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Reminder: The Athenaeum will be closed on February 21st for President's
Day.
Banner Image:
Washington Square from the Busch Reading Room, 2/1/2011. Photo by Michael
Seneca.
New Books for February
Pop-Up
Book Exhibition and Workshops
 "Haunted
Philadelphia: Photography & Pop-ups by Colette Fu," will open on
February 1st and run through March 18th. An opening reception will be held on
Friday, February 4 from 5:00-7:00pm.
Admission
is free.
Along
with the Fu exhibition, the Athenaeum is exhibiting a selection from the Nan
Gutterman Collection of pop-up books. Athenaeum member Nan Gutterman has
loaned us several examples of modern pop-ups from her collection, including the
work of Robert Sabuda, Matthew Reinhart, and David Carter.
In
coordination with "Haunted Philadelphia," Colette Fu will conduct pop-up book workshops
for children and adults.
Children’s
Popup Workshop: Celebrating Chinese New Year: The Year of the Rabbit
Saturday,
February 5, 2011 -- 10:00AM-12:00PM
Members: $15/ Non-Members:
$25
Adult Popup Workshop
Saturday, February 5, 2011
-- 1:30-4:30PM
Members: $30/ Non-Members:
$50
Click
here for additional information and registration
You can also see Colette Fu's work at the Delaware Center
for the Contemporary Arts group exhibition regarding book arts, "The Book:
A Contemporary View." Colette will conduct another pop-up workshop
there on February 12th (http://www.thedcca.org/content/adult-programs)
and will speak about her work as part of DCCA's free Art Salad lunchtime
programs (http://www.thedcca.org/content/art-salad).
The Art Salad series this spring will also feature a talk from Athenaeum
Executive Director Sandra Tatman about book arts.
 Top:
Haunted Philadelphia exhibition. Photo by Michael Seneca.
Bottom: Robert
Sabuda, Alice in Wonderland. Little Simon, 2003. Collection of Nan
Gutterman. Photo by Michael Seneca.
The
Athenaeum's Regional Digital Imaging Center now offers high quality archival
print services. Prints are produced with a Canon iPF 8300 printer. Twelve LUCIA pigmented inks produce a wide color gamut and offer archival quality permanence.
This new
printer augments the RDIC's existing scanning capabilities. Clients once
had to take the scans produced by our large format Cruse scanner elsewhere to be
printed. Now they can purchase scans and prints in the expanded RDIC
offices on the Athenaeum's first floor.
All RDIC work is done by appointment. Contact Michael Seneca at 215-925-2688 or
mseneca@PhilaAthenaeum.org See our website for additional information and pricing.
www.PhilaAthenaeum.org/RDIC/
Above: Canon
iPF 8300 printer. Photo by Jim Carroll.
Member Critics
 Alan
Riding. And The Show Went On, Cultural Life in Nazi-Occupied Paris.
New
York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2010.
In the United States of America, for us, World War II began with the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1942. However, on June 14, 1940 the
German Army had driven into Paris, by all accounts, virtually unopposed.
For the wealthy and well-positioned (unless one happened to be Jewish, a
commonly fatal status) the principal concern may have been the preservation of
Parisian culture. At first the most obvious sign of change was an increase
in the number of German military uniforms in theater audiences {sidebar: Before
the Nazis, Berlin theater audiences were reportedly 85% Jewish}.
While the Germans wanted to be seen as conquerors, they simultaneously tried
to maintain Parisian culture's image of functioning as normally as
possible. The French maintained an attitude of resistance while locked in ambivalence.
The overall effect was to produce a mixture of collaboration ranging from
"identification with the aggressor" (there were many French fascists
before the invasion) down through multiple levels of hypocrisy (e.g. upper class
French women with Nazi lovers) and members of the Resistance playing active or
passive roles.
Riding quotes Edith Thomas, an anti-fascist writer who editorialized in 1942,
"...seeing a deportation train crowded with Jews, including
children...[their] arms clung to the bars. A hand sticking out waved like
a leaf in a storm. When the train slowed down, voices called out, 'Mummy.'
And nothing replied except the grinding of axles. You can say that art has
no country...that the artist should know how to do his job [within] himself in
his very own way...To be dignified, one must tell the truth. And that
truth is total. An the truth that is not total doesn't exist."
"And, 'on the side of life' in soirées the wine still
flowed." And artists were still "patronized," even as their works
were stolen.
Submitted
by Dr. Harold Rashkis.
Do
you have a book that you loved (or hated), and would you be willing to share
that opinion on the Athenaeum e-newsletter? If so, please send your short
essay to sltatman@philaathenaeum.org.
Save
the Date:
February
4: "Haunted Philadelphia" Opening Reception, 5:00-7:00pm
February
5: First Saturday, Athenaeum open, 10:00am-2:00pm
February
5: Pop-up
Book Workshops, 10:00am-4:30pm
February
8: Socrates Cafe, 11:00am
See
the Event
Calendar for details and additional
events.
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