Special Collections and University Archives: Literature and the Arts

The collection consists of 59 works, including five paintings, 48 drawings, and four prints. Also included is a sketchbook of drawings, a catalog of the artist's late works, the artist's inventory records for many of the library's holdings, and photo images of the works in the collection. The collections represent different periods in Blaustein’s artistic development; the paintings, which depict disorder and discarded objects, represent his output in the 1970s and 1980s. Drawings range from highly detailed cityscapes of the 1960s to a series of drawings from 1996 that capture riders on the New York subways. The four etchings in the collection are undated and represent different themes.

The collection consists of 23 etchings and a lithograph by Bernarda Bryson Shahn. Though most etchings are undated, many appear to be from the 1970s, a period when the Susan Teller Gallery in New York describes her work as showing hooded figures in barren landscapes or forests, and from the 1980s, which the Susan Teller Gallery identifies as a period where her work focused on the mythology of Malta. Dated etchings are from 1935, 1975, and 1980. Many are signed Bernarda Bryson, though one is signed using her married name Bernarda B. Shahn. Descriptive information includes title, printing technique, number, artist signature, date, size, and any included notations.

This collection primarily consists of proofs and prints of wood engravings by DePol. Also included are etchings, paintings, correspondence, exhibition announcements, miscellaneous documents, woodblocks, and ephemera, as well as publications and other texts that feature DePol’s work or were collected by him.

A collection of artists' books executed between 1980 and 2000. The items are made from a wide variety of materials, from cigar labels to glassine to soda cans. Some of the works are signed; some are signed and dated. All save one are unique works.

The collection contains material related to Suellen Glashausser's career as a book artist, sculptor, textile artist, and teacher. Included are slides and prints depicting her work and that of other artists, handouts and examples used in classes and workshops, exhibition catalogs, instruction and examples of paper and other media techniques, correspondence with other artists, articles, and administrative papers. Her graduate studies are represented by class notes, her thesis, and photographs of the thesis installation. Curriculum vitae, photographs, and catalogs document her artwork and exhibitions. Administrative papers relate primarily to her work at Montclair State University, as do teaching notes and slides of student work. Articles, correspondence, and photographs of work by other artists illuminate areas of professional and artistic interest. Documents related to the administration and operation of Amos Eno Gallery are also included, as are the manuscript and other material for Plaiting: Step-by-step (Watson-Guptill, 1976), which she co-authored. In addition, there are photographs, contact prints, and negatives of the artist, her immediate family, and her work.

The collection consists of over 830 collages, drawings, prints, sketchbooks, watercolors, and other works of art representing many significant phases of Winifred Milius Lubell's artistic career, spanning the years 1933 to 2011. Also included are 118 woodblocks, linocut blocks, and plates for many of the prints. Archival material includes draft illustrations for her book Metamorphosis of Baubo, research studies for a project on marginalia in medieval books, and materials related to exhibitions of her works, videos of the artist discussing her works, and an autobiographical sketch. Subjects of recurring interest in both her art and papers include social issues, particularly of the depression era, landscapes and nature studies, the role of women over time, with a focus on goddesses and the mythic regard for fertility, as well as numerous portraits.

This collection contains examples of the artistic and professional output, as well as the papers, of Frances Manola, an artist who worked as a calligrapher and bookbinder in New York and New Jersey from the early 1960s to 2009. She studied with well-known names in the fields of calligraphy, illumination, and book-binding, including Paul Standard, Donald Jackson, Wendy Gould (Selby), David Graham, and Laura Young. Included in the collection are examples of calligraphy and illumination, shadow boxes, early artwork, personal and professional papers, and works from her collection of contemporary calligraphy and historical manuscripts.

This collection consists of more than 980 miniature books issued by private presses or made by artists. Most are less than three inches in any dimension, which is the standard measure used in the United States to define a book as miniature. Some of these are artists' books, with creative formats and design that stretch the concept of books into the realm of art objects. Others are in the tradition of fine printing or binding, but on a miniature scale. These books are characterized by handmade paper and illustration, letterpress printing, fine binding, and other examples of craftsmanship. The collection primarily consists of books created or published in the United States from 1940 through 2000, although there is also a significant sample of international presses.

The collection represents a selection of Clare Romano's artistic production and consists of 21 works, including 12 collagraph prints, seven paintings and drawings, two three-dimensional sculptures, and archival material. The bulk of the prints and paintings are landscapes, primarily of dramatic land formations in the American Southwest, though there is one print of a single flower and one looking from a house into a garden. Images of imaginary cityscapes are also represented in the collection, along with a painting of fireworks over water and two collage-like oil pastel drawings on symbolic Egyptian themes. The three-dimensional works are abstractions in bronze. There is also a limited selection of archival material, including awards, clippings, correspondence, exhibition announcements, and sale catalogs and sketches, dating from 1957-2012. This material also includes photo reproductions of the artwork.

