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This article by Pat Summers was prepared for the September 19,
2001 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
One Man’s Love of Books
Near the entrance, a large open book is displayed.
Each page is about 18 inches long; together they span nearly two feet
across. The volume is very thick, easily a few inches, and its
handmade
paper leaves are hand-bound. With woodcut ornamentation and
illustrations
by Edward Burne-Jones, virtually the whole black and white surface
is densely decorated — vines and leaves, borders around borders,
and text that looks embossed. Its appearance suggests that the page
would feel pebbly and ridged, from its lines and vines, varied type,
and images.
On the left side, inch-high archaic letters, seeming in white relief
on the intricate background, announce, "The works of Geoffrey
Chaucer now newly imprinted." The facing page is headed by the
words "Here beginneth the tales of Canterbury and first the
prologue
thereof," and below the detailed illustration, starting with a
giant "W," the text reads, "Whan that Aprille with his
shoures soote / The droghte of March hath perced to the roote . .
. / Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages . . ."
This is the Kelmscott "Chaucer" of 1896, printed by William
Morris (1834-1896), English poet, painter, craftsman, and social
reformer.
Eschewing the machine-made products brought forth by the industrial
revolution, Morris returned to the more humanistic handicrafts of
the early Renaissance. This allowed him to revisit and employ elements
of the early art of the book: revival of 15th-century type design,
use of handmade paper and lavish woodcuts, hand-binding.
The Kelmscott "Chaucer" has been called the Gutenberg Bible
of Arts and Crafts printing in both England and America, and the
inspiration
of the private press movement in American from the early 20th century
to the present. The copy that is on display in the Milberg Gallery
was purchased by Elmer Adler (1884-1962), book and print collector,
printer, and creator of Princeton University’s Graphic Arts
Collection,
with which he was affiliated as its first curator from 1940 until
his retirement in 1952.
"For the Love of Books and Prints: Elmer Adler and the Graphic
Arts Collection at Princeton University Library" chronicles the
influence in America of William Morris and his Kelmscott Press. Richly
illustrated in cases and wall displays, the exhibition traces the
line of printers who wished to emulate Morris, from Elbert Hubbard
(1856-1915) and Dard Hunter (1883-1966), to the latter’s friend and
frequent printer, Elmer Adler.
A native of Rochester, New York, where his wealthy
family
had a clothing business, Adler early on became an art patron and book
and print collector. James Abbott McNeill Whistler and Edward Hopper
were among the artists whose work he collected — and whose prints
are represented in this show. Adler believed everyone should have
beautifully functional things around them.
With artist Walter Dorwin Teague (1883-1960), Adler established Pynson
Printers in Manhattan in 1922. It was named for Richard Pynson, an
English printer who flourished around 1490-1530, and its printer’s
mark — and business signboard — showed Pegasus and Hermes
(the Roman Mercury), two symbols not directly linked in mythology,
but thought in this context to represent artistic inspiration and
its transmission. The Pynson prospectus declared "the printer
should be primarily an artist, a designer and a creator rather than
a mere manufacturer."
Adler continued his pattern of encouraging young artists, mounting
gallery exhibitions, and sponsoring seminars on printing, as well
as collecting. Starting in 1924, Pynson Printers shared quarters with
the New York Times in its newly-built annex on 43rd Street. In 1939,
Adler’s museum exhibition catalog, "Story of the Recorded
Word,"
appeared, ranging from Babylonian cylinder seals to the New York Times
itself.
American authors Willa Cather and Stephen Crane were among the
beneficiaries
of Adler’s printing esthetic. Pynson published a volume of Cather’s
early poetry, causing her to lavish praise on both publisher and
product
and, it would seem, to regard her verse more positively. Crane’s work
was published in series. Examples of both projects can be seen in
Firestone, as can the variety of art work — from book plates to
illustrations for Candide, Beowulf, and Moby Dick — by Rockwell
Kent, one of the artists Adler befriended and encouraged.
Adler also published "Colophon," a book collector’s quarterly,
and some of the cover art can be seen in this exhibition. So can
prints
by Mary Cassatt and Toulouse-Lautrec, and photographs by Julia
Margaret
Cameron, all of which came to Princeton thanks to his curatorial
skills.
In 1940, sponsored by the friends of the library, Adler came to
Princeton,
bringing his burgeoning collection — which was ultimately to
become
the nucleus of the present Graphic Arts Collection — with him.
He lived first on Mercer Street, then University Place, and his
activities
included exhibiting fine books and prints, inviting artists to
demonstrate
original printmaking techniques, conducting undergraduate seminars
on collecting, and starting a print loan program through which
students
could borrow original prints to hang in their rooms.
