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.
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!
Labeled with “Hartigan” and the dates of the exhibition, the box was obviously intended to be included with this folder set. The contents of the box create further intrigue…
A small note that states, “Joanne – this is the Hartigan tape recording – please ‘file; (ex: folder), 63-64, Sept. 23 – Nov. 3,” covered the small reel of tape that rested inside. After consulting with the advising archivist, the box was made note of and set aside for further investigation.
What is this mysterious media?
Most of the exhibition files from the late 1930s and early 1940s do not have photographs in them, but when they do, these images give a window into the times. This Swedish Arts and Crafts exhibition from 1944 actually still feels quite modern (I’m looking at you, IKEA). Some of the wall label drafts for the show are also quite interesting — Label IV reads:
Before the war, “Swedish Modern” was a word which had a clear cut definition in design terms. It was style-forming and came about through the determined esthetic (sic) and social efforts to raise the standard of the Swedish home and to improve the taste for a better quality of design… But “Swedish Modern” is not an original style created in the last couple of decades. It is an inheritance coming from a rich tradition of beauty loving people who are courageous enough to break away from the swaddling clothes of the past to entertain new forms for living.
From Box 3, in a folder titled simply, “Staff Photographs, Resumes,” circa 1941 – 1959, a candid photograph of the University Gallery’s first permanent director, Ruth Lawrence:
