Art and Design News

Thread
This is the website of the BBC's online magazine Thread, which deals with the concept of eco-fashion. The website can be viewed in an Adobe Flash version or as HTML. It contains a collection of feature articles, including: Reports on subjects such as sustainability, ethical designers, working conditions, fair trade and waste management; Columns from regular writers; How-To Guides, including conservation and construction tips, and instructions on finding ethical fashion; Galleries including current trends and recommendations. There are a number of BBC videos on the website including interviews with designers, and in depth reports. An archive of Style Files contains photo shoots of eco-fashion looks with details of suppliers and prices.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/thread/




The National Film Board of Canada’s new film site makes hundreds of animated films, documentaries, and experimental films freely available online.
Link: http://www.nfb.ca/

Katherine Dunham Collection
This website provides access to a range of materials taken from the Katherine Dunham Collection at the Library of Congress. Comprising a selection of photographs, videos and texts, this web presentation documents the life and career of a woman who has been credited with changing the face of American modern dance, largely through introducing African and Caribbean dance movement to the public. Photographs are taken from the Library of Congress, the Missouri Historical Society, and Southern Illinois University. The database allows searching by keyword, and searching can be limited by factors such as name of ballet, and format. Other features include a chronological timeline, featuring photographs of Dunham.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/dunham/dunham-home.html

Public Art Resource+Research Scotland
This is the website of Public Art Resource+Research Scotland (PAR+RS), a new initiative developed by the Scottish Arts Council to "promote excellence and innovation within public art". The website has a news section with opportunities and developments, and there are also a number of featured articles available in full-text. The 'Blogs and Reflections' section of the website has blogs from invited writers reporting on live and complete projects and events. The 'Archive' provides details of previous public art projects and includes information about the commissioning process, funding and outcomes. Other content on the website includes information about how to contribute, a forum for registered users and a tools section, which includes links to useful information for artists on external websites.
http://www.publicartscotland.com/


Florida Broadsides
This website forms part of the Florida Memory website maintained by the State Archives of Florida. It provides free access to a collection of more than 200 digitised images of broadsides (posters, leaflets, petitions, flyers, advertisements, political cartoons) and other ephemeral such as pamphlets and newspaper articles relating to the social, political and economic history of Florida during the period 1800-2000. Themes of particular interest to social scientists include political cartoons relating to US national and local elections; materials relating to race and slavery.
http://www.floridamemory.com/collections/broadsides/


Artists' Illustrated Letters
The Getting the Picture website provides a selection of artists' illustrated letters from the collection of the Smithsonian Archives of American Art. The collection encompasses "exuberant thank you notes, winsome love letters, lively reports of current events, graphic instructions and other personalized communiqués from the early nineteenth century through the 1980s." It gives a wonderful insight into the private world of the artist. Artists include: Alexander Calder; Dale Chihuly; Marcel Duchamp; Thomas Eakins; Winslow Homer; Roy Lichtenstein; Man Ray; Eero Saarinen; Antoine de Saint-Exupéry; and Andy Warhol.
http://www.aaa.si.edu/exhibits/exhibit-illustratedletters/

Marcel Breuer Papers
Marcel Breuer Papers 1920-1986' is a website which provides access to the papers of Marcel Breuer in the Archives of American Art, at the Smithsonian Institution, New York City Research Center. They were digitized in 2005 from 32 reels of microfilm, totaling 42,734 images. Architect and furniture designer Breuer was born in Hungary in 1902 and died in 1981 in New York City. He studied and taught at the Bauhaus until 1928. The collection contains biographical material, correspondence, business and financial records, writings, project files, interviews, notes, sketches, exhibition files, and photographs.
http://www.aaa.si.edu/collectionsonline/breumarc/

Art and Design News

The Coming Asian Art Shift The Independent (UK) 11/16/08
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/the-remarkable-renaissance-in-chinese-art-1020489.html

Multiple Choice: From Sample to Product
The Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum website provides this online version of their exhibition, `Multiple Choice: From Sample to Product' which was held from 9 November 2007 to 10 September 2008. Sample books that contain examples of a product or technique have been around "for more than 300 years for the merchandizing and recording of design alternatives in many areas of the decorative arts, including wallcoverings, ceramics, and textiles". This website provides an introduction on the origin of the sample book, and includes images of samples of tableware, interior decoration, textiles and fashion, as well as paper and colour, to which is added a glossary of relevant terms. A video is also provided of a late 18th century to early 19th century French salesman's sample book, which featured in the exhibition. The Curator of the exhibition, Sarah Scaturro, has contributed a blog to this website.http://cooperhewitt.org/EXHIBITIONS/multiple_choice/site/