Rebecca Warren Davidson, curator of graphic arts since last December,
will lead a walking tour through "For the Love of Books and
Prints"
on Sunday, October 7, at 3 p.m. — which is also the final day
of the exhibition. Davidson, who holds a doctorate in architectural
history from Cornell where she was a librarian for 10 years, worked
with now retired Princeton curator Dale Roylance to mount this
exhibition.
— Pat Summers
Milberg Gallery, Princeton University, 609-258-3197. "For the
Love of Books and Prints: Elmer Adler and the Graphic Arts Collection
at Princeton University Library," is open Monday through Friday,
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturdays, noon to 5 p.m. To October 7. Free.
Firestone
Library is located on the second floor, accessible via stairs or an
elevator in the Special Collections main gallery. It is free and open
to the public Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, noon
to 5 p.m.
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In the Galleries
works by Abe Liebmann. The West Orange artist’s intricate abstracts
are created in enamel gloss housepaint on Luan wood. To October 4.
Nassau Street, 609-921-6748. "Today’s News, Tomorrow’s
History,"
a show celebrating 18,000 photographs taken by the Princeton Packet’s
photographers and donated to the Historical Society’s permanent
collection.
The collection documents more than 25 years of development, historic
preservation, education, celebrations, and festivals, with images
of Princeton’s diverse populations. Show runs to March, 2002.
609-497-7330.
Solo show of new paintings by Belarussian-born artist Igo Tishin,
his first U.S. exhibit. Gallery hours are Tuesday to Saturday, 10:30
a.m. to 5:30 p.m. To October 14.
609-497-4192.
"Phil Aklonis," dining room exhibition of works by the
Franklin
Park resident who has worked in the graphics industry since 1978 and
is now employed as a studio artist with Krell Advertising. Part of
sales benefit the Medical Center. On view daily from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.,
to September 19.
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Art in the Workplace
Brunswick,
732-524-6957. "Burlington County Art Guild," to September
20. Also "Wounds," a collection of works by Anne Dushanko
Dobek designed to evoke the emotional turmoil of psychic and bodily
pain. To September 27. By appointment only.
Conference Area, 1 Hamilton Health Place, Hamilton, 609-584-6427.
A solo exhibit of watercolors and oils by Maxwell Nimeck, part of
the hospital’s "Art and Soul Program." A reception and
illustrated
lecture will take place Monday, September 14, from noon to 3 p.m.
To October 3.
Lawrenceville,
609-895-7386. Works by two photographers: Paul Kallich, showing his
Ellis Island Series, and Leo Ward. Gallery hours are Monday to Friday,
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. To October 12.
Area Galleries
"Lenses and Light: Ten Photographic Visions," a group show
at the new gallery for fine art photography and digital images.
Artists
include Vivian Abbot, Jay Anderson, Marilyn Anderson, DF Connors,
Heinz Gartlgruber, M. Jay Goodkind, Ed Greenblat, Rhoda Kassof-Isaac,
David H. Miller, and Carol Yam. Gallery hours are Saturday, Noon to
6 p.m. and Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m. To September 30.
609-466-0817.
Show by nine artists of The Art Group, formed in 1992. Members are
J.N. Betz, Judith Koppel, Nadine Berkowsky, Liz Adams, Seow-Chu See,
Helen Post, Stephanie Mandelbaum, Edith Kogan, Gloria Weirnik, and
Edith Hodge Pletzner. Shop hours are Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to
5 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. To November 10.
Road, 609-921-3272. In the main gallery: solo show by Gail
Bracegirdle,
a member of the Philadelphia Watercolor Society. Upstairs:
"Perceptions
IV," with works by Connie Gray and paintings by Diana Patton.
Gallery hours are Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m.to 3 p.m.; Sunday, 1 to
4 p.m. To October 14.
609-333-9393.
Michael McGinley’s exhibit of recent paintings that explores issues
of faith and spirituality in contemporary industrial society. Open
Wednesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. To
October 13.
Pennington,
609-737-7592. "Sense of Place," an exhibition featuring the
fine art and illustrative photography of Phil Moylan, Andy Chen, Marc
Stempel, and George Vogel. To November 10.
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Campus Arts
Photographs Look Like," the annual teaching show for Art History
248, featuring recent and historic gems from the permanent collection.
To
November 11.
Also "Seeing Double: Copies and Copying in the Arts of China,"
an exhibition of Chinese art, to November 4. On extended view in the
Bowen Gallery, Richard Serra’s "Weight and Measure" etchings.
The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday
1 to 5 p.m. Free tours of the collection are every Saturday at 2 p.m.