The collection consists of 273 works, including 206 prints, 52 drawings, and 15 printing plates and blocks. As an artist, John Ross explored subjects ranging from daily life in a city to landscapes, abstract images and fantastical cityscapes through the media of ink drawings, collagraphs, woodcuts, lithographs, and etchings. Among the largest categories of work are 49 abstract images that focus on industrial themes, many of which are examinations of very similar elements, such as his Quadros series of collagraphs. Scenes from Venice, both architecture and Carnival characters, are represented with 50 collagraphs. 45 images from his international travels are also in the collection, including town views and landscapes from Italy, Spain, and Eastern Europe. Another area of concentration for the artist was town and city views, both realistic and highly fantastical. Woodcuts, representing an earlier period in his art, are also part of this collection, as are a series of Southwestern landscapes and examples of posters and a portrait. The collection also includes 51 primarily ink drawings that touch on themes from armored knights to foreign and New England landscapes and highly abstract images, many of which are repeated in his prints.

The collection includes 415 drawings, posters, prints, proof sheets, and sheets of lettering that touch many of the techniques and themes of Ben Shahn's artistic output. The largest concentration of work is calligraphy and lettering, primarily drafts of his commercial work, Chinese calligraphy and Hebrew lettering, as well as philosophic and religious quotations. Broadsides, advertising, and political posters also demonstrate a significant lettering component. A considerable part of the collection includes prints, primarily commercial prints, posters, and reproductive prints, with a modest number of lithographs. In this category is a series of prints and blue line prints he made as illustration of the French Dreyfus trial. Many posters were reproductive prints for a Ben Shahn retrospective exhibition held in Japan in 1991. A wide range of drawings is represented, including architectural drawings, designs, drafts, plans and sketches in a variety of media. These include the drawings for his work at Temple Beth Zion and sketches for his painting Liberation, as well as drawings where he used the "pounce" technique to transfer a design from paper to another surface. Photographs of Ben Shahn and of the printing of some of his books are included, as well as negatives and photographic prints of posters or drawings. Proof sheets and drafts of Ben Shahn's Alphabet of Creation, and signature sheets for an unpublished Hallelujah are included, as well as other mock-ups, stencil cut-outs, and other materials.

The Béatrice Coron Collection contains examples and slides of the artist's work, including artists' books, commercial work, cut paper drafts and proofs, prints, articles and clippings, and exhibition catalogs. Commercial work ranges from stagebills and other illustrations to illustrated objects. Draft versions and artist proofs of artists' books and paper cuts, as well as proposals for public art to be displayed in the transit systems of Maryland and New York City, are represented. One version of her artists' book 36 Views of the Empire State Building is included in the collection, along with a set of the print series of that title, a related print and printing plate that did not become part of the series, and slides of the artists' books. Her papers are primarily show/exhibition catalogs and flyers, as well as articles and clippings about the artist. Slides depict a wide range of Coron's artistic output, from books to prints, cutout designs, paintings, drawings, pottery and public installations, as well as slides of the artist at work.

The Blanche Grambs Papers span the period 1953 to 2004 and include personal correspondence as well as publicity and reviews of her book illustrations. Also included are notes, professional correspondence with publishers and galleries, recipes, and travel memorabilia. Personal correspondence is arranged in the artist's original order, while professional correspondence related to her work as an illustrator is arranged by date. Correspondence with Winifred Milius Lubell is among the letters of the collection. An article by James Wechsler on Blanche Grambs’ Depression-era prints is also included.

The Women's Studio Center Records contains documents produced by the Women's Studio Center, a non-profit art studio and writing room that provided individual studio space for visual artists and also organized workshops, classes, exhibitions and other events supporting and promoting visual arts and creative writing. The Women's Studio Center was founded in 1998 by Melissa Wolf, who served as the Executive Director until the center closed on October 31, 2007. The records in this collection consist mainly of the meeting minutes of the visual arts and writing committees, press clippings, institutionally produced exhibition materials, announcements, correspondence, and print and digital photographs of works of art and Women's Studio Center events.

Records of the Rutgers University Art Gallery and the Fine Arts Collection from 1966 to 1979. Additional files regarding the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum through 2009 are included. The Rutgers University Art Gallery was the predecessor of the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, which is one of the most distinguished university-based museums in the nation. The museum houses more than 60,000 works, including Russian and Soviet works from the Dodge Collection, American art from the 18th century to the present, and European art from the 15th century to the present, as well as holdings of works on paper, including prints, rare books, drawings, photographs, and other illustrations.

Includes documentation of Frances R. Grant's service as executive director and vice-president of the Roerich Museum from 1921 to 1937, as well as the later history of the museum. Events documented include the administration of the Roerich Museum and the Roerich Press, Grant's travels to Latin America, and internal politics and financial difficulties at the museum. Besides paper materials, formats include photographs, etchings, and scrapbooks.

Martin Diamond Fine Arts, located on Madison Avenue during the late 1970s and early 1980s, specialized in American modernism between 1909 and 1949. The gallery encouraged a renaissance of interest in early 20th-century American modernist artists. The Diamonds were instrumental in focusing attention on the work of lesser-known abstract artists, notably members of the American Abstract Artists group and the Transcendental Painting Group. The collection contains artists’ reference files, invitations, and catalogs.