Jan Dibbets. Robin Redbreast’s Territory/Sculpture 1969 (detail). 1970. Publisher: Seth Siegelaub
After spending the past six months processing the Art & Project/Depot VBVR Gift as Project Cataloger at the MoMA Library, it seems timely to report on the venerable cache of materials.
80th Precinct Building. Exhibition and studio space on top two floors operated by Institute for Art and Urban Resources (I.A.U.R.), later known as P.S.1. Photograph by Nancy Moran. 653 Grand Avenue, Brooklyn, New York (December 1972). Resin-coated print. MoMA PS1, 2299. The Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York
Edward Steichen Photography Study Center. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967. Reports and Pamphlets, 1960s. The Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York
"Those Pictures at the 'Movies' started all my troubles," from a postcard series published by the SAS Company, 1914. The Museum of Modern Art, Department of Film Special Collections
Okay, they were previously 0% findable. Still, by adding the MoMA Film Department Special Collections inventory to the MoMA website, film researchers can now discover over 100 primary-source collections on film-related figures and topics.
What do you get when you put a group of artists together on a condemned pier beneath the Brooklyn Bridge? No, this isn’t a joke, but the colorfully bizarre origin story of that renowned laboratory of contemporary art, MoMA PS1.
Unknown White House photographer. "For Edward Steichen with memories of a gay afternoon, Lady Bird Johnson." From left, Edward Steichen, Lynda Bird Johnson, First Lady Claudia Taylor (Lady Bird) Johnson, Carl Sandburg. Rose Garden, The White House, Washington, DC, (April 10, 1964). Chromogenic color print. Edward Steichen Archive, VIII. The Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York
Among his many contributions to photography in a long and productive life, Edward Steichen (1879-1973) was a master portraitist, capturing, in now-iconic images, sitters as diverse as Gloria Swanson, Winston Churchill, and Walt Disney (and friends).
Oliver Sacks, Ted Muehling, Abelardo Morell. The Island of Rota. 2010. Photograph by Lauren McAlpin
I have the privilege and challenge of working with artists and other collaborators to produce artist’s books for The Library Council of The Museum of Modern Art. These limited-edition publications are intended to explore the art of the book as they benefit and shed light on MoMA’s research collections.
Grete Schütte-Lihotzky’s 1926–27 Frankfurt Kitchen incorporated socialist ideology into its efficient design. But it assumed a private kitchen. During a brief period shortly afterwards, idealistic Soviet architects took the idea one step further, experimenting with communal kitchens.
Edward Steichen with delphiniums (c. 1938), Umpawaug House (Redding, Connecticut). Photo by Dana Steichen. Gelatin silver print. Edward Steichen Archive, VII. The Museum of Modern Art Archives
Edward Steichen: painter, photographer, modern art promoter, museum curator, exhibition creator—and delphinium breeder.
Yes, in addition to his groundbreaking career as a visual artist and museum professional, Steichen was also a renowned horticulturist. While he lived in France, the French Horticultural Society awarded him its gold medal in 1913, and he served as president of the American Delphinium Society from 1935 to 1939. In the early 1930s, after leaving his position as chief of photography for the Condé Nast publications—including Vogue and Vanity Fair—and more than 10 years before beginning his career as Director of the Department of Photography at MoMA, he retired to his Connecticut farm to raise flowers.
If you are interested in reproducing images from The Museum of Modern Art web site, please visit the Image Permissions page (www.moma.org/permissions). For additional information about using content from MoMA.org, please visit About this Site (www.moma.org/site).
© Copyright 2016 The Museum of Modern Art
