have worked since last year inventorying the collection so that an accurate description could be entered into Pathfinder (our web-based catalog) and WorldCat (an international online catalog).

Descriptions of the NYS Postcards can be seen here, then search under the SUBJECT: postcards new york state. Better yet, come to the Special Collections Reading Room on the 3rd floor of the library to see the entire collection and search for a topic of interest to you. A library staff person will be there to assist you.

Here are a few examples of digitized postcards from the collection:

Docents Teaching Docents

2011-04-14T08:55:00.002-04:00

By Nancy Karaman, Volunteer Services Coordinator

What a great time our docent group had on Tuesday! First of all we were all busy taking notes during Pru Stelling's presentation on the Van Bergen overmantle.

It is such a popular focal point in Fenimore Art Museum and many visitors often spend extra time looking at all its many aspects. Pru helped us all to more deeply understand the piece as much for its historic depictions as its artistic value.

After her presentation we were treated to Louise Gomez and her in depth tour of Shadow Catcher: Edward Curtis Among the Kwakiutl in the West Gallery.

She is currently reading Edward Curtis's 10th volume of twenty published. Louise's super presentation was following by a viewing of film entitled Coming to Light about Edward Curtis and his photographs ....fascinating film.

Batter Up!

2011-04-12T08:55:00.009-04:00

By John Hart, Assistant Curator of Collections

I’ve haven’t always been into sports. I didn’t start watching baseball games until college (and no, I’m not saying which team I like the most) and even then it was in between homework sessions; being a history major meant a lot of reading.

Opening Day in Cooperstown doesn’t just mean the first MLB games of the year, it normally means the early days of spring and the start of warmer weather. I think Mother Nature had different ideas of that this year, though, since we were expecting upwards of a foot of snow or more between Opening Day and April 1st!

Baseball Bat, Late 19^th Century, Wood, L: 30 ¼”, F0031.1960.

One of the more unique pieces in our collection related to baseball is the sculpture, Sandlot Kid, by Victor D. Salvatore. If you’ve ever been to Cooperstown and walked down Main Street near the Key Bank, you’ve seen this piece, only much larger and made of metal. NYSHA’s is plaster and is a model of the sculpture gracing downtown Cooperstown.

Sandlot Kid, 1940-1950, by Victor D. Salvatore (1885-1965), Plaster,

H: 32 5/8” x W: 15” x Depth: 10 ½”. N0039.2000

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, like Fenimore Art Museum and The Farmers’ Museum, really gear up around this time of year offering new exhibits, exciting new activities, and even better, the signal that summer is on its way! Eventually...

Dallas, Here We Go!

2011-04-08T08:55:00.001-04:00

By Eva Fognell, Curator of the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art

On to the 3rd stop of the national tour of Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection – the Dallas Museum of Art!

When I left Cherry Valley to go to Albany to catch a plane for Dallas, it was snowing! When I arrived in Dallas, I was greeted with sun and a glorious 80F! It is amazing how different the world looks when the sun is shining. Green trees and flowers lined the highway into Dallas. I arrived a few hours before I could check into my hotel so I decided to walk around and familiarize myself a bit with the neighborhood that will be my back yard for the next week.

As I was walking down the street, I saw a very colorful sign announcing that I was near the museum:

I kept walking down the street and came to an entrance:

I kept walking around the block – and there was another entrance:

Somehow neither looked like the main entrance of the museum so I followed the street and around another corner, and there it was! A HUGE frontlet looking at me. Maybe the biggest banner I have ever seen!

Very fittingly, facing the entrance is a glass mosaic by the artist, author, art historian, ethnologist and caricaturist - the multitalented Miguel Covarrubias. It is called Genesis, the Gift of Life. An amazing piece of art:

It is many years since I last read The Eagle, the Jaguar, and the Serpent - Indian Art of the Americas; North America: Alaska, Canada, the United States. Maybe looking at this mosaic every day for a few weeks will inspire me to go back to his writings.

I hope to report more from Dallas in the next few weeks as the exhibit goes up and programs and opening events take place.

A Little Case of Phyfe

2011-04-07T08:55:00.005-04:00

By Douglas Kendall, Curator of Collections

Duncan Phyfe, a Scots immigrant to New York at the turn of the 19th century, became one of America’s leading cabinetmakers in the neoclassical style. His furniture can be found today at the White House and in many leading decorative arts museums around the country.

While the Fenimore Art Museum collections don’t focus on high-style furnishings, we do own a partial set of chairs attributed to Phyfe. These Greek Revival chairs were purchased for the townhouse of Catherine DePeyster and James Livingston in New York City. Family history relates that it was originally a set of twelve (the Museum owns 8), along with a sofa, side table, worktable, and chest of drawers, all purchased from Phyfe. The family also owned a home in Cherry Valley, near Cooperstown and were given to the Museum over 40 years ago.

Side Chair Mahogany, cherry, ash, white pine, horsehair, attributed to Duncan Phyfe, New York, 1805-1810

Gift of Ralph E. Lum, Jr., N0028.1965(07). Photo: Andy Stupperich.

While the DePeyster-Livingston chairs are typical of Phyfe’s work, the Museum also owns a more unusual piece that the cabinetmaker had a part in creating. In 1826, the City of New York celebrated the completion of the Erie Canal by presenting silver commemorative medals to dignitaries who had been invited to the opening ceremonies. Charles Cushing Wright, an engraver from Utica who moved to New York City in the 1820s, created the silver medal. Special cases were commissioned from Phyfe and wood turner Daniel Karr by the Common Council to house the medals. The maple used in the boxes came from the Seneca Chief, the boat that made the ceremonial first round trip on the Erie, carrying kegs of Lake Erie water that was dumped into New York Harbor to symbolize “the marriage of the waters.”

Union of the Erie with the Atlantic.

Medal, silver. Charles Cushing Wright (1796-1854), New York, 1826.

