French Sculpture Census

In December 2014, the French Sculpture Census went live, providing images and information about roughly 7,000 works for French sculpture in American collections. The project is the result of a collaboration between scholars and curators from approximately 280 museums nationwide. The site can be used by both French- and English-speaking audiences and the census can be searched by artist, location, or sculpture. There’s also a very useful list of resources that includes bibliographies, a list of current exhibitions, and a glossary of terms. The creators hope to have approximately 15,000 records by the time the census is finished.

Robert Rauschenberg Foundation

The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation is an organization dedicated to preserving the art, archive, and legacy of the American artist Robert Rauschenberg. Considered one of the most important artists of the latter 20th century, Rauschenberg created new forms of art-making, often combining elements of painting, sculpture, photography, and printmaking into his work.
The foundation’s website provides a wealth of information about the artist, including extensive biographical entries, digitized archival material, and hundreds of high-quality images of his work. Additionally, the foundation provides grants, residencies, and artwork for museums and galleries.

Mackintosh Architecture: Context, Making, and Meaning

Recently, the University of Glasgow announced the launch of a new website cataloging all known architectural projects of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the Scottish architect, designer, and painter.  Additionally, “the site also provides entries for projects by the practice, John Honeyman & Keppie / Honeyman, Keppie & Mackintosh during the Mackintosh years 1889–1913; images and data from the office record books; a catalogue raisonné of over 1200 drawings by Mackintosh and the practice; analytical and contextual essays; biographies of over 400 clients, colleagues, contractors and suppliers; timeline; glossary; and bibliography.”

For anyone doing research on Mackintosh, this site is a treasure trove of digitized archival documents, photographs, and even job books kept by the firm founded by Honeyman. There are also essays on Mackintosh, an interactive map related to his work, a glossary, and very thorough bibliography.

Object:Photo

 

The Museum of Modern Art recently launched Object:Photo, an amazing website focused on the Thomas Walther Collection. Composed of 341 photographs, the Walther Collection entered the museum in 2001. In 2010, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation gave the museum a substantial grant to research and preserve the photographs. The website is a direct result of this four-year research project. In the words of Glenn D. Lowry, the Museum of Modern Art’s director, the website “is unprecedented in its functionality, providing virtual access to the objects in exceptional depth, along with wide-ranging scholarship on the photographs’ historical context and significance.”

In addition to scans of the photographs themselves, there are scholarly essays, a section on the scientific analysis of the photographs, and most interestingly, a section called “Visualizations,” that presents interactive maps and timelines allowing viewers to easily connect photographers, see where they worked and exhibited, who they interacted with, and even compare photographs by attribute, subject, or style.

Saving Images in LUNA

For Saving Single Images in LUNA:

  • Once you find an image you want to save, click on the thumbnail. This will give you a larger-sized image with cataloging information.
  • Double-click on “Export” button in the upper right corner.
  • Select the desired pixel size
    • If the image is going to be displayed in PowerPoint, at least 1500 pixels is sufficient.
  • Save the file to a specified location.
  • Unzip the downloaded file. The image is inside the folder and can be dropped into PowerPoint at this point.

 

To Save a Group of Images in LUNA and Export to PowerPoint:

  • Either open a media group or create a new one. For information on media groups, see LUNA’s video tutorial here.
  • The entire set of images can be downloaded from here by clicking the “Export” button at the top of the media group.
  • Once the media group contains all the images you want, in the order you want, click on the “Export to PowerPoint” button.
  • This will bundle the set, open PowerPoint, and populate a new slideshow with both images and cataloging data.

 

Leonardo da Vinci’s Work Seen in New Light

 

A French scientist has made an interesting discovery about Leonardo da Vinci’s “Lady with an Ermine.” Using a scanning technique called layer amplification method (LAM), scientists and art historians can view and analyze what happens between layers of paint. It is now possible to see that Leonardo originally painted the portrait without the animal, then added it, but with different fur. Pascale Cotte, who developed the technique said, “The LAM technique gives us the capability to peel the painting like an onion, removing the surface to see what’s happening inside and behind the different layers of paint,” he told BBC News. “We’ve discovered that Leonardo is always changing his mind. This is someone who hesitates – he erases things, he adds things, he changes his mind again and again.”

More information can be found in an article posted by the Guardian.

GYST

There’s a lot more to being a professional artist than just making art full time. Artists need to organize visual records of their work, develop artist statements, maintain contact lists, and track exhibits in which their work is shown. GYST is a software program designed by artists, for working artists, to make the business aspects of being an artist much simpler.

The program, which comes in a Basic and a Pro version, allows users to easily manage the business of selling artwork. While both versions offer tools to track artwork, archive resumes and artist’s statements, and offer legal information, the Pro version offers additional tools like sample contracts, condition reports, insurance information, and the ability to track expenses for supplies. Both versions are available for a 30-day free trial and come in PC and Mac versions

GYST has also published a manual for artists, offering advice on grant writing, residencies, and gallery representation, for example. There are worksheets and a reference section as well.

 

Flickr App for iPad!

Flickr recently announced that they’ve developed an app for the iPad and iOS 8!

Now iPad users can view high-resolution images on the large retina dislpay screens, as well as share, fave, and comment on photos from other contributors. There are new tools for organizing your photos and a more robust search feature.

Additionally, the app includes a built-in camera interface, so photos taken with the iPad can be edited and uploaded directly into Flickr. There’s a small set of editing tools and filters, too.

For more information, visit the iTunes App Store, or stop by the VRC and check it out on our iPad!!

MoMA App

The Museum of Modern Art has created an App for iOS devices. Available for free from iTunes, the app features tours with curators and artists, a calendar of upcoming exhibits and events, the ability to photograph and share artwork from the museum, as well as a directory and map of the museum.

 

To find out more, and to watch a video about the app, visit the museum’s page

The app can be downloaded for free from iTunes