ROCK STAR! (Brought to You by HUGE ADVERTISER!)
A Miller-McCune interview with Bethany Klein of the University of Leeds, who’s researching the increasingly close relationship between pop music and Madison Avenuehttp://www.miller-mccune.com/article/rock-star-brought-to-you-by-huge-advertiser

A Perilous Future For Detroit Institute Of Arts
Detroit Free Press 11/09/08http://www.freep.com/article/20081109/ENT05/811090316/1035/ENT

Whats happening in the world of arts

Art Knowledge News

Picasso's Blue Period 1901-04

Have you ever wondered what is Picasso's Blue Period?
http://www.artknowledgenews.com/blueperiod

Exhibition Exploring the Life and Work of Palladio Celebrates his 500th Anniversary
Venice, Italy - This exhibition celebrating the 500th anniversary of Palladio’s birth tells the story of a remarkable life and attempts to solve a mystery: how did a humble miller’s son become the most renowned world architect in the last five centuries? The story is told in unique ‘film stills’, i.e. the works brought together from over eighty European museums and libraries by an international team of scholars from Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, and the United States.
http://www.artknowledgenews.com/Palladio_his_500th_Anniversary.html

The Museum of Arts and Design shows Elegant Armor ~ The Art of Jewelry
NEW YORK.- The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) will inaugurate the Tiffany & Co. Foundation Jewelry Gallery in its new Columbus Circle home with Elegant Armor: The Art of Jewelry. On view from September 2008 to March 2009, the exhibition explores the inspirations for contemporary jewelry, including the fine arts, the human form and the natural world. Featuring over 130 works from 1948 to the present, Elegant Armor draws from the Museum’s collection of approximately 450 modern and contemporary works, the entirety of which will be housed in the Tiffany & Co. Foundation Jewelry Gallery in publicly accessible study drawers

http://www.artknowledgenews.com//Museum_of_Arts_and_Design_MAD.html

Modern Photographs ~ The Machine, the Body and the City ~ at Parrish Art Museum
Southampton, NY - This exhibition traces the evolution of photography in the 20th and 21st centuries, from early Pictorialist works that mimic the moodiness of late 19th-century painting, through the Modern formal experimentations of the Constructivist and Bauhaus schools, to the documentary ethos of mid-century America and the large-scale, staged tableaux of our own time. As indicated by its title, the exhibition also examines three prominent themes highlighted by the selection: depictions of the metropolis, modern machinery, and the human figure. On view at the Parrish Art Museum though 30 November, 2008.

http://www.artknowledgenews.com//Parrish_Art_Museum_Machine_Body_City.html

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) presents 'Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night'
NEW YORK.- The Museum of Modern Art, in collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, presents Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night, the first exhibition to examine Vincent van Gogh’s lyrical view of the night through nocturnal interiors and landscapes, which he often combined with other longstanding themes of his art—peasant life, sowers, wheatfields, and the encroachment of modernity on the rural scene. This exhibition includes 23 paintings and 10 works on paper from all periods of Van Gogh’s career, as well as a selection of his letters and examples of the rich literary sources that influenced the artist’s work in this area by writers such as Hans Christian Andersen, Jules Michelet, and Emile Zola. It will be on view at MoMA through January 5, 2009, and then it travels to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, where it will be on view February 13 to June 7, 2009.

Whats happening in the arts and design world

Alphabet of Illustrators

This alphabet of illustrators has been provided by the Culture Archive based in Brighton and offers digital images of historical illustrations. Clicking on any name provides high quality images of scans from books and publications of the illustrator's work. Illustrations include pictures from the fairytales of Hans Christian Anderson, as well as work by the artist Walter Crane, Edward Bawden's pamphlet for Fortnum and Mason and the work of Fougasse, and many more.
http://www.fulltable.com/VTS/aoi/


Babar The Elephant
The Morgan Library and Museum in New York have launched an online facsimile of original sketches for Jean de Brunhoff's classic children's character Babar The Elephant.
This digital facsimile presents every page of a small, delicate maquette that Jean de Brunhoff created in 1930 or 1931 as he drafted the first book in the Babar series. The maquette, an extraordinary handmade booklet complete with cover and endpapers, text and illustrations, is the prototype for Histoire de Babar, le petit éléphant.
http://www.themorgan.org/collections/swf/exhibOnline.asp?id=900

