Hillwood Museum & Gardens Acquires
The Edward Kasinec Library of Russian and East European Art Research
Materials
Washington, D.C. - Hillwood Museum & Gardens is pleased to announce the
acquisition of a unique collection of more than 2,300 items from the
personal library of Edward Kasinec, presently chief of the Slavic and
Baltic division at the New York Public Library. Internationally renowned
as one of the foremost Slavic bibliographers and librarians of his
generation, Kasinec is a curator and prolific author who has assembled a
personal collection of nearly 4,000 volumes during the course of his
thirty-year career. The art historical and cultural portion of his
collection, which reflects his personal interest in East Slavic culture,
has come to Hillwood through a combination gift and sale. "In making Received: from Internet-MTA by border.hillwoodmuseu
this decision, I was motivated by a number of considerations, not the
least of which has been my long-standing relationships with Hillwood and
my admiration for its staff," Kasinec said. "This collection greatly
expands the scope of our research capabilities. Indeed, now it makes
Hillwood's Library a necessary stop for serious scholars in the field of
Russian art and culture," said Frederick J. Fisher, Hillwood's executive
director.
Kasinec's collection deepens Hillwood's current holdings on imperial
Russian culture by broadening its scope. The newly acquired collection
is rich in descriptions of people and places in imperial Russia,
photography, graphic arts and advertisements from late imperial culture,
monies of the empire, and textiles. The collection also expands
Hillwood's current scope by adding holdings in the areas of Eastern
European avant-garde art, Soviet decorative arts, the Eastern Orthodox
Church, the art and culture of Slavic books, and relationships between
Russia and world cultures in general. "The collection contains volumes
which were often printed in small editions and only available for
purchase at the institutions that produced them. Catalogues of
provincial Russian museum collections, pamphlets, and exhibition
catalogs which are nearly impossible to obtain today are included in the
acquisition," noted Kristen A. Regina, Hillwood's
librarian.
Hillwood is in the early stages of cataloguing and processing the
Kasinec collection, with the goal of making it fully accessible to the
public by the end of 2005. In the meantime, scholars are welcome to
periodically check the catalog at www.dcdata.com/hillwood for materials
that have become available for use.
Hillwood Museum & Gardens was the Washington, D.C., residence of cereal
heiress and art collector Marjorie Merriweather Post (1887-1973) from
1955 to 1973. Mrs. Post assembled the most comprehensive collection of
Russian imperial art outside of Russia and a world-renowned collection
of eighteenth-century French decorative arts. Among the notable items
are imperial Fabergé eggs, chalices, icons, and liturgical vestments
from imperial Russia, Beauvais tapestries, and Sèvres porcelain.
Hillwood's estate includes twenty-five acres, twelve of which are formal
gardens, including a Japanese-style garden and a French parterre.
Hillwood opened to the public in 1977.
Media:
Missy Snelling
Director of Public Affairs and Marketing
202.243.3903
Kristen A. Regina
Librarian
202.243.3934
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