CAA News Today
Getty Task Force on Art Bibliography Will Hold Public Meeting on April 20
posted by Christopher Howard — April 06, 2010
The Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, California, has received a grant from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation to convene an international task force of art librarians, scholars, and information specialists from Europe and the United States to discuss the future of art bibliography. Recent events, including discussions of art-library closures, scant funding resources for ongoing support of art libraries and projects internationally, and the cessation of the Getty’s support for the continuation of the Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA) provide the catalyst to review current practices, take stock of changes, and seriously consider developing more sustainable and collaborative ways of supporting the bibliography of art history in the future.
The organizers of the task force—Kathleen Salomon of the Getty Research Institute; Rüdiger Hoyer from the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte, Munich; and Jan Simane of the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz and chair of the Art Libraries Section of International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)—invite the art-historical community to participate in a discussion to be held on Tuesday, April 20, 2010, in New York. The meeting will take place 1:00–5:30 PM at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (courtesy of Kenneth Soehner). Two panels presenting “thoughts from the field” will be followed by an open discussion.
The issues that come forward in the meeting will help lay the groundwork for the subsequent meeting of the smaller task force that will address what is and is not feasible for art bibliography in the future. The outcomes of the meeting and next steps will be posted and shared with the wider art-historical community.
Seating for the meeting is limited and must be reserved ahead of time: please RSVP to Diane Lazar by April 12. If you are unable to attend, there will be a recap and discussion session at the annual conference of the Art Libraries Society of North America in Boston, Massachusetts, on Sunday, April 25, 2:30–3:30 PM, as well as at the Art Libraries Section meeting of IFLA‘s general conference and assembly, to be held in August in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Spring Obituaries in the Arts
posted by Christopher Howard — April 05, 2010
CAA recognizes the lives and achievements of the following artists, architects, scholars, teachers, philanthropists, and other important figures in the visual arts.
- Diane Bergheim, an arts advocate based in Alexandria, Virginia, died on March 27, 2010, at the age of 84
- George Ehrlich, a professor emeritus of art and architectural history at the University of Missouri in Kansas City, died on November 28, 2009. He was 84
- Werner Forman, a photographer of art objects who chronicled ancient, Asian, and other non-Western art, died on February 13, 2010, at age 89
- Peter Foster, an architect and the surveyor of Westminster Abbey from 1973 to 1988, died on March 6, 2010. He was 90
- Bruce Graham, the architect of the Sears Tower and John Hancock Center in Chicago, died on March 6, 2010, at the age of 84
- Denys Hinton, a British architect who brought modernism to church architecture, died on February 10, 2010, at age 88
- Terry Rossi Kirk, a scholar of architecture who taught at American University in Rome and authored The Architecture of Modern Italy, died on October 17, 2009. He was 48
- Lionel Lambourne, a curator and scholar at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, died on February 12, 2010, at age 76
- Lesley Lewis, an author and a historian of art and architecture who was one of the first four students at the Courtauld Institute of Art, died on January 29, 2010, at the age of 100
- Rhoda “Dodie” Helen Masterman, an artist and teacher who drew illustrations for novels by Tolstoy, Joyce, Balzac, and more, died on December 17, 2009. She was 91
- Robert McCall, an artist known for his depictions of outer space and for a six-story mural at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, died on February 26, 2010. He was 90
- John Walker McCoubrey, who taught the history of American, English, and French art of the eighteenth to twentieth centuries at the University of Pennsylvania for more than thirty years, died on February 9, 2010, at the age of 86
- Alexander McQueen, a celebrated, innovative, and rebellious London fashion designer, died on February 11, 2010. He was 40
- Charles Moore, a photographer of the civil rights movement whose work reached millions in Life, died on March 11, 2010, at the age of 79
- Edmund “Ted” Pillsbury, who transformed the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, during his eighteen years as director, died on March 25, 2010. He was 66
- Natalie Rothstein, a curator and textiles scholar who spent her entire career at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, died on February 18, 2010, at the age of 79
- Charles Ryskamp, a former director of both the Frick Collection and the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York who also taught literature at Princeton University, died on March 26, 2010. He was 81
- Mortimer D. Sackler, a psychiatrist and co-owner of a pharmaceutical company who generously donated to the Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tate Gallery, and the Jewish Museum in Berlin, among others, died on March 24, 2010. He was 93
- Norman Schureman, an artist and professor at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, died on March 20, 2010. He was 50
- Der Scutt, a modernist architect with several building in New York, including Trump Tower, died on March 14, 2010, at age 75
- John Sergeant, a British artist known for his stunning chiaroscuro in his charcoal drawings, died on January 7, 2010. He was 72
- David Slivka, a sculptor and painter from the New York School of Abstract Expressionism who helped create a death mask for the poet Dylan Thomas, died on March 28, 2010, at the age of 95
- Frank Williams, an architect of high-end hotels and condominiums in New York who mixed modern and traditional styles, died on February 25, 2010. He was 73
Read all past obituaries in the arts on the CAA website.
