Hirschfeld drawing is traveling

Albert Hirschfeld (1903-2003), Elia Kazan on the set of J.B., no date [1959]. Pen on board. Graphic Arts Collection GA 2006.02628. Inscription: Settings by Boris Aronson – Local 829.

Our Al Hirschfeld drawing of Elia Kazan will be traveling soon to the exhibition: The Hirschfeld Century: The Art of Al Hirschfeld, at the New-York Historical Society from May 22 to October 12, 2015. Their website gives an introduction to the show:

Al Hirschfeld (1903-2003) brought a set of visual conventions to the task of performance portraiture when he made his debut in 1926. His signature work, defined by a linear calligraphic style made his name a verb to be “Hirschfelded” was a sign that one has arrived. Now for the first time, nine decades of his art are collected in The Hirschfeld Century: The Art of Al Hirschfeld documenting Hirschfeld’s life and career and, to a great extent, the history of the performing arts in the twentieth century and beyond.

The Hirschfeld Century examines his influences, his iconography, and his techniques, from his earliest works to his last drawings. Visitors will have the opportunity to trace this unique artist’s evolution by viewing his own body of work, including drawings, paintings, selections from sketchbooks, ephemera, and video.

The Art of Al Hirschfeld was organized by Louise Kerz Hirschfeld, President of The Al Hirschfeld Foundation, and the New-York Historical Society, and was curated by David Leopold, Archivist of The Al Hirschfeld Foundation.

This caricature is for the play J.B., which was performed at the ANTA Playhouse from December 11, 1958 to October 24, 1959. The two-act play was set in a traveling circus that had been on the road for a long time. It was produced by Alfred De Liagre, Jr.; Associate Producer: Joseph I. Levine; written by Archibald MacLeish; music by David Amram; directed by Elia Kazan; production designed by Boris Aronson; costume design by Lucinda Ballard; and lighting design by Tharon Musser. The cast included Raymond Massey as Mr. Zuss; Christopher Plummer as Nickles; Nan Martinas Sarah; Lane Bradbury as Jolly; Bert Conway as Bildad; and others.

Gazette du Bon Ton completed

Gazette du bon ton: arts, modes et frivolities (Paris: Lucien Vogel, 1912–1925). 700 pochoir plates. Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) Oversize GT500 .G252q

The Graphic Arts Collection holds nearly 200 books and magazines with pochoir (stencil) coloring, assembled primarily by Charles Rahn Fry, Class of 1965. Fry’s collection includes the first half of the French fashion magazine Gazette du Bon Ton, published by Lucien Vogel (1886-1954) from 1912 to 1915 when it was suspended at the outbreak of the First World War.

Each issue contains ten unbound, pochoir colored fashion plates produced by notable artists and illustrators such as Georges Lepape, Pierre Brissaud, Georges Barbier, and Bernard Boutet de Monvel.

Recently, we had the opportunity to acquire the second half of the publication, 1920 to 1925, completing the set of all 70 issues contained in 69 fascicles. These not only include all the original pochoir plates but the advertising supplements as well.

Several changes occurred when the magazine resumed publication in 1920. In particular, it had a second editor, the American Condé Nast (1873-1942). Vogel collaborated with Nast on a pavilion and publication for the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition. The two men worked so well together that when the Gazette resumed in 1920, Nast provided the financial backing and both men were listed on the masthead. Nast was so taken with the French publication that he began his own American edition called: Gazette du Bon Genre (not at Princeton).

The Complete Collation of the Gazette du Bon Ton is as follows:
No. 1 Undated no volume number (Novembre 1912); No. 2 Undated no volume number (Décembre 1912); No. 3 Undated no volume number (Janvier 1913); No. 4 Février 1913 no volume number; No. 5 Mars 1913 no volume number; No. 6 Avril 1913 no volume number; No. 7 Mai 1913 no volume number; No. 8 Juin 1913 no volume number; No. 9 Juillet 1913 no volume number; No. 10 Aout 1913 no volume number; No. 11 Septembre 1913 no volume number; No. 12 Octobre 1913 no volume number; No. 1 Noël Janvier 1914 no volume number; Février 1914 first appearance of a volume number: 2e Année No. 2; Mars 1914 2e Année No. 3; April 1914 2e Année No. 4; Mai 1914 2e Anné No. 5; Juin 1914 2e Année No. 6; Juillet 1914 2e Année No. 7; Été 1915 2e Année Nos. 8-9.