Gift of James Fenimore Cooper, II (1858-1938), transferred from Otsego County Historical Society, N0361.1963(01). Photo: Richard Walker.

Box for Erie Canal commemorative medal. Case for medal, birdseye maple, paper.

Duncan Phyfe and Daniel Karr, New York, 1826.

Gift of James Fenimore Cooper, II (1858-1938), transferred from Otsego County Historical Society, N0361.1963(02). Photo: Richard Walker.

James Fenimore Cooper was one of the dignitaries who received a medal from the Common Council of New York City in 1826. His descendants treasured the medal and the beautiful little case made by Phyfe and Karr until it was given to the Otsego County Historical Society by Cooper’s namesake grandson in the 20th century. When the OCHS disbanded in the 1960s, the medal and its box were transferred to the Museum’s parent organization, the New York State Historical Association.

The medal and box may be seen in the Cooper Room during the 2011 season. But beginning in December 2011, it will be travelling back to the city for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s exhibition, Duncan Phyfe: Master Cabinetmaker in New York.

The American Hen

2011-04-05T08:55:00.002-04:00

By: Doug Kendall, Curator of Collections

One of the advantages of working in the Museum’s storage facility is that almost every day I may see interesting artifacts for the first time—or I should say, really see them for the first time. I may have walked by a certain shelf dozens of times but for some reason on a particular day I had a reason to notice the items stored there.

Recently, I was helping inventory and photograph our collection of dolls with Erin Richardson, the Curator of The Farmers’ Museum. On one of the shelves below the dolls we saw a group of white glass objects—table or dresser accessories but in rather unusual shapes: a cannon, a hen, a battleship and another ship topped with a man’s figure.

The objects were made of milk glass or lattimo, which is “opaque white glass, usually opacified by tin oxide or arsenic” according to the Glass Dictionary of the Corning Museum of Glass.

A closer look reveals that these household objects all commemorate an event I’ve blogged about previously: the United States’ victories in the Spanish-American War. And it turns out the donor was the same man who gave the USS Olympia pitcher noted in that post as well as the “Bathing Beauties” stoneware jug I discussed way back in 2009—Preston Bassett of Ridgefield, Connecticut.

In these six objects one finds encapsulated much of the popular feeling about the brief and successful war against Spain: one is molded in the shape of a battleship with the name Maine on the prow, representing the ship that exploded in Havana harbor and precipitated the conflict. Another battleship is ridden by the figure of Uncle Sam, while a third dish has a battleship-form base but is surmounted by a bust of Admiral Dewey, the commander of the US squadron at the Battle of Manila Bay. There’s also a round dish with a drum-like base and a cannon-shaped lid and a cup covered by an eagle.

USS Maine

Westmoreland Glass or McKee Glass, Grapeville or Jeannette, PA, 1898-1910. Gift of Preston Bassett, N0103.1976

Photo: Douglas Kendall

Uncle Sam Rides With the Navy

Westmoreland Glass or McKee Glass, Grapeville or Jeannette, PA, 1898-1910. Gift of Preston Bassett, N0102.1976

Photo: Douglas Kendall

Cannon on a Drum

Westmoreland Glass or McKee Glass, Grapeville or Jeannette, PA, 1898-1910. Gift of Preston Bassett, N0101.1976

Photo: Douglas Kendall

Perhaps most interesting, though, is another oval dish with a base textured to look like a nest and marked “The American Hen.” The lid of this piece is in the form of a bird (more like an eagle than a hen, if you ask me) with wings outstretched, sitting on three eggs marked “Porto Rico,” “Cuba,” and “Phillipines.” This piece indicates the result of the war: the acquisition (for varying periods of time) of these far-flung parts of the declining Spanish empire and the rise of the United States as an international power.

The American Hen

Westmoreland Glass or McKee Glass, Grapeville or Jeannette, PA, 1898-1910. Gift of Preston Bassett, N0104.1976.

Photo: Douglas Kendall

These commemorative items were made in western Pennsylvania by either the Westmoreland Glass Company or the McKee Glass Company. Although some have old breaks that have been repaired with an adhesive that left stains, these remain instructive artifacts of the pride many Americans felt in their country’s arrival on the world scene back in 1898.

A Pit Stop for Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection

2011-03-31T08:55:00.003-04:00

By Chris Rossi, Associate Curator of Exhibitions

In addition to getting ready for the upcoming season here at the Fenimore Art Museum, the curatorial team is hard at work overseeing our traveling exhibit the Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Our objects are back from the Minneapolis Institute of Art and are resting comfortably until its time to hit the road for our next stop – the Dallas Museum of Art.

The parka takes a break from its crate.

For some of the objects that means getting a break from their crates and relaxing on manikins. Others are getting conservation care to make sure they look and feel their best for the Dallas venue.

Making sure all is well with the Boy’s shirt.

The crates themselves also need maintenance. Preparator Steve Loughman and I worked with Thaw Collection Curator Eva Fognell to review the crates and repair evidence of wear and tear. Over the course of packing and repacking, truck travel and handling, crates may need reinforcement, reworking or repair. Bolts strip and foam may wiggle loose. We need to make sure all the crates are ship-shape before hitting the road.

Securing loose padding inside a crate.

We will soon be repacking those objects that are out of their crates. Then off they go to Dallas, with Eva and I to follow and once again oversee installation at a new venue. The exhibition opens in Dallas on April 24.

A Violin’s Secret

2011-03-29T08:55:00.018-04:00

By John Hart, Assistant Curator of Collections

There are a few decorated violins in our collection, one is currently out on exhibit at Fenimore Art Museum, the other has sat up on a shelf, out of sight and likely out of mind, for many years. This violin, though not as nice as the Tippecanoe example on exhibition in Bits of Home, is pretty striking on its own.