ArtsProfessional Magazine

Arts at the Heart of the Olympics
The powers behind London 2012 have promised that the arts will be at the heart of the next Olympic Games, according to Charlotte Higgins in the G. Sebastian Coe promises "a clear and tangible cultural legacy for the whole nation". Launching the Cultural Olympiad, Jude Kelly, chair of culture, ceremonies and education for the Olympics, unveiled a series of cultural initiatives that will build over the next four years and culminate in a celebration of British creativity in the summer of 2012. The Olympiad will not restrict itself to London but, according to Kelly, will "embrace the whole nation". At Tate Britain, Coe will take part in the Martin Creed sculpture Work 850, which involves a runner sprinting along the length of the museum’s Duveen Galleries.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/sep/05/olympics2012

Scholar finds ‘Beethoven’s last piano work’ in library
An Australian musicologist has discovered what he believes to be the last piano work written by Beethoven five months before he died.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/scholar-finds-beethovens-last-piano-work-in-library-923491.html


Hirst auction exceeds expectations
Damien Hirst has given up smoking and drinking and, in the wake of a lukewarm reception for his works in India, is auctioning a selection at Sotheby’s. The first session has brought in £70.5m. What’ll he do with all that cash?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2008/sep/02/damien.hirst.india


Leicester University invests in modern art
He may not be able to afford a Hirst, but the boss of Leicester University has been buying up art to improve the look of the campus and lift the spirits of staff and students.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/higher/framework-for-success-why-leicester-university-is-investing-in-modern-art-925162.html

8. Playing with the Band
Oasis has teamed up with Arts Council England and music magazine NME to inspire fans to learn to pick up instruments and play music. The band is giving away a DVD featuring sheet music and lyrics to three new songs and is asking new artists to send in their interpretations before the actual songs are released next month. Musicians will submit their own versions to a special website, with the winning entrant invited to travel to an Oasis gig anywhere in the world.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2709308/Oasis-teams-up-with-Arts-Council-and-NME-to-inspire-fans-to-learn-to-play-music.html

The Arts Newsletter Goethe Institute

The Arts Scene in Germany
http://www.goethe.de/kue/arc/thm/idd/en3645200.htm

ARCHITECTURE
Oases of Green: Gardens Conquer the Cities
Dossier: Contemporary Monument Concepts in Germany
Updated and redesigned
http://www.goethe.de/kue/arc/dos/dos/zdk/enindex.htm

DANCE
Constanza Macras: In the Eye of the Storm
http://www.goethe.de/kue/tut/thm/idd/en3664698.htm

DESIGN AND FASHION
We redesigned our fashion and design web pages
Fashion Scene
http://www.goethe.de/kue/des/prj/mod/enindex.htm

Design Trends
http://www.goethe.de/kue/des/prj/des/enindex.htm

FILM
Recent History with Great Depth of Feeling
http://www.goethe.de/kue/flm/thm/idd/en3603488.htm

LITERATURE
A Question is a Question - Writers' Soliloquies
http://www.goethe.de/kue/lit/thm/idd/en3645804.htm

MUSIC
Beyond Bayreuth: Classical Music Festivals Booming in Germany
http://www.goethe.de/kue/mus/thm/opr/en3602442.htm

German University Schools of Music - a Changing Tradition
http://www.goethe.de/kue/mus/thm/opr/en3630155.htm

Germany, Europe's Festival Heartland
http://www.goethe.de/kue/mus/thm/prh/en3629714.htm

VISUAL ARTS
(Painting, Sculpture and Graphic, Photography, Media Art)

Under the Spell of Fountains: The Artist Jeppe Hein
http://www.goethe.de/kue/bku/thm/kab/en3614582.htm

Thorsten Brinkmann: Portrait of a Serial Collector
http://www.goethe.de/kue/bku/thm/bpp/en3654577.htm

Art and Design

Czech Book Covers
The Smithsonian Institution Libraries website has provided this resource on Czech book covers of the 1920s and 1930s, which is based on the collection in the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum Library. The overview introduces Czech book design which sprang from the journals published by the Devetsil Artistic Union. The union was a highly influential group of avant-garde poets, writers, artists and designers who were active from 1920 to 1931. The collection can be viewed by style - constructivism, poetism, surrealism or social realism; or by book designer/typographer/illustrator, including work by Karel Bedrna,Vrastislav Hugo Brunner, Gustave Dore and Adolf Hoffmeister. All these books can also be viewed by author or by date of publication. A select bibliography is also provided.
Link: http://www.sil.si.edu/ondisplay/czechbooks/

