Hidden Treasures from the Fine Arts Collections

Description:

The Fine Arts collections housed across the University of California libraries are considered to be the most prominent and comprehensive west of the Mississippi. The items represented in this exhibition highlight some of the treasures that can be found in the Art History/Classics Library, East Asian Library, Environmental Design Library, Bancroft Library as well as the Berkeley Art Museum. Primary sources such as artist archives, original prints, scrolls and artists’ books are featured. Secondary sources include catalogues raisonné, exhibition catalogues, major monographs, and important journals. How are the fine arts collections organized? Within its classification scheme, the Library of Congress has assigned Fine Arts to the “N” Class, including the subclasses N: Visual Arts, NA: Architecture, NB: Sculpture, NC: Drawing, ND: Painting, NE: Print Media, NK: Decorative Arts, and NX: Arts in General. Artistic photography is also included in this exhibit however this subject falls under the “T” Class (Technology) specifically TR. Note that the majority of the Fine Arts collections can be found in the Art History/Classics Library and the Doe Library, Gardner Stacks. Image, illustration, vision, and view are words that hint at multiple modes of seeing the visual arts. Through the books and objects included in this exhibit allow your eyes to react to the shapes and colors, shadows, lines, even the book bindings. How do the images and text you see affect your vision or illustrate your view? The extensive fine arts resources support all methods of inquiry and were built to complement the academic pursuits of students and faculty at the University of California Berkeley.

Attribution:

Kathryn M. Wayne, Fine Arts Librarian

Date:

2006