On its back is a small church created using marquetry and inlaid mother-of-pearl. It is surrounded by a decorative purfling, or decorative inlay found on the edge of most violins. This purfling is doubled, which is somewhat unusual to see, and has become an extra embellishment on the violin. Though no longer complete, you can see three different types of wood used for the church, and mother-of-pearl for the windows.

I’m not certain, but I don’t think the church decoration was originally on the violin, at least not at first. There are a few repairs at the scroll area of the violin and other repairs throughout. Was this violin repaired and then someone decided to use it as a decorative piece, rather than a playable instrument? Maybe, but we’ll never really know.

Violin and Neck, 1875-1925, Maple, pine, mother-of-pearl and inlaid other inlaid wood, N0978-979.1943.

Docent training day!

2011-03-24T08:55:00.003-04:00

By Nancy Pfau, Volunteer Docent

Paul telling us about the upcoming exhibitions

Docent Training - a day full of fascinating information! Vice President and Chief Curator Paul D'Ambrosio led us through the museum to see the works in progress and explain where the various collections the museum will be showcasing this summer will be placed. Paul also gave us a mini-lecture on Edward Hopper whose paintings will be in the Scriven Gallery this year -- one of the real perks of being a Docent, getting to hear the stories behind the art.

Theatres of Memory: Re-examining Edward Curtis at the University of Rochester

2011-03-21T09:39:00.000-04:00

By Eva Fognell, Curator of the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art

A few weeks ago I traveled to the University of Rochester to see the exhibition component of a project called Parallax Effects: Representations of Native North Americans Then and Now. The faculty and students organized a small exhibition in the Rare Books and Special Collections Library called Theatres of Memory: Re-examining Edward Curtis. The student curators - Visual and Cultural Studies graduate student Alex Marr, a former Otsego Institute participant that I had the opportunity to spend 5 days with last summer, and undergraduate Art History student Carlie Fishgold - did a splendid job of presenting the photographs and writing the text.

Carlie and Joe examining a bag before the event started

Otsego Institute reunion: Joe, Janet, Jessica, Jon, me and Alex

The afternoon program started with a viewing of the movie Coming to Light about Edward Curtis (dir., Anne Makepeace). I highly recommend the film – it is excellent. Then it was time for a lovely wine and cheese reception where I had a chance to talk to old friends and see the exhibition.

Curators Carlie Fishgold, Alex Marr with Joe Horse Capture from the MIA

Then the program continued with a Roundtable with Joe D. Horse Capture (A’aninin/White Clay People), Associate Curator of Native North American Art at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Joe spoke about his personal experience with Edward Curtis photographs - his great-great-grandfather Horse Capture was photographed in the early part of the 20th century by Curtis. It was very interesting to get a Native persons view on the photographs and thoughts about what can be learned from them. Janet Berlo, Professor of Art History and Visual and Cultural Studies at the university, presented an overview of Curtis photographs. Jessica McDonald, doctoral student in the history of photography, placed Curtis in the history of photography. It was a most enjoyable scholarly afternoon and fun-filled evening as Janet Berlo treated us to a great dinner accompanied by fun art conversation, a sleepover party, and even a super-yummi cornbread breakfast.

Janet making breakfast for her house guests

Be sure to come see our own Edward Curtis exhibition, Shadow Catcher: Edward Curtis Among the Kwakiutl, opening April 1 at Fenimore Art Museum.

The First Docent Training Session of 2011

2011-03-17T08:55:00.004-04:00

By Nancy Pfau, Volunteer Docent

This is the first in an ongoing series of blog posts by Fenimore Art Museum's amazing Volunteer Docents!

Just spent the morning at the first of the 2011 Docent Training sessions at The Fenimore Art Museum -- such exciting exhibitions for this year! The Frida Kahlo: Through the Lens ofNikolas Muray photo exhibition should be a real draw! The photos are exquisite.

This will be only my second year as a Docent and I already feel as though I have learned a great deal! The conversations with the curators are enlightening as are the opportunities to meet some unique and very talented guests. Last summer I was fortunate to speak with a Native American Art Professor from the University of Zurich, Switzerland! We never know who will walk through the doors.

I'm sharing two fun photos -- the one below is of the snow I needed to shovel through to get to the car recently! And the other at the top is of my husband and me with friends from North Carolina who were visiting the Fenimore last autumn.

About me:
I grew up in Sharon Springs, a small village about 25 miles east of Cooperstown. As a girl, the village of Cooperstown was one of my favorite places to spend time swimming and picnicking at Otsego Lake, dining at the cafes and restaurants, going to the museums or shopping on Main Street. After graduating from Syracuse University, I married and moved away. My husband and I lived all over the world in our first 44 years of marriage and I taught in some fascinating places (Tehran, Iran; Miami, Florida; California; Virginia; Illinois). When we decided to retire, I could think of no place more special than my hometown! We still travel extensively with our children and their families scattered from Switzerland to Arkansas, but we love returning home, where I am now the Town Historian and we occasionally appear in cameo roles in Planet Green's reality TV show, The Fabulous Beekman Boys!

Fritz Vogt sketches on view at the Arkell Museum at Canajoharie

2011-03-15T08:55:00.004-04:00

By Christine Olsen, Registrar

The museum world is a small one. Especially in regard to the reciprocal loan of artwork between smaller institutions the size of the Fenimore Art Museum. It is an arrangement that works wonderfully for both institutions; the sharing of artwork helps expose the public to works that they may otherwise not see, and works that may not get much exhibition time at the lending institution have the opportunity to be on view. A nearby institutions, the Arkell Museum at Canajoharie, has requested the loan of four Fritz Vogt graphite pencil on paper sketches from our collection for their upcoming exhibition, Drawn to the Same Place: Rufus Grider & Fritz Vogt, 1885-1900, which will run from April 2, 2011 through August 14, 2011.