Dali and Film
This website features the online exhibition 'Dalí: Painting and Film', also showing at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) from 29th June until 15th September 2008. Bringing together over a hundred paintings, photographs, drawings and films by Salvador Dalí, the exhibition explores the role of cinema in his work, and covers his collaborations with filmmakers including Luis Buñuel, Alfred Hitchcock and Walt Disney.
Link: http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/2008/dali/

Graphic Design Timeline
The Graphic design timeline is an interactive guide which acts as an accompaniment to the fourth edition of "Meggs' History of Graphic Design", by Philip P. Meggs and Alston W. Purvis. Using flash technology the site provides a chronological history of graphic design, beginning in the year 15,000 BC and the Lascaux cave paintings, and covering the invention of writing, illuminated manuscripts, the advent of printing, the industrial revolution, the Arts and Crafts Movement, right up until the present day to the digital revolution and beyond.
Link: http://www.graphicdesigntimeline.net/

Whats happening in the world of arts

Art Knowledge News - Keeping You in Touch with the World of Art...


Nasher Museum of Art presents " From El Greco to Velazquez "


DURHAM, N.C. - The Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, in partnership with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, presents the exhibition, El Greco to Velázquez: Art during the Reign of Philip III, the first comprehensive exhibition of art made for this Spanish court four centuries ago. Among the works of two giants of Spanish art, the show will introduce great unknown masters of painting and sculpture. El Greco to Velázquez will be on view at the Nasher Museum from August 21 through November 9, 2008.
http://www.artknowledgenews.com/Nasher=Museum_of_Art.html
Meselson Collection Offered at Bonhams’ September 19th Fine Japanese Art Auction

New York City - Bonhams New York announces an important sale of Fine Japanese Art is to be held on Friday, September 19, 2008 at 1 pm in its prestigious new premises at 580 Madison Avenue. This auction will showcase inro together with a selection of netsuke from the collection of the late and influential Ann Swedlow Meselson of Los Angeles, California.
http://www.artknowledgenews.com//Bonhams=Japanese_Art_Auction.html

Calgary Celebrates Art from Canadians at The Glenbow Museum
Calgary, Canada - The Glenbow Museum brings you the art event of the summer! The BIG Gift: Calgary Celebrates Art from Canadians opened at the museum on July 26th! Come feast your eyes on approximately 200 works of contemporary art – including painting, sculpture, videos, art installations and photography. The range is stunning. On exhibition through 14 September, 2008.
http://www.artknowledgenews.com//Glenbow_Museum.html


Hammer Museum Shows First Major U.S. Presentation of Paintings by Tomma Abts
LOS ANGELES, CA- The first major U.S. solo exhibition of paintings by London-based artist Tomma Abts (born Kiel, Germany, 1967) at the Hammer Museum. The exhibition originated at the New Museum in New York and is organized by Laura Hoptman, Kraus Family Senior Curator. The exhibition includes roughly fifteen paintings created over the past ten years, as well as a selection of colored pencil drawings. Abts’ works might be modest in size—18 7/8 by 15 inches (48 x 38 cm), but actually they are extremely ambitious undertakings. On view through 9th November, 2008.
http://www.artknowledgenews.com//Tomma=Abts.html

Tibetan Buddhist Monks to Create a Mandala Sand Painting at JCSM

AUBURN, AL - The Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art announced the opening of a small exhibition of works from the Nelson and Joan Cousins Hartman Collection of Tibetan Bronzes. The exhibition, Aspects of Buddha, is open now and will be on display through the fall semester. On August 21-24 monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery in Atlanta will create a sand mandala in the Grand Gallery of the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art. The public is invited to see the monks at work, and take part in the opening and closing ceremonies of the mandala making
http://www.artknowledgenews.com//Jule_Collins_Smith_Museum.html

Victoria and Albert Museum in London displays " Fashion V Sport "


LONDON - At the V&A this summer, Fashion V Sport, will explore the relationship between contemporary fashion and global sportswear brands. Both industries have been inspired by street style and have been working in closer collaboration in recent years. On display will be around 60 outfits including performance sportswear, work by fashion designers such as Stella McCartney who have designed sportswear ranges, and garments such as the work of Japanese label Visvim which show the influence of sportswear on high fashion. There will also be design drawings, photographs and film to examine how these products are worn, designed, advertised and collected. On view through 4 January, 2009.
http://www.artknowledgenews.com//V-and-A_Fashion_V_Sport.html


