art

Czech born Ladislav Sutnar (1897-1976) is a well known graphic designer, but who knew that he also produced fine book bindings? Issued by the Cooperative Work collective headed by Sutnar in Prague in the 1930’s, this special full leather binding was designed by Sutnar himself. At extra cost, Cooperative Work would supply special bindings; this book with the same Sutnar design was available bound in green cloth-covered boards stamped in black and silver.

This book is Part 1 of an important four volume publication on the history of Nepal. The set was formerly in the private library of Dr. Mary Shepherd Slusser. This volume and one other in the set are in need of conservation treatment.

This beautifully illustrated monograph describes the excavation and research of an ancient Ixil Maya Indian town in a Guatemalan valley. The archeologists involved in this project describe their field work and findings with scholarly attention to detail, but also with obvious enthusiasm for their discoveries. The Discussion chapter highlights their fascination with ongoing exploration to fill in the historical blanks.

The struggle between good and evil. The battle between the sacred and the profane. These have been recurring themes in all societies and through art, populations were instructed in the principles of Christian religion. Clothing, costumes, music, and dance serve to teach people about the rules to follow as Christians. 

So who authors an important scholarly work on early Chinese jades; maps the main prison camps in Germany and Austria during WWI; writes biographies about Anna Van Schurman, Agnes Strickland, Edgar Allan Poe, and Charles Dickens; writes first-hand accounts of talks of rebel leaders during Ireland’s revolutionary period; and is appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire? That would be the scholar par excellence of Renaissance art John Pope-Hennessy’s mother. 

The mola is a famous Panamanian handicraft created with intricate reverse-applique handwork made by the Guna, and represent important symbols of their culture. The layers of brightly-colored fabric form animals or geometric shapes, and are used to decorate the blouses of Guna women. The most outstanding designs take hours of complex sewing to complete and can be a source of status, and a display of artistic expression and ethnic identity.