We will be lending the following works to this exhibition:

Residence of M. Van Alstine, Sharon, Schoharie County, September 25, 1890”

William Drane, Montgomery Street, Cherry Valley, Otsego County, March 8, 1893

Untitled (Cherry Valley Female Academy Teachers Residence), Cherry Valley, Otsego County, June 27, 1896

Residence of John Adam and Peter Kilts, Sharon, Schoharie County, June 15, 1899

The Arkell Museum, established in 1924 by Bartlett Arkell the founder and president of the Beech Nut Packing Company, features a remarkable collection of late 19th and early 20th century American Art, as well as artifacts from Mohawk Valley history, in a recently redesigned building on the scenic Mohawk River. The landscapes and regional stories of upstate New York and the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers were of particular fascination to Arkell, and are reflected both in their permanent collections as well as their choice in borrowed exhibitions.

To paraphrase the Drawn to the Same Place exhibition vision statement:

A Fritz Vogt exhibition at the Fenimore Art Museum in 2002 introduced Vogt as a major folk artist, and the exhibition at the Arkell with go on to place him next to a resident of Canajoharie who was drawing the same upstate New York locations at the same time - Rufus Grider. Both men came from Pennsylvania to the Mohawk Valley. Grider became a Canajoharie schoolteacher in 1883 who studied early historical accounts of the area in an effort to reconstruct the past, and Vogt an itinerant handyman and artist who created portraits of farms and homes as a way to earn a living. Both men travelled throughout the region, quickly sketching and memorizing a scene before later completing details and adding color. While creating artwork for different reasons, their works viewed together provide a picture of rural and urban landscapes of the past.

This exhibition is sure to expose these contemporaneous artists in a new and fascinating light, comparing and contrasting their artistic vision and techniques as they have never been before. If you are in the area, I highly recommend that you stop by the Arkell to see this exhibition. And make note to see our loaned artworks, of course!

Watching movies on the job!

2011-03-11T11:55:00.005-05:00

By Nancy Pfau, Volunteer Docent

Well, after two days of watching the snow pile up recently, it was nice to have sunshine and a good excuse to drive to Cooperstown. The trip through the Cherry Valley by-pass where trees were glistening with hoar-frost was breathtakingly beautiful!

Today at training we watched the PBS documentary The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo in preparation for our upcoming exhibition, Frida Kahlo: Through the Lens of Nickolas Muray. The movie was totally enthralling! While I have been fascinated with her art for years, seeing it through the lens of her life's story enriches the experience, a life of pain made manifest in her unique paintings.

Fenimore's volunteer docent program

2011-03-10T08:55:00.004-05:00

By Nancy Karaman, Volunteer Services Administrator

Today, Nancy will introduce us to Fenimore Art Museum's docent program. Look for upcoming posts written by our fantastic docents!

The docent program commenced in 2008 when a group of inspired Fenimore Art Museum volunteers were gathered together to learn more about the exhibitions in order to become the knowledgeable, welcoming face of the Museum. The goal of the program was, and is, to offer to our visitors a well-informed docent staff whose purpose is to enrich visitor experience. Fenimore docents bring to the museum a wide variety of experiences and interests. The group has expanded over the last two years and currently numbers thirty-seven, including three Junior Docents who serve during the summer months. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer docent, you can contact me at n.karaman@nysha.org.

Here are some pictures of our amazing docents at a recent training session.

Television and Art Museums

2011-03-08T08:55:00.004-05:00

By Stephen Loughman, Preparator

I have to admit that one of my favorite TV shows is American Pickers, featuring two men that travel around the country looking for great items to sell at their antiques store. They dig through barns looking for old advertising pieces, turn of the century bicycles, or even folk art, as they look for the next big score that they can then sell to keep their adventure going. Luckily for me, I don’t have to do too much digging to see similar items that are popular on the show – many are found in our own collections here at the Fenimore Art Museum. One piece that seems straight from TV is our Pontiac Service sign; this will be on display this year as part of our exhibition, Art Buzz: Reader's Favorites from the Fenimore Art Museum Blog. It is a great example of a porcelain sign that adorned a car dealership in the 40’s or 50’s.

Another piece from our American Indian Art Collection would also fit right in on the show - this great cardboard box featuring the Moto Meter Gauge and Equipment Corporation logo. This box would housed a replacement part, most likely a dashboard gauge for a 50’s era vehicle. Unlike the television show where they always seem to find the part and the box, our example is only the box!

The Brooklyn Museum's Tipi exhibition, starring our Horse Mask

2011-03-02T08:55:00.001-05:00

Eva Fognell, Curator of the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art

Sitting in my office and reading the book Tipi: Heritage of the Great Plains, in anticipation of my visit to the Brooklyn Museum, I came upon an image of a war shirt (Shirt for a Chief’s War Dress) from the early 19th century. It is truly stunning. Our own magnificent beaded Horse Mask is also in the catalogue, as is one page from our Black Hawk’s Ledger Book. On another page is an image of a local Mohawk Valley landmark, The Tipi (on Route 20), which is where some of us, (guilty!) go for Hot Dog Pete’s great hotdogs with chili. But I am digressing… The Shirt for a Chief’s War Dress was collected by Dr. Nathan Sturges Jarvis at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. It is such a beauty! Brooklyn Museum has so many treasures from all over the world. Thinking about the museum brought back memories for me...

War Shirt and leggings

For a long time while I lived in New York City the Brooklyn Museum was my favorite because SHE lived there. SHE was and is the most fabulous piece of art ever made, in my humble opinion. On the museum’s label she was referred to as Figure of a Lioness, 3000 BC - 2800 BC, from Elam. The unforgettable face and sculptured body, only 3.25” high but larger than life, is no longer at the Brooklyn museum, unfortunately. The Lioness was on loan to the museum when I saw it and it was eventually sold at Sotheby’s in 2007. Take a peak at the Sotheby site for some amazing close ups of this magnificent masterpiece of early art.