Recently added: Janvier-Février 1920 3e Année No. 1; Mars 1920 3e Année No. 2; Avril 1920 3e Année No. 3; Mai 1920 3e Année No. 4; Juin 1920 3e Année No. 5; Juillet 1920 3e Année No. 6; No month given, 1920. 3e Année No. 7; No month given, 1920. 3e Année No. 8; No month given, 1920. 3e Année No. 9; No month given, 1920. 3e Année No. 10; No month given, 1921. 4e Année No. 1; No month given, 1921. 4e Année No. 2; No month given, 1921. 4e Année No. 3; No month given, 1921. 4e Année No. 4; No month given, 1921. 4e Année No. 5; No month given, 1921. 4e Année No. 6; No month given, 1921. 4e Année No. 7; No month given, 1921. 4e Année No. 8; No month given, 1921. 4e Année No. 9; No month given, 1921. 4e Année No. 10; No month given, 1922. 5e Année No. 1; No month given, 1922. 5e Année No. 2; No month given, 1922. 5e Année No. 3; No month given, 1922. 5e Année No. 4; No month given, 1922. 5e Année No. 5; No month given, 1922. 5e Année No. 6; No month given, 1922. 5e Année No. 7; No month given, 1922. 5e Année No. 8; No month given, 1922. 5e Année No. 9; No month given, 1922. 5e Année No. 10; No month given, 1923. 6e Année No. 1; No month given, 1923. 6e Année No. 2; No month given, 1923. 6e Année No. 3; No month given, 1923. 6e Année No. 4; No month given, 1923. 6e Année No. 5; No month given, 1924. 6e Année No. 6; Mars, 1924. 6e Année No. 7; Avril, 1924. 6e Année No. 8; Mai, 1924. 6e Année No. 9; Juin, 1924. 6e Année No. 10; Juillet, 1924.7e Année No. 1; No month given, 1924-1925 7e Année No. 2; No month given, 1924-1925. 7e Année No. 3; No month given, 1924-1925. 7e Année No. 4; No month given, 1924-1925. 7e Année No. 5; No month given, 1924-1925. 7e Année No. 6; No month given, 1924-1925. 7e Année No. 7 (Special issue Le Pavillon de l’Élégance); No month given, 1924-1925. 7e Année No. 8; No month given, 1924-1925. 7e Année No. 9.

Souvenir travel books

Nearly 100 souvenir travel books just turned up in the Graphic Arts Collection, most with pictorial covers and accordion bound images. Some have original photographs or photogravures. Many are no bigger than the palm of your hand. Here are a few examples.

Playing Around the World

Jeu du Tour du Monde. Paris, J. Hetzel & F. Didot, [c.1875]. Letterpress and wood engraving. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2015- in process

In 2011, the Graphic Arts Collection acquired a board game after the Jules Verne novel Around the World in 80 Days: https://blogs.princeton.edu/graphicarts/2011/01/around_the_world_and_around_th.html.

We recently acquired a publisher’s advertisement for that game in the form of a large printed broadside (75 x 68 cm,) mounted on linen. At the middle of the leaf is a circular version of the game (first published in 1873) although it was actually played in a continuous spiral that led to a center, winning cell. Here, the inside of the circle is filled with a map of the world, together with instructions and rules for the game.

Among other information the advertisements surrounding the game include subscription details for Hetzel’s Magasin Illustré d’Éducation et de Récréation, where Verne’s novels were first published in serial form.

Will the real Beethoven please stand up?

Within the Laurence Hutton collection of life and death masks, the largest number of a single person are of Ludwig van Beethoven (baptized 17 December 1770–26 March 1827). There are two from the cast taken during his lifetime and two from the cast taken a few days after the composer’s death. A fifth was made in bronze from life.

In Hutton’s autobiography, Talks in a library with Laurence Hutton (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1905), he writes,

“There are two masks of Beethoven over which I was much perplexed. One came from Berlin and was official; the other was discovered in Stockholm—in a back street and in a cellar—and it had no history behind it. They are both clearly from nature, they are both unquestionably Beethoven, and they are not entirely alike.

I discovered after a long search that one mask was made by [Franz] Klein from life in 1812 when Beethoven was in his forty-second year. This the experts consider the better of the two. Klein’s bust of Beethoven, taken from it, is a familiar object in the music-halls and music-shops and in the homes of music-lovers the world over.

The second mask was made from death in 1827 by [Josef] Dannhauer. The eyes, to protect the lashes, were covered with small squares of cloth. In comparing the two, one is struck by the absence of consciousness in the cast from death, and by the decidedly conscious look in the other, as if the original knew he was sitting for his picture and was trying very hard ‘to look pleasant.’”

Two plaster masks after the death mask by Josef Dannhauer in 1827.

Three masks after the life mask by Franz Klein in 1812.