Le Corbusier "Le Grand" ~ A Spectacular Visual Biography of his Life and Work \

NEW YORK CITY - Using the same grandly oversized format as Warhol "Giant Size" (Phaidon, 2006), Le Corbusier Le Grand includes approximately 2,000 images and documents, many previously unpublished, featuring his major built works, urban plans, paintings, publications, and furniture as well as sketches and archival photographs. Rarely seen photographs and personal correspondences also shed new light on Le Corbusier’s relationships with Josephine Baker, Eileen Gray, Fernand Léger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Prouvé, and many others.

http://www.artknowledgenews.com//Le=Corbusier_Le_Grand.html

Whats happening in the world of arts

Wolfsburg, Germany - In the 14 years since it was founded, the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg has regularly presented the medium of photography in exhibitions devoted to the work of individual artists. These have included Lee Miller, Cecil Beaton, Brassaï, Richard Avedon, Man Ray, Pietro Donzelli and Ed van der Elsken. To mark the 70th anniversary of the City of Wolfsburg, the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg is presenting a comprehensive exhibition of work by the photographer Heinrich Heidersberger, who died in Wolfsburg in 2006, shortly after celebrating his 100th birthday. Around 170 photographs from different phases of Heidersberger’s career will provide insight into the Ingolstadt-born artist’s complex body of work.
http://www.artknowledgenews.com/Heinrich=Heidersberger.html

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has released a 140-page report on the state of the country's artists, reports the Associated Press. According to the study, "Artists in the Workforce: 1990–2005," around 2 million Americans identify themselves as artists, falling into 11 categories.


http://www.artknowledgenews.com//National_Endowment_for_the_Arts_NEA.html

THE HAGUE.- Clothes maketh the man. At times it may seem as if men simply open the wardrobe and put on the first thing that comes to hand, or as if a frivolous tie to brighten up the standard grey three-piece suit is the most daring thing they ever put on, but this summer’s exhibition at the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag shows that nothing could be further from the truth. The Ideal Man, fashion for real men combines brightly coloured and extravagantly patterned eighteenth-century habits à la française with spectacular contemporary outfits from the latest collections of celebrated designers like Jean-Paul Gaultier, Vivienne Westwood, John Galliano, Bernhard Willhelm and Walter van Beirendonck. The evidence of the past and present reveals that men’s fashion is anything but boring.

http://www.artknowledgenews.com//Gemeentemuseum-Den_Haag.html


Budapest, Hungary - Keith Haring, having died of AIDS at the age of 31, would be 50 years old in 2008. His anniversary is going to be celebrated with several exhibitions and events all over the world. The Ludwig Museum – Museum of Contemporary Art in Budapest contributes to the celebration with a unique exhibition organized in co-operation with the Keith Haring Foundation in New York. It will be the first time that such a comprehensive overview on his oeuvre is exhibited in Hungary, which is fascinatingly rich and multifaceted, although it embraces merely a decade
http://www.artknowledgenews.com//Keith=Haring.html

Whats Happening in the World of Arts

Pochoirs
This online exhibition of pochoir images is hosted by the Smithsonian Institution website. Called `Vibrant Visions' this collection of pochoir illustrations have been selected from the collection in the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum library, and can be viewed either by category; by artist, illustrator, designer; or by journals and books. Artists include Sonia Delaunay and George Barbier. Particuarly popular in France in the early 1900s, pochoir prints are richly coloured illustrations that are created by using a stencil process. The 35 images in this resource feature designs for interiors, furniture, decorative book bindings, fashion plates and colourful patterns. A useful bibliography is also provided, as well as information on the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum Library.
Link: http://www.sil.si.edu/ondisplay/pochoir/


Industrial Drawings
The Smithsonian Institution Libraries website has provided this online exhibition of `Doodles, Drafts and Designs: Industrial Drawings from the Smithsonian`. The 77 objects in this exhibition represent industrial drawings in the collections of the National Museum of American History and the Smithsonian Institution Libraries and range from working drawings to more finished designs, with some printed either as sales material or as part of a patent application. The exhibition is arranged under four headings; `Working it out', `Convincing', `Controlling' and 'Recording' and each image is accompanied by a brief description. The site can also be searched by the nine designers and engineers represented in this exhibition.
Link: http://www.sil.si.edu/exhibitions/doodles/