"The Light of Ancient Athens: A Photographic Journey by Felix
Bonfils, 1868-1887," an historic series of 42 large-format
photographs
taken in Beirut by the 19th-century French photographer. More than
800 Bonfils photographs were donated to Princeton in 1921 by Rudolf
Ernst Brunnow, professor of Semitic philology. Coordinated by Don
Skemer, the show is guest curated by Andrew Szegedy-Maszak of Wesleyan
University. Open to the public weekdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Wednesday
evenings to 8 p.m.; and weekends, noon to 5 p.m. To October 7.
609-771-2198. Works in all media by faculty members Bruce Rigby,
Elizabeth
Mackie, and Anita Allyn. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday,
noon to 3 p.m.; Thursday 7 to 9 p.m.; and Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m. To
October
3.
Lawrenceville,
609-620-6026. Two photographic projects: "Ed Greenblatt,
Photographs,"
featuring images of the Trenton Educational Dance Institute. Also
"Myself, My Camera, My World: The Ennis Beley Project." Both
shows continue to September 29.
"Myself, My Camera, My World," an exhibit of photographs by
young people in the Ennis Beley Project, supported by Young Audiences
of New Jersey. The Ennis Beley project is a national program that
teaches the art and business of photography to teens and preteens
that was introduced here in 1997. It is named in memory of a South
Central Los Angeles teenager with a gift for photography who was
murdered
in a gang shooting a few days before his 15th birthday.
West Windsor, 609-586-4800, ext. 3589. "Liminal Spirits,"
a shared show featuring paintings on paper by Rachel Bliss and Barbara
Bullock. Bliss will speak about her work on Wednesday, September 19,
at 7 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Wednesday evenings
from 6 to 8 p.m; and Thursday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m.
Library Place, 609-497-7990. "Spirit States," an exhibition
of paintings by Ben Frank Moss. The artist, who studied at Princeton
Theological Seminary, has an MFA from Boston University and is a
professor
of studio art at Dartmouth College. Gallery talk and reception is
Tuesday, October 2, at 4:30 p.m.. Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 9:30
p.m.; Saturday to 4:30 p.m.; Sunday 2 to 9:30 p.m.
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Art by the River
609-397-4588.
Leonard Restivo and Marc Reed. New Hope artist Restivo focuses on
life in and around Bucks County. Reed depicts industrial landscapes
and intimate studies of the human form. Gallery hours are Friday,
Saturday, and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. To September 23.
609-773-0881. Members’ features Anne Marie Belli, Damon Cramer, Marion
Robertson Frey, John Hylton, Michael Iskra, Edward Marston, Gale
Scotch,
Ferol Smith, and Anna Zambelli. Gallery is open Thursday through
Sunday,
noon to 6 p.m. To September 30.
908-996-9992.
"Sweet Summer," a solo exhibition of recent paintings by Lisa
Mahan. Gallery is open Thursday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. To
October
15.
215-862-4300.
"Rena Segal on Her Own" featuring mixed-media still lifes
and recent landscapes on paper painted with oil stick. The daughter
of renowned sculptor George Segal, Rena Segal studied at Montclair
State University and received her MFA at Rutgers’ Mason Gross School
for the Arts. This is her ninth one-person show. In 1998 she and her
father shared a show at the Gallery at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Gallery
hours are Wednesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, noon to
6 p.m. To September 30.
James T. Lang, lithographs, colographs, and mixed-media works on
exhibit in the Artworks Building. Gallery is open noon to 9 p.m.
daily.
Etchings and paintings by Patricia Ann Griffin. A graduate of Moore
College of Art and Design, her work has been exhibited in 30 galleries
across the nation. Gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to
5 p.m., and by appointment. To September 30.
908-996-1470. Jerry Cable, new works in oil. Gallery is open Wednesday
& Thursday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, noon to 6 p.m.;
and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. To September 15.
215-862-1110.
Exhibition features the unconventional graphics imagery of Shepard
Fairey, creator of the "Andre the Giant Has a Posse" sticker
campaign, designed to reawaken a sense of wonder about the urban
landscape.
His San Diego graphic design firm, Black Market, helps clients access
his guerrilla style of marketing to consumers. Curated by Jonathan
Levine. Gallery hours are Friday through Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
To September 30.
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Art In Trenton
exhibit features Sarah Grove Antin, Helen Bayley, Lisa Fuellemann,
Charles Viera, M.A. Zullinger and others. Gallery hours are Monday
through Thursday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday 1 to 4 p.m. To October
22.
609-890-7777.
Recent works by Gyuri Hollosy. In his latest series, "Never At
Rest," Hollosy turns his attention to the kinetic rhythm and
energy
of abstract figures in space. Recalling the Baroque sculptures of
Bernini, Hollosy unpacks the subtle, expressive gesture to show how
figures move — through water, air, across the ground —
yielding
to gravity or emotion. Gallery hours are Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m.
to 4 p.m. To October 5.
