Archives of American Art Blog

How we spent Snowmageddon

Staff at the Archives of American Art have contributed photos to this slideshow that they took during the snow storms of February 2010.

Dubbed “Snowmageddon” and “Snoverkill” by local media, these storms dumped 20-40 inches of snow on the Washington, D.C. area between February 5th and 10th.

Mustaches of Note - Carolus-Duran

Carolus-Duran, 1878. From the Charles Scribner’s Sons Art Reference Dept. records, 1839-1962. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

John Singer Sargent studied under French art instructor and painter Carolus-Duran (Charles Auguste Émile Duran, 1837-1917). Sargent’s signature brushwork was developed during his time in Paris with Carolus-Duran.

The lovely portrait of Carolus-Duran Sargent painted of his mentor in 1879 (featuring that signature brushwork and the above pictured facial hair) can be found at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA.

More on Mustaches of the 19th-Century.

Jennifer Snyder works with oral history interviews at the Archives American Art. When not sending interviews out for digitization, she is writing about extraordinary examples of facial hair for this blog.

To-do: Installing the Lists Exhibition

The Lawrence A. Fleischman Gallery here in Washington, D.C. has been closed the past few weeks for the installation of the Archives’ next exhibition, Lists: To-dos, Illustrated Inventories, Collected Thoughts and Other Artists’ Enumerations from the Archives of American Art.

A team of silk screeners recently enlivened the gallery’s stark walls with a bright, colorful title wall and introductory text for the show. Here is my step-by-step documentation of the process–in list form, of course!

1. The silk screeners tape transparencies of the text to the walls, ensuring that the text is properly centered and aligned.

Photo by Mary Savig, 2010

2. Next they align the frames over the wall transparency and attach small ledges to the wall to hold the frame in exactly the right spot. The frame itself features a mesh screen and transparency, but this transparency has negative space where the paint will pass through the screen and onto the wall.

Photo by Mary Savig, 2010

3. The wall transfers are removed and frame is fitted onto the ledges.

Photo by Mary Savig, 2010

4. With one swipe, the silk screener spreads paint across the screen. The frame is carefully removed, revealing an even coat of paint!

5. Touch-ups are done with small brushes.

Photo by Mary Savig, 2010

I think the final design is quite eye catching!

Now I just can’t wait to complete my own to-do list when my colleagues and I open the exhibition to the public this Friday, February 5.

Mary Savig is a curatorial assistant at the Archives of American Art.

“Lists” will be on view in the Fleischman Gallery from February 5 to September 19, 2010. Admission is free. For details, see the Lists Exhibition page.