Festival of Britain Film
The National Archives website has provided online access to a documentary film on the Festival of Britain held in London in 1951. Originally produced in 1951 as a public information film for the Central Office of Information for Commonwealth Retlations Office, this nine-minute film can be viewed with a Windows Media Player or QuickTime in either high or low quality. This colour film shows all the various areas of the festival with a large number of visitors enjoying the facilities, as well as an overview of sculptures, demonstrations and objects on display. The last section features the funfair and activities held at Battersea as part of this festival. Six film screenshots are also provided, together with a text version of the film.
Link: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/films/1945to1951/filmpage_fil.htm


Exploring 20th Century London
The `Exploring 20th Century London' website has provided this resource on art and design that was influenced by the city itself. A general overview is given with links to more detailed information and images relating to artists and designers particularly connected with London, including the designer of the Tube Map, Henry (Harry) Beck; poster artist Tom Eckersley; station designer Leslie Green and fashion designer, Mary Quant. Pages also cover relevant organisations such as Biba, Picture Post and Whitefriars, and subjects such as Art Deco style, London Fashion designers, London Transport posters and war artists.
Link: http://www.20thcenturylondon.org.uk/server.php?show=nav.37


Europa Film Treasures
Europa Film Treasures is a substantial EU-funded online archive of classic vintage films from across Europe. The 50 digitised films can be viewed online and they date from 1895 to the 1970s. The films have been drawn from film institutes across Europe and beyond. Films are presented with a short history and description.
Link: http://www.europafilmtreasures.eu/

Whats Happening in the World of Arts IV

Floral Frocks

The Floral Frocks website was published to accompany an exhibition, entitled 'Pick of the Bunch: the floral printed dress in the 20th century', held at the Fashion Museum, in Bath, England, from 17 July to 27 August, 2007. Pick of the Bunch was a collaborative project between the School of Art and Design at Bath Spa University and the Fashion Museum. The website provides detailed access to six British floral dresses from the 1940s to the 1960s. The six case studies "include an object analysis (description) of each garment, the socio-historical context from which each dress emanates, key designers of the time, new fabric technology, themes for discussion, bibliography," and 360 degree views of each dress. Also included are details about prints and dyes, dye recipes, and patterns for some of the dresses shown.
Link: http://www.floralfrocks.org/
Access: Free


Prunella Clough

Tate Online has provided this resource on the archive of the artist Prunella Clough (1919-1999). This archive was acquired by the Tate after the artist`s death and has been organised under two headings `Inspirations' and `Working Methods'. Clough wrote detailed descriptions of things that caught her eye, as well as making thumbnail sketches which later informed her work. `Working Methods' shows images she cropped to create effects, reworked postcards, materials, notes on colour, descriptions of artwork and the artist at work.
Link: http://tinyurl.com/5senmg
Access: Free


Covering Photography

The Covering Photography website looks at the history of photography and book cover design, and how photographs get transformed when they are used on book covers. The website provides a book cover image database, which is browsable by photographer, author, publisher, publication date, and designer. Each thumbnail image in the database contains information about the book, including: photographer, author, publisher, publication date, designer, photo genre, book genre, and group.
Link: http://www.coveringphotography.com/covering_photography.html
Access: Free

Chinese Jade

Part of the British Museum's website, this is an online tour that shows the development of Chinese jade from around 5000 BC to the modern period. From earliest times, the Chinese have carved intricate designs from this tough stone and it became a material that was worn by royalty and nobility. The website features images and descriptions of carved jade artefacts from various Chinese dynasties.
Link: http://tinyurl.com/6zmzcx
Access: Free

Update on the World of Arts and Design III

Art Libraries Society UK & Ireland and Tate organised a study day at Tate Britain called “The Archival Impulse:
Artists and Archives” 3 papers based on presentations from the study day have just been published online in the Spring 2008 issue of Tate Papers.
2 audio podcasts are also available.

Link: http://www.tate.org.uk/research/tateresearch/tatepapers/08spring/
Access: Free


Typographic Archives

The Typographic Archives website aims to "preserve valued web contents on typography and history of printing and writing" by archiving the contents of relevant websites that no longer exist. At the time of writing the site includes short biographies of a few of the more famous names in the history of typography, including: William Caxton; Johannes Gutenberg; and William Caslon, as well as a glossary of typographical terms and an excerpt from Beatrice Warde's lecture to the British Typographers' Guild.
Link: http://www.typographia.org/
Access: Free

