Index of Articles and Essays

4 paintings on the wall Jasper Johns

In 1959, the University Gallery was looking to bring in some hot young artists from the New York art scene. They wrote to (the now famous) Jasper Johns and his gallerist, Leo Castelli, and managed to put up a show of Johns' work in 1960 — and this was only two years after Johns had his first solo show in New York. The letter to Johns states:

The University Gallery, on a very modest budget, hopes to be able to initiate a new program which will aim at bringing to the campus a series of small exhibitions of work by New York artists of interest.
person sitting in art exhibit With a Twist

I hadn't heard of the Belgian painter Pierre Alechinsky before I came upon his file (the University Gallery exhibited his work in 1965), but some of the colorful pieces in the catalog caught my eye.

Another item that caught my attention in the file was a small hand-cut manipulated photo of a face, which I think is Alechinsky himself. There is no indication as to who made it or for what purpose, but it's quite an interesting little piece.
pictures on a wall Materials & Tools of Art

Amongst the files that were kept on exhibitions held at the University Gallery, an occasional treat is provided to the processor by the inclusion of photographs of the installation and final appearance of the exhibit. Often intermixed with correspondence and checklists of artwork, these photographs offer us prime examples of exhibit design from the era in which the exhibition was held.

"Materials and Tools of Art," prepared by Gallery staff, was held from September 29 to October 29, 1947.
various pictures of flowers Spring Flowers

In 1959, the University Gallery hosted a Japanese flower-arranging demonstration in conjunction with the exhibition "Japanese Prints", and I discovered this contact sheet documenting the event in the files. I love contact sheets, since they show every shot the photographer took on that roll, prior to editing.
piece of cardboard with a date on it Mysterious Media

Though a majority of processing has consisted of rhythmic re-foldering, several boxes have also contained mysterious miscellany found amongst the folder sets...

After removing each of the two folders containing materials for the Grace Hartigan Exhibition, (held at the University Gallery from Sept. 23 - Nov. 4, 1963), an item, which had been shoved underneath the folders, was revealed at the bottom of the box: a smaller cardboard box!