Editorial-Board Member Sought for Art Journal
posted by Joe Hannan — April 02, 2010
CAA invites nominations and self-nominations for one individual to serve on the Art Journal Editorial Board for a four-year term, July 1, 2010–June 30, 2014. Published quarterly by CAA, Art Journal is devoted to twentieth- and twenty-first-century art and visual culture.
Candidates are individuals with a broad knowledge of modern and contemporary art; institutional affiliation is not required. Applicants who are artists, museum-based scholars, or scholars interested in pedagogical issues are especially invited to apply.
The editorial board advises the editor-in-chief and assists him or her to seek authors, articles, artist’s projects, and other content for the journal; guides its editorial program and may propose new initiatives for it; performs peer reviews and recommends peer reviewers; and may support fundraising efforts on the journal’s behalf. Members also assist the editor-in-chief to keep abreast of trends and issues in the field by attending and reporting on sessions at the CAA Annual Conference and other academic conferences, symposia, and events.
The editorial board meets three times a year, including once at the CAA Annual Conference. Members pay travel and lodging expenses to attend the conference.
Candidates must be current CAA members and should not be serving on the editorial board of a competitive journal or on another CAA editorial board or committee. Members may not publish their own work in the journal during the term of service. Nominators should ascertain their nominee’s willingness to serve before submitting a name. Please send a letter describing your interest in and qualifications for appointment, a CV, and contact information to: Chair, Art Journal Editorial Board, CAA, 275 Seventh Ave., 18th Floor, New York, NY 10001. Deadline: April 15, 2010.
The Getty Saves BHA and Will Provide Free Online Access to It
posted by Christopher Howard — April 01, 2010
The J. Paul Getty Trust released a statement this morning that tells us “as of April 1, 2010, the Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA) will be available free of charge on the Getty website.” The move, which comes a day after the important research database was to be shut down permanently, is a welcomed one. While free access to BHA for individuals and institutions is good for everyone especially those “institutions in developing countries and independent scholars worldwide” who were unable to afford a subscription. The Getty, however, has remained silent about further updates to the database, which ceased last year. [UPDATE: the Getty will not be adding new records to the database but hopes another organization will do so.]
From the Getty press release:
Since ending its collaboration with the Institut de l’Information Scientifique et Technique (INIST)–CNRS in December 2007, the Getty has been searching for partners to continue the production and distribution of BHA. This process has been complicated, and with no suitable arrangement immediately available, the Getty decided to act on its commitment to the scholarly community by providing access to BHA directly from its own Web site.
The relaunched BHA includes the International Bibliography of Art (IBA), covering the years 2008 and part of 2009, as well as the Répertoire de la litterature de l’art (RILA), a predecessor of BHA that was maintained by CAA for many years. RILA records from 1975 to 1989 will be online by May 1, 2010.