Analysing Paintings

"Analysing paintings" is an online tutorial that introduces the tools and techniques of formal art analysis. Developed with students of modern languages in mind - who may be taking a module in the visual arts but have no prior knowledge of art analysis - the tutorial is nonetheless suitable for anyone interested in learning more about art.
Divided into clear sections, which allow students to dip in and out of the course as they see fit, the tutorial covers some of the key aspects of form, such as: colour and line; space and perspective; light; composition; portraiture; and medium and support. Examples ranging from medieval to modern works of art are provided throughout (by means of links to external online art galleries), together with guided activities.
Link: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/italian/analysingpaintings.htmAccess: Free

Trigger Happy:

The Inner Life of Videogames

The personal blog of British author Steven Poole gives access to a free PDF version of his book 'Trigger Happy: The Inner Life of Videogames' (Fourth Estate, 2001). This PDF ebook is unrestricted and it includes the full text of the revised 2nd edition. The Web page also links to the full text of an Afterword chapter that was written for the 2004 U.S. edition subtitled "Videogames and the Entertainment Revolution".

Link: http://stevenpoole.net/blog/trigger-happier/
Access: Free

Stewardesses Fashion around the world

Posted: 30 May 2008 09:57 AM CDT


Images of hundreds of retired and current airline flight attendant uniforms, mostly from the 1980s to the present. Browse though images by name of over 300 airlines such as Aeroflot, Air Berlin, Bangkok Airways, Debonair, Iranair, Kuwait Airways, South African Airways, Tikal Jets Airline, and Virgin Atlantic.
Link: http://www.uniformfreak.com/
Access: Free

Update on the world of arts and design II

Voices in the Visual Arts Posted: 20 May 2008 04:11 AM CDT
Launched in 2004, Viva is an oral history research project by Camberwell College of Arts, one of the constituent colleges of University of the Arts London. The website includes extracts from life history recordings with former Camberwell alumni, as well as people associated with the college, and includes their reflections on living and working in the arts and creative industries.
Current interviewees include: designer Aziz Cami; painter Juliet Kindersley; publisher Peter Kindersley; designer Alex Maranzano; and ceramicist Sara Radstone.
The website also includes the Design History Society oral history project, which includes interviews with historians, academics, and writers who have shaped the field in the last 30 years. The 'context' section of the website includes a select bibliography of available texts in the areas of oral history and narrative research.
Link: http://www.vivavoices.org
Access: Free

Spode Pottery Posted: 20 May 2008 04:08 AM CDT
The website of the New York Public Library has provided this digitised version of `Spode and his successors: a history of the pottery: Stoke-on-Trent 1765-1865' a book written by Arthur Hayden, which was originally published in 1925. The forty-six images, many in colour, illustrate the various objects produced by the Staffordshire potteries of Spode and W. T. Copeland. Objects illustrated include vases, plates and dishes, as well as figures, including an earthenware bust of Josiah Spode the second. Pages from old pattern books are also included in this volume.
Link: http://tinyurl.com/6mady4
Access: Free

Peter Blake Video Posted: 20 May 2008 04:05 AM CDT
Tate Online's TateShots website has provided this MP4 five-minute video by the pop artist, Peter Blake. Published to accompany a retrospective exhibition of his work, which was held at Tate Liverpool from 29 June to 23 September 2007, Blake discusses the evolution of his style from his early days at the Royal College of Art, to his latest work. The video can be played on a range of media player software including iTunes and QuickTime. A transcript in RTF is also available.
Link: http://www.tate.org.uk/tateshots/episode.jsp?item=11307
Access: Free

Victorian Music Covers Posted: 20 May 2008 04:03 AM CDT This is a searchable database of digital images deposited with the Visual Arts Data Service (VADS) by the University of Reading, of their Spellman Collection of Victorian Music Covers. Printed mainly using lithographic techniques, most of the items are colour-illustrated and many of them are examples of outstanding music illustrators of the period, including John Brandard and Alfred Concanen. Each record is accompanied by a detailed catalogue entry.
Link: http://www.vads.ac.uk/collections/SCVMC.html
Access: Free

Journal of Design and Manufactures Posted: 20 May 2008 04:01 AM CDT
Part of the University of Glasgow library's website, this 'Book of the Month' online exhibition features volume one of `The Journal of Design and Manufactures'. The library holds four of the six volumes published by Chapman and Hall between 1849 and 1852 under the editorship of Henry Cole and Richard Redgrave, with the aim of improving British standards of design and manufactures. This online exhibition includes a number of colour images of the actual samples of textiles and wallpapers bound into the volume, as well as examples of the steel-engraved illustrations and samples in situ on the page.
Link: http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/exhibns/month/aug2001.html
Access: Free

