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Calendar
December 1999

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
121 Wall Street, 432-2977

Through January 10
“Goethe the Scientist”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), author of Faust, also engaged in scientific research throughout most of his life, including work in the fields of comparative osteology, botany, geology, optics, color theory, and meteorology. An exhibition of reports and notes from experiments places Goethe’s own writings among related works by contemporary German, Swiss, French, and British scientists.

Through December 22
“George Washington”

An exhibition of manuscripts, drawings, letters, books, and memorabilia, drawn from the Library’s holdings, commemorates the bicentenary of the death of George Washington. Included is a 1789 letter from Washington to his nephew George Steptoe Washington, as well as a selection from the 77 letters of Washington to General Rochambeau, contained in the Rochambeau Papers that were presented to the Library in 1992 by Paul Mellon '29.

Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:30am-4:30pm

University Art Gallery
1111 Chapel Street, 432-0600

Through February 13
“Changing Impressions: Marcantonio Raimondi and 16th-Century Print Connoisseurship”

An unusual aspect of 16th-century printmaking comes to light in this exhibition of 20 prints. At the core of the display are four impressions of Mars, Venus, and Cupid by Marcantonio Raimondi (c.1480-1527). All four, printed on parchment, have been altered, either by masking part of the plate or by rubbing the parchment to remove the ink. Were the alterations made as experiments (unusual among 16th-century Italian prints), or were they deliberately doctored to deceive collectors?

Using ultraviolet and infrared photography, X-rays, microscopic examination of surfaces, and analyses of both ink and parchment, the exhibition explores in great technical detail the four Mars, Venus, and Cupid impressions and others by Raimondi, as well as masterworks by contemporary Italian engravers and Albrecht Durer. A catalog containing both scientific and art historical essays accompanies the exhibition.

Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 10am-5pm; Sunday, 1-6pm.

Center for British Art
1080 Chapel Street, 432-2800

January 20 through February 27
“Ruskin: Past, Present, and Future”

Artist and art critic, teacher, social commentator, environmentalist—John Ruskin (1819-1900) was one of the most significant figures of the Victorian age. His influence on cultural and political thought has endured both in Europe and in North America throughout the 20th century.

Ruskin’s passion for art and natural history developed at an early age, under the tutelage of watercolorists James Duffield Harding and Anthony Vandyke Copley Fielding, and with the gift to Ruskin of a copy of Samuel Rogers’s Italy, containing engravings from designs by J.M.W. Turner. The book, Ruskin later claimed, determined “the entire direction of my life’s energies.” At Oxford Ruskin developed an interest in drawing and published his first study of architecture, which led to his later vocation as an art critic.

An exhibition of watercolors, drawings, prints, books, and manuscripts examines Ruskin’s life and legacy, and documents Ruskin’s formative influences, including works by Harding, Fielding, Samuel Prout, and Turner. On January 22, the BAC will host a symposium on Ruskin with speakers from North America and Europe. In addition, a complementary display at the Beinecke Library features manuscripts, drawings, letters, books, photographs, and memorabilia drawn from the Library’s holdings.

Through January 9
“A Treasure House in Farmington”

The Lewis Walpole Library, located in a colonial home in Farmington, Connecticut, was given to Yale in 1979 by Wilmarth Sheldon Lewis '18, who devoted his life to collecting the letters and works of Horace Walpole, the noted author, collector, and man of letters. In celebration of the 20th anniversary of this bequest to Yale, the library is exhibiting many of its most precious possessions at the BAC, including furniture, furnishings, and paintings. Most of the objects are on view to the general public for the first time.

Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 10am-5pm; Sunday, 12-5pm

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