Hollosy has earned a national reputation for his powerful, elegant,
often haunting figurative works cast in bronze and iron. His
commissions
include large-scale memorial sculptures for Liberty Square in Boston
and the Martin Luther King Municipal Center in Lafayette, Louisiana.
He most recently designed and completed the National Hungarian War
Memorial near Cleveland, Ohio. His work can be viewed at
609-586-0616. Summer Exhibition. In the Museum, an exhibit by 30
members
of the National Association of Women Artists. In the Domestic Arts
Building, an exhibit by 20 members of the Sculptors Association of
New Jersey, plus a photography exhibit by Michael Bergman. New
additions
outdoors by Joan Danziger, David Allen Devrishian, Leonda Finke,
Sterett-Gittings
Kelsey, Manuel Neri, and Clifford Ward. To September 16.
Hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Adult admission
is $4 Tuesday through Thursday; $7 Friday and Saturday; and $10
Sunday.
Annual memberships are also offered.
609-292-6464. Museum hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to
4:45 p.m.; Sunday noon to 5 p.m. Website: www.njstatemuseum.org.
On extended view: "New Jersey’s Native Americans: The
Archaeological
Record"; "Delaware Indians of New Jersey"; "The Sisler
Collection of North American Mammals"; "Of Rock and Fire";
"Neptune’s Architects"; "The Modernists"; "New
Jersey Ceramics, Silver, Glass and Iron"; "Washington Crossing
the Delaware."
Street, Trenton, 609-394-9535. In the Cafe Gallery,
"Waterflowers,"
an exhibition of watercolors by Jane Garvey Adriance. All proceeds
benefit museum publications and acquisitions. Artist’s reception is
Sunday, September 23, from 2 to 4 p.m.
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Area Museums
Brunswick, 732-846-5777. "The Art of Baron Laszlo Mednyansky in
Context: Works from the Salgo Trust for Education." An exhibition
of works by the turn-of-the-century aristocratic artist who disguised
himself as a pauper to paint grim images of the underbelly of society.
Museum hours are Tuesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Sunday,
1 to 4 p.m. Donation $5. To September 16.
Doylestown,
215-340-9800. "George Nakashima and the Modernist Moment,"
a major exhibition that aims to recontextualize the work of George
Nakashima within the practice of European modernism. Museum hours
Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Saturday & Sunday, 10 a.m.
to 5 p.m.; and Wednesday evenings to 9 p.m. Admission $5 adults; $1.50
students. To September 16.
Also: "The Spirit of Abstraction: Contemporary Painting from the
Collection" features paintings from the 1950s and ’60s by artists
including Helen Frankenthaler, Grace Hartigan, Karl Knaths, Alan
Goldstein,
and Joan Lindley; to October 7. "The Drawings of Robert
Tieman,"
an exhibition of abstract works by the artist (1937-1989); to October
28. "The Sculpture of Fred Schmidt," an outdoor exhibit of
six sculptures created by the late steelworker turned sculptor; to
October 28.
908-735-8415. "Compelled," a multidisciplinary exhibition
of sculpture, painting, fiber, and ceramics by artists including
Chakaia
Booker, Ruth Borgenicht, Giovanna Cecchetti, Paul Edlin, Jacob El
Hanani, Jane Fine, Gary Gissler, and Seong Chun. Museum hours are
Tuesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. To November 4.
Branch Station, 908-725-2110. "Small Impressions," a national
juried exhibition featuring printmaking, photography, and alternative
media selected by printmaker Zarina Hashmi. Reception is Saturday,
October 6, 2 to 4 p.m., for the show that runs to October 27. Open
Wednesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturday, 1 to 4 p.m.
Brunswick, 732-932-7237. Exhibitions include: "Peeling Potatoes,
Painting Pictures: Women Artists from the Dodge Collection," to
November 4. "From Whistler to Warhol: A Century of American
Printmaking,"
to November 25. "Robert Motherwell: Abstraction as Emphasis,"
to December 9. "Boxed In: Plane, Frame, Surface," to December
2. "Mother Goose’s Children: Original Illustrations for Children’s
Books from the Rutgers Collection," to December 9. Museum hours
are Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday,
noon to 5 p.m. Admission $3 adults; under 18 free; museum is open
free to the public on the first Sunday of every month. Spotlight tours
every Sunday at 2 and 3 p.m.
Continuing exhibitions include: "The Uncommon Vision of Sergei
Konenkov (1874-1971)," to November 14. "Japonisme: Highlights
and Themes from the Collection," ongoing.
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