Update on the World of Arts and Design

Children's Book Illustration Posted: 12 May 2008 04:26 AM CDT
Baldwin Library of Children's Literature : Digital Collection in an online collection of digitised children's books at the University of Florida libraries. The collection contains volumes published in the UK and US from the early 1700s, and numbers over 3,000 titles. Specialised collections on the site include: the Afterlife of Alice and her Adventures in Wonderland, a collection of early editions of Carroll's work and works based on it; Daniel Defoe and the Robinsonades, a collection of early editions of Robinson Crusoe and works inspired by it (such as Swiss Family Robinson); and St. Nicolas Magazine, a popular US children's magazine which ran from 1873 to 1941.
Link: http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/UFDC/?c=juv
Access: Free

Ocean Liners 1891-1919 Posted: 12 May 2008 04:22 AM CDT
Bedford Lemere Collection : National Maritime Museum is an online collection of over 500 photographs of ocean liners taken between 1891 and 1919. Taken by Bedford Lemere & Co., a company of architectural photographers active from the late 1860s to the 1940s, the collection covers the interiors and exteriors of 35 liners. The images were digitised from 12 x 10 inch glass plate negatives which were taken with small apertures and long exposures to allow their subjects to be captured in fine detail. Each image is accompanied by metadata detailing its provenance and describing its contents, and is available in a number of resolutions.
Link: http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/explore/index.cfm/category/90536
Access: Free

Century of Shoes Posted: 12 May 2008 04:18 AM CDT
'Solemates' is an online feature which traces the history of shoes through the 20th Century and their importance to our cultural landscape. Produced by the staff of 4th Revolution, a California-based company, the site offers both a Flash and non-Flash version. Well-designed and easy to navigate, the site provides a decade-by-decade guide, containing, for each decade, an essay, a list of items which were 'all the rage', images of advertisements from the period and movie clips of scenes from the decade. A selection of shoe images are also available, augmented by a description, a facility to zoom in and alternate views of each pair.
Link: http://www.centuryinshoes.com/
Access: Free

19th Century American Trade Cards Posted: 12 May 2008 04:16 AM CDT
The historical collections website for the Baker Library Bloomberg Center at Harvard Business School has provided this online resource on 19th century American trade cards, which were used as a form of advertising of products and businesses in the nineteenth century. As the website points out, they could be "an indicator of consumer habits, social values, and marketing techniques, [and] trade cards are of interest to scholars across many disciplines, including business history, American studies, graphic design and printing history, and social and cultural history". This website provides access to an exhibition on `A New and Wonderful Invention: The Nineteenth-Century American Trade Card', which is organised in four sections: the development of the trade card; new markets, new methods; the art of the trade card; and the public appeal of these cards.
Link: http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/19th_century_tcard/
Access: Free

V&A Research Reports Posted: 12 May 2008 04:13 AM CDT
This website brings together the research reports of the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A). The reports, dating back to 1990 present the whole range of research conducted at the museum, including lectures and exhibitions. Each (annual) report is available to download, and subjects cover the entire of the Museums interests in fine and decorative arts.
Link: http://www.vam.ac.uk/res_cons/research/research_reports/index.html
Access: Free

Gilbert Stuart 1755-1828 Posted: 12 May 2008 04:12 AM CDT
This online version of an exhibition which ran from 21 October 2004 to 16 January 2005 on the American portraitist, Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828) has been provided by the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York). Arranged in chronological order this online exhibition charts Stuart's work during his time in Newport (Rhode Island), Scotland, London and Dublin from 1755 to 1793, his subsequent return to the United States, and examples of his work from his time in New York, then Philadelphia, Washington and finally Boston where he settled in 1805 and remained until his death. Each of the online galleries features an introductory text and four high quality images of Stuart`s portraits. Clicking on each image provides a very brief biography of the sitter, together with comments on Stuart's painting style. This exhibition also includes the George Washington gallery featuring six versions of Stuart`s portrait of the first President of the United States.
Link: http://www.metmuseum.org/special/Gilbert_Stuart/stuart_gallery.asp
Access: Free

Defence Image Database Posted: 12 May 2008 04:09 AM CDT
Official Ministry of Defence imagebank, holding thousands of images from the Army, Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and MoD photographers. Includes images from Iraq, Afghanistan and Bosnia.
Link: http://www.defenceimagedatabase.mod.uk/fotoweb/
Access: Free