So this time it is not the Lioness that is calling me to the Brooklyn Museum but the opportunity to see the Tipi: Heritage of the Great Plains exhibit. I blogged about this show a few weeks ago so this is a follow up. The museum entrance had changed since I last visited. It was a much-discussed architectural revamp of the front. It was a bit startling to see the change but it will undoubtedly work better for the museum and it added more public space upon entering.

Front entry of the Brooklyn Museum

Tipi exhibition ad on Flatbush Avenue

The exhibition was on the 5th floor and covered quite a few galleries. Our Horse Mask is in the first gallery and looks magnificent. In the photo you can see the mask with the large tipi in the background. There were quite a few visitors in the galleries and everyone seemed to really enjoy the exhibit. The Shirt for a Chiefs War Dress looks even more powerful in person then in the catalogue.

Our Horse Mask in the gallery

Also check out what’s for sale in the gift shop! Love the little popcorn tipi! I had a wonderful visit and really enjoyed seeing our Horse Mask so prominently displayed.

Popcorn tipis for sale in the Brooklyn Museum's shop

The John Kidder Civil War Collection

2011-02-24T08:55:00.007-05:00

John Hart, Assistant Curator of Collections

Just before Thanksgiving of 2010, I had the good fortune to meet a descendant of the Civil War soldier, John Kidder, who mustered into service at the rank of Captain, and mustered out as a Lt. Colonel. The donor was bringing letters and other documents to the NYSHA Research Library to be considered as a gift. Because of the connection between Kidder and the 121st Regiment of the New York State Volunteers, a regiment I have been actively researching for well over two years now, I was interested in seeing the papers.

Much to my surprise, the donor brought something else - well, several things actually. In an old gift box were seven ribbons and a sash, all concerning Kidder’s post-war activities related to the encampments, remembrance days or dedications. These were all in absolutely fantastic condition; as you can see below, this particular one was probably still as bright as the day Kidder received it.

Ribbon, ca. 1892, Artist unknown, Silk, W: 2.5” x L: 10”, N0001.2011(06)

Combined with other objects in the collection that relate to the 121st, such as the swords of the Campbell brothers and the papers of Sam Kelley in the NYSHA Library, the ribbons and papers that have been donated the museum are amazingly valuable because we can now begin to understand more of the regiment during and after the Civil War.

A Week in the Life of Our Storage Facility

2011-02-22T08:55:00.002-05:00

Doug Kendall, Curator of Collections

Those of you who follow this blog already know that winter is anything but a slow time in the Museum, even though we are closed to the public. The curatorial staff is busy preparing the 2011 exhibitions for the April 1 opening and getting ready to send the Thaw Collection traveling exhibition to its next venue at the Dallas Museum of Art, among other activities.

One might imagine that the storage facility for Fenimore Art Museum and The Farmers’ Museum at least would be peaceful; after all, this is where the vast majority of the artifacts not on exhibition are kept. The very word “storage” suggests a lack of activity.

Exterior, Iroquois Storage Facility, February 2011

The storage facility is located in a former thoroughbred horse stable and from the outside it look relatively unchanged. Perhaps because the storage facility is two miles away from the museum campus, even our staff often thinks this is a quiet backwater.

Nothing could be farther from the truth and this week the building was especially busy.

Because we co-sponsor the Cooperstown Graduate Program in museum studies, students spend a lot of time here examining and writing about objects in the collections. In addition, at least two classes are held at the facility every week during the semester, in a classroom that originally served as the stable’s tack room. Because the graduate program emphasizes hands-on study, we move objects into the classroom for each session. On Tuesday of this week, we set up for Wednesday’s Collections Care class for first-year graduate students. Wednesday morning, conservators C.R. and Sue Jones covered the care of historic photographs and paper objects; after a brief break, I talked about care of ceramics and glass in museum collections.

Ready for Furniture class, February 17, 2011

Caring for Photographs, February 16, 2011

While Assistant Curator of Collections, John Hart, and student assistant Amy Drake switched out those objects for the furniture that would be needed for Thursday’s class, Assistant Professor Will Walker held a session of his American Cultures II seminar in the upstairs collections area Wednesday afternoon. Will’s class examined items in the Museum’s Kopp Collection, which consists of advertising and other popular culture images of Native Americans. Thursday, Associate Professor of Material Culture Cindy Falk and the first-years studied wooden furniture in the classroom.

American Cultures class, February 16, 2011

In addition to all of the academic activity in the building, the storage space in the lower level of the building is also being upgraded. New climate control equipment and better shelving is being installed. So while classes have been meeting upstairs, contractors and the Facilities staff have been busy in the basement. The result will be a much better environment for over 60,000 glass plate negatives stored here (including the Smith & Telfer Photographic Collection) as well as other museum and library collections.

Preparing the basement for new shelving, February 15, 2011

Next week, the graduate students have Winter Break, so it won’t be quite so busy. But I trust you get the idea—museum storage is neither quiet nor boring around here!

Art Meets Opera

2011-02-18T09:58:00.000-05:00

Chris Rossi, Associate Curator of Exhibitions

This summer will see an exciting collaboration between Opera and Art. Glimmerglass Festival, here in Cooperstown, will present Later the same Evening. This 2007 contemporary opera was the result of a joint project of the National Gallery of Art, the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, and the University of Maryland School of Music. The opera is inspired by 5 of Edward Hopper's paintings - Room in New York (1932), Hotel Window (1955), Hotel Room (1931), Two on the Aisle (1927), and Automat (1927). It brings the paintings to life and eventually intertwines them on a single night in New York City in 1932.

Characters from five Edward Hopper paintings mingle in the opera “Later the Same Evening” at Manhattan School of Music. The New York Times, online edition, 12/16/08

One of the arias, “Out my One Window,” serves as the inspiration for the title of Fenimore Art Museum’s upcoming Edward Hopper Exhibition, A Window Into Edward Hopper, opening May 28. The exhibition will feature early watercolors, etchings, drawings and oil paintings. These works share the same the sensibility and style that Hopper is known for - an exploration of solitude and the desire for connection.