Ernst Julius Hähnel (1811–1891), Beethoven monument in Bonn, 1845. The casting was done by Jakob Daniel Burgschmiet of Nuremberg.

Joseph A. Bodie Photography Studio

What has this collector brought to the Honesdale, Pennsylvania, Photography Studio of Joseph Bodie, to be included while having his portrait taken? Most of the objects in this cabinet card where already in Bodie’s studio but Mr. Chambers (seen here) has clearly chosen to include something else. Is it a new purchase or just today’s newspaper? Let us know your ideas.

Joseph A. Bodie, Sr. (1852-1935), Edward Chambers, ca. 1880. Albumen cabinet card. Graphic Arts Collection GAX2015- in process. Gift of Donald Farren, Class of 1958.

A sad note was included in the Bulletin of Photography in 1912, concerning the Bodie Studio:

This season of the year seems to be pretty well marked with a remarkable number of fires. Not a week has gone by, since the middle of January that we have not had our attention called to at least four or five, which have resulted in serious loss to the photographers. Just the other day W. F. Bell, of I.ulkin, Tex., suffered a loss of $850, with $500 insurance; the Lambert Studio, of Bridgeport, Conn., was damaged to the extent of $75; fire gutted the Charles M. Savage Studio, of Warren, Pa., resulting in $1000 damages; the Notman Photo Studio, of Boston, had a $300 fire; the J. A. Bodie Studio, at Honesdale, Pa., was totally destroyed, the loss of $2600 being only partially covered by insurance; Abel Christensen, of Kent, Ohio, lost $600, when the France Thompson Block burned, on the twelfth; a mysterious blaze in Redlands, Cal., damaged the Burnett Photo Shop, to the extent of $800; a fire starting in the Atlas Photograph Studio, 1719 South Halsted Street, Chicago, Ill., caused a $10,000 fire, as it not only burned the studio, but also two large feather goods stores…

F.V. Chambers, Bulletin of Photography: The Weekly Magazine for the Professional Photographer, Vol. 10, 1912

Renovation update

Next month, May 2015, we are moving a large number of rare book and special collections materials, which will involve the entire staff. While our reading room will remain open, please understand that it will be a challenging time and we may be slower to respond than usual. Thank you for your patience.

Les Héros de la ligue

Cornelis Dusart (1660-1704), Les Héros de la ligue. Ou, La procession monacale. Conduitte par Louis XIV, pour la conversion des protestans de son royaume (The Heroes of the League: Or, The Monastic Procession. Led by Louis XIV for the Conversion of Protestants in his Kingdom) (Paris [i.e. Hollande]: Chez père Peters à l’enseigne de Louis le Grand, 1691). 2 preliminary leaves: 24 Mezzotints. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2015- in process

The Graphic Arts Collection is pleased to add this volume that contains a satirical poem, “Sonnet. Reponse des refugiez aux persecuteurs,” and 24 caricature portraits representing persons playing an important role in the religious struggles at the time. Several years earlier, on October 22, 1685, Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes by signing the Edict of Fontainebleau, which ordered the destruction of Huguenot churches, as well as the closing of Protestant schools.

Each portrait is accompanied by a quatrain. The portraits have been ascribed to C. Dusart, and, with less probability, to L. Gaultier. A set of twelve of the original coloured drawings by Dusart are in the University of Leiden.

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Fête Futuriste, a Cubist Costume Carnival

From 1917 to 1923, Egmont Arens managed the Washington Square Bookshop at 17 West 8th Street and then, 27 West 8th Street, where he also published Playboy A Portfolio of Art and Satire (Marquand 0901.725Q). From 1923, Playboy sponsored a New Year’s Eve costume party at Webster Hall: Fête Futuriste, a Cubist Costume Carnival, which continued on and off throughout the 1920s. This invitation could have been for 1923 or 1928, since in both New Years Eve fell on a Monday.

It is probably 1923 since the evening’s entertainment included a costume revue glorifying the negligees of 1924, with pajamas designed by Nat Lewis (the production opened on Broadway the following March). William Zorach is credited with the decoration of hall and Rockwell Kent helped with the advertising. John Sloan, George Bellows, and Joseph Stella joined Arens’ committee for both the Halloween and the New Year’s celebrations.

Playboy’s Fête Futuriste, a Cubist Costume Carnival, no date (1923?). Graphic Arts Collection
Jessie Tarbox Beals, Washington Square Bookshop, ca. 1918. Gelatin silver print. Museum of the City of New York.

1928 advertisement in The New Yorker.

Paper fans

Before air conditioning, handheld paper fans not only kept you cool but they were a good source of advertising. Here are a few examples from the Graphic Arts ephemera collection.

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