East Side Interior, 1922

Etching by Edward Hopper, on loan from the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Utica, New York

And for my first act...

2011-02-15T08:55:00.008-05:00

By: Stephen Loughman, Preparator

As previous blogs have mentioned, during this time of year there is great change here at the Fenimore Art Museum. Right after New Years we start dismantling the previous year’s exhibitions and for awhile our walls are bare as they get painted and patched up. It’s a very odd time to be working in the museum because it feels so empty! Yet once everyone in their offices starts to hear me with my hammer and drill the excitement that our walls will no longer be bare seems to get everyone excited for the upcoming year. Here is a sneak peak of the progress so far.

The first exhibit that was hung this year was a group of paintings from our own collection that depict scenes of Otsego Lake, which is literally in our backyard.

This exhibit also includes one of our recent acquisitions from last year’s exhibition, Watermark: Michele Harvey and Glimmerglass. The painting depicts a local landmark, Fairy Spring.

Out with the old, in with the new

2011-02-10T08:55:00.002-05:00

By: Christine Olsen, Registrar

Many people ask me if this time of year is slow at the Fenimore Art Museum. It would seem as though it would be given that we are closed to the public from December 31st through April 1st and Cooperstown itself is seemingly quiet with its snowy streets and sleepy downtown. Ironically, this is actually the busiest time of year for us. As soon as January 1st hits, we are off the ground running, taking down exhibitions from last year and preparing for the exhibitions to come.

Our loaned shows from last season such as Watermark: Michele Harvey and Glimmerglass and John Singer Sargent: Portraits in Praise of Women, as well as those containing our own collections such as Empire Waists, Bustles and Lace: A Century of New York Fashion, are deinstalled simultaneously during the month of January and February. Everything has to be returned to lenders or put back in our storage vaults quickly so that we have time to repaint galleries and begin layout of the Spring exhibits; it can get pretty hectic around here!

I began return shipping plans for loans from the John Singer Sargent exhibit back in November and December; trucks book quickly since most other museums are changing out exhibitions at this time of year, too, so an early start is imperative. The Sargent show also had loans that required couriers; I have to make their travel plans as well as coordinate the deinstallation and shipping of their loan for a time convenient to them as well as our exhibitions team. This year was especially challenging, as two large snowstorms threatened courier and shipping schedules; my colleagues will agree that I am often heard proclaiming with distress “why do we always get a blizzard when I have a shipment”!? In the end it all worked out and everyone and everything made it home safe and sound.

While I was overseeing the departure of Sargent loans, I was simultaneously getting ready for our upcoming spring shows; exhibition and loan agreements are now officially signed for A Window Into Edward Hopper, Frida Kahlo: Through the Lens of Nickolas Muray, and Prendergast to Pollack: American Modernism from the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. Edward Hopper has loans from many individual lenders, each requiring the exchange of agreements and discussions about crating and shipping – the details of which always take us right up to opening day! Frida Kahlo and Prendergast to Pollack are travelling shows sponsored by other institutions; I really like these kinds of shows as they are one stop shopping, with one lender and one shipment – so much easier for me!

Finally, in the midst of all of this, we received a full size tractor-trailer full of crates from our American Indian travelling exhibition returning from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. On a day of record snowfall, of course! It had a very successful run there, and will stay here at the museum in storage until April when it is leaving for the Dallas Museum of Art. What a whirlwind!

We hope to see you on April 1st when the weather warms and our doors open once again to the public with new and exciting exhibitions. Until then, stay tuned for more behind the scenes reports from the registrar’s office!

Our flag horse mask on view at the Brooklyn Museum

2011-02-08T08:55:00.002-05:00

By: Eva Fognell, Curator of the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art

Fully Beaded Hose Mask, Teton Sioux, ca 1900 hide, glass beads. T70

Fenimore Art Museum’s beautiful fully-beaded horse mask is part of the new Brooklyn Museum exhibition Tipi: Heritage of the Great Plains. The exhibition “focuses on the tipi as the center of Plains culture and social, religious, and creative traditions from the early nineteenth century to the present.” The show is opening at BM on February 18 and will be there until May 15. After its stint at the Brooklyn Museum the show will travel to the Autry National Center, in Los Angels and then to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. So even if you don’t live on the east coast you will have a chance to see the show. I am going down to the opening at the Brooklyn Museum later this month and will share with you a few images of the exhibition. In the meantime you can see when they installed the tipi and read about the show by following the link above. There is also a catalogue accompanying this exhibition, and our horse mask is featured in it.

To protect a horse’s vulnerable head Spanish caballeros sometimes made their horses wear a metal face guard called a chanfron. It would probably not have taken very long for resourceful Indian warriors to employ the same tactic to protect their horses both physically and spiritually. Here is an excerpt from the earliest written description of Indian use of horse masks. It was written by Alexander Henry, an agent for the Northwest Company, in July of 1806. “We did not advance far before we met a small party … on horse back…Their horses were most beautiful, spirited beasts; some were masked in a very singular manner, to imitate the head of buffalo, red deer, or cabbrie [pronghorn antelope] with horns, the mouth and nostrils – even the eyes – trimmed with red cloth. This ornamentation gave them a very fierce appearance(*) ” In our ledger drawing (below) you can see a horse wearing a mask. The drawing is titled The Thunder Deity with his Masked Horse. In this drawing the spiritual aspect of the hose and his mask is emphasized.

Thunder Deity with his Masked Horse, Black Hawk Ledger Book, Black Hawk (1832? – 1890?) Sans Arc Lakota, ca. 1880-1881, paper, ink and pencil. T614

The mask that is traveling to Brooklyn was made after the wars on the Plains had ended so its use would not have been for war but as parade regalia. The beaded American flags that adorn the mask are an indication that it may have been used in 4th of July parades.

I’m looking forward to seeing how the Brooklyn Museum has interpreted the mask. I’m sure it will be a stunning display.

(*) Cowdrey, Mike, Ned and Joni Martin. American Indian Horse Masks. Hawk Hill Press, 2006. pg 4.

Chinese Wall Gun in Central New York

2011-02-04T13:03:00.000-05:00

By: John Hart, Assistant Curator of Collections

As I walked upstairs to the second level of Fenimore Art Museum's storage facility for the very first time, turning the corner the first words out of my mouth were something to the effect of “What the heck is that?” Resting against a shelving unit, reaching nearly 9’ in the air was something I had never once thought would be in the collection of a historical society in the middle of New York State, let alone in Cooperstown. That was the winter of 2006 when I interviewed as a candidate for the Cooperstown Graduate Program; the thing that astonished me: a Taiqiang, or in its anglicized spelling, a jingal, commonly called a Chinese Wall Gun.

Hearsay at the museum led me to believe the gun was probably used to hunt waterfowl from a boat or at least a similar use. For years I never bought that explanation. Sure, something that big could certainly take down geese or ducks or even a small tree for that matter, but so could a shotgun; this thing needed two people to manage it!

I finally decided to do a bit of digging around and turned to my best friend in situations like this: Google. What I learned was actually pretty interesting. These types of weapons are unique to China and were in use around the time of the Opium War (since there were two I’m guessing it’s probably the earlier of them, ca. 1839). They could be used in a variety of different ways, from two people holding it and firing it from the shoulder, to using a stand to stabilize it for one person, and of course, firing from a wall-mounted position. This website shows the first two ways the Taiqiang was used.

Even the history of our object is strange. Brigadier General Morris Foote is listed in the provenance, which is interesting given the other objects I’ve found over the past two years related to the Foote family, but that’s another story. This particular Foote served in the Civil War and later served in Asia, where he no doubt acquired this wall gun and somehow managed to bring it back to the United States with him. It’s certainly a well-traveled object!

Even if the folklore of the wall gun might be a little far-fetched, it has certainly seen its fair share of action, though I wouldn’t have wanted to be on the receiving end of what came out.

All images: Chinese Wall Gun, ca. 1900, Artist Unknown, Metal and Wood, H: 8 ½” x
L: 106" x W: 3. N0296.1963. New York State Historical Association, Cooperstown, NY. N0296.1963

Quick Change Artists

2011-02-01T08:29:00.000-05:00

By: Chris Rossi, Associate Curator of Exhibitions

Although Fenimore Art Museum is closed to the public until April 1, the galleries are in flux right now. As with the snow-covered landscape outside, it would be easy for those in the outside world to think that we are mimicking the local wildlife and are snug in our burrows waiting for the spring thaw. But there is life under the snow and there is plenty of life in our seemingly dormant museum. We are doing our big seasonal swap, which translates into taking down last year’s exhibits, bidding a fond farewell to paintings and objects that came on loan to us, and launching new exhibits for the 2011 season.

Truth be told, doing this strenuous work while we are closed is a logistical pleasure. Right now there is a lot of open gallery space to work with and no worries about making sure the public has room to navigate safely through our mess. Once we open on April 1, it becomes more of a challenge. Keeping that in mind we try to design galleries that are “change friendly.” One of this year’s big quick-change areas will be our Great Hall. We start the season with The Spirit of Land and Tradition, which is comprised of objects from our Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art. Later in the spring we switch to Prendergast to Pollock: American Modernism from the Munson-Williams-Proctor Art Institute* (opens May 28), and then back to the The Spirit of Land and Tradition in the fall (opens October 1), all while open to the public.

One way will we manage the changes is by using color and design elements in the gallery to imply change without involving dramatic physical change. The perimeter walls will stay the same color for the entire year. Freestanding walls will be added for Prendergast to Pollock in different colors to transform the space. The aim is to make the transitions go as smoothly as possible and keep the maximum amount of gallery space open and accessible to our visitors.

Design view of Great Hall for The Spirit of Land and Tradition

Design view of Great Hall for Prendergast to Pollock

*This traveling exhibition was organized by the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute Museum of Art, Utica, New York. The national tour sponsor for the exhibition is the MetLife Foundation. The Henry Luce Foundation provided funding for the conservation of artworks in the exhibition.

Little Love for Woodchucks: the Case of the Naturalist’s Coat

2011-01-25T09:44:00.008-05:00

By: Douglas Kendall, Curator of Collections

This morning the thermometer at my office read 15 degrees below zero Fahrenheit at 8 AM. It’s hard to remember that we observe Groundhog Day next week in the hopes that Punxsutawney Phil, Wiarton Willy or any number of other competing rodents will usher in an early spring by failing to see their shadows.

Marmota monax standing Photo: April King, used by permission under the GNU Free Documentation License.

A handful of celebrity groundhogs bask in their brief moment in the spotlight (but not the sun, the observers sincerely hope each year), but their species doesn’t generally get a lot of love from humans the rest of the year. Also known as woodchucks, the Marmota monax are found from Alabama to Alaska and are very common here in the Northeastern United States. They will eat grubs, grasshoppers and wild grasses, but in my personal experience they especially love garden vegetables.

John Burroughs at Edison’s House. Photo: Hunt, Fort Myers, Florida, 1914. This image is in the public domain.

The great American naturalist John Burroughs (1837-1921) named one of his homes Woodchuck Lodge, but it apparently wasn’t due to his fondness for the creatures. Rather, when Burroughs built a cabin on land purchased for him in Roxbury, New York by Henry Ford in 1913, he found the land already inhabited by a large population of woodchucks. Though in his 80s when he lived at Woodchuck Lodge, Burroughs was still a crack shot. One visitor wrote in his diary just a year before Burroughs passed away, “before standing for the picture, he called my attention to a fur coat made entirely of woodchuck skins. Mr. B. despite he is 84 years old, is a good marksman and said that last year he killed more than 100 woodchucks and nearly as many this season. He hastened to add that the woodchuck was the only animal he will shoot. He declared them a nuisance about the place." (see here for more on the naturalist’s thoughts on Marmota monax)

Coat. (N0200.1993) Woodchuck-fur, 1913-1920. Museum Purchase. Photo: Douglas Kendall.

Woodchuck-fur coats are not common and the one owned by John Burroughs now resides in the collections of the Fenimore Art Museum. It looks as if it would help keep one warm on cold January mornings. If we take the coat outside next Wednesday and it casts no shadow, I wonder whether spring will come sooner. We can only hope…

Bringing Home the Thaw Collection from Minneapolis

2011-01-21T10:49:00.009-05:00

By Eva Fognell, Curator of the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art

When my colleague Chris Rossi and I were at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts last October to install our traveling exhibition Art of the Native Americans: The Thaw Collection, the sun was shining and Minneapolis had a heat wave with 75 degree temperatures. But what a difference a few months makes! When I returned to Minneapolis for the dismantling of the exhibition, -2 degrees Farenheit welcomed me. And, since I had just got home from a winter vacation the cold weather was even more startling. From 90 degrees to -2 in 36 hours can shake up just about anyone; even this winter-hardy Swede.

Chris and I successfully dismantled the exhibition with much assistance from the fantastic MIA staff. However, the weather has made it impossible for the MIA to take down the teepees that have graced their front lawn, welcoming visitors and sending the message that the Native American show is here. All the snow in December and then some rain made the snow into icebergs that are not allowing the poles to be pulled up. So, they’ll stay put until spring!

The exhibition was a great success for the MIA. Nearly 28,000 people came out to see it during its run there. That is more then 7,800 over their target visitation. And that is with a few snow days when the museum was closed due to inclement weather!

I asked Joe Horse Capture, (MIA’s Native American Curator) to reflect on the experience of having this exhibit at the MIA:
Art of the Native Americans: The Thaw Collection was an opportunity for us to show our audience the highest quality of Native American art-which reinforces our mission as a museum. It is the first Native American art survey exhibition since 1972 Art of the Native American also provided us an opportunity to reach out to the Native American population in the Twin Cities. We had 45 schools with a high Native American population (which translates to about 1475 students) tour the exhibition. It was also great that the exhibition had the flexibility for us to add components that we thought would enhance the work-including the video interviews and photo blow-ups of the geographic regions. Lastly, the exhibition provided me an opportunity to show our trustees/patrons some of the best Native American art that inspires them to help the MIA acquire better works for our collection.

Here are a few words from a visitor’s email to the MIA:
American Indian Art is diverse and complicated, often times not lending itself to the typical academic theories about art for arts sake. However, if there are little to no opportunities to view American Indian Art in museums, the American public has no real place to cultivate an interest in it, and if the public has no interest, museums have little incentive to curate such exhibits. … Thanks to MIA for giving us the rare opportunity to experience this art form up close.

The picture below shows poignant evidence of a visitors emotional and appreciative response towards the exhibition and the objects: look carefully at the lower end of the photo with the shield. Someone gave an offering to the shield. The birch bark container contains tobacco - a sacred offering that feeds the shield.

All the World's a Stage

2011-01-13T12:01:00.000-05:00

By Chris Rossi, Associate Curator of Exhibitions

After digging out from the 3 days of solid lake effect snow my daughter and I were finally able to head south to see old friends in the city and take in a lovely exhibit at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, Connecticut. The Bruce displays a wonderful mix of art and science. But it wasn’t the Earth’s Minerals or Life Between the Tides exhibits we were off to see. We were after A Child’s View: 19th-Century Paper Theaters, on display until January 30 because Fenimore Art Museum is considering an exhibition of paper theaters for the future.

Cover Page from the Bruce Museum’s catalog showing a paper theater in use.

Before TV, PlayStation, and the Internet kids actually entertained themselves for hours on end by assembling things and playing with them. In the early 19th century tabletop sized paper theaters that had to be cut out and assembled were a favorite source of entertainment. The theaters came with little paper actors and scripts. Children, most likely with some adult help, would construct the theaters and put on the plays. I have no doubt that even 19th century children did a fair amount of goofing around and improvising with all of this, which must have been great fun. The paper theaters encouraged creativity and imagination and could be used again and again.

The Bruce has assembled over 40 theaters from the collection of Eric G. Bernard. The theaters are little masterpieces with intricately drawn sets, actors, and in some cases, musicians. The paper theater tradition was popular in England, Austria, France, Spain, Denmark and the USA. Sets usually depicted a popular play, fairy tale or opera. Productions ranged from Mozart’s the Magic Flute to Hamlet and Hansel and Gretel. The figures were drawn after popular actors of the day.

A French paper theater on display at the Bruce Museum and from the collection of Eric G. Bernard.

The paper theater production faded with the beginning of the 20th century. I imagine mass manufactured toys became more popular as the century progressed and made the paper theaters seem old fashioned and outdated. That said, there are folks out there today keeping the tradition alive. A brief search online will bring you to a myriad blogs about Toy or Paper Theater and its 21st century resurgence – a nice merging of the old tradition and new technology.

A Splash of Color for the New Year

2011-01-11T08:55:00.001-05:00

By Stephen Loughman, Preparator

With the New Year comes a lot of change here at Fenimore Art Museum, one of which is fresh new paint for all the new shows happening this year. Unlike painting a room in your home we need BIG color samples. This helps us get an idea of how various colors will look under our gallery lighting. It is a lot of fun looking at how different colors work in different spaces, and maybe even getting a few color ideas for our own homes!

Hmmm, these seem too small for us.

Lots of new colors for the new year.

Yes, these will do just fine.