I would like to call the attention of ARLIS/NA members to an original and informative exhibition now at the Grolier Club in New York through April 29^th.  Images of Value: The Artwork Behind U.S. Security Engraving 1830s-1980s, is the first wide-ranging and scholarly study of the use or appropriation of artwork imagery in currency and security design. All of the original works of art, currency and security certificates come from the collection of Mark Tomasko, an active member of the Grolier Club and the author of The feel of steel: the art and history of bank note engraving in the United States, the definitive work on the subject published by Bird & Bull Press in 2009.  Mr Tomasko is also the author of the comprehensive and heavily illustrated exhibition catalog for Images of Value.

 

I encourage you to read the New York Times February 23^rd article on the exhibition. More information is available from the Press Release on the Grolier Club site.

 

How was Rosa Bonheur’s massive printing (8 feet by 16 feet seven inches) The Horse Fair, now at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, appropriated for security and currency imagery? See the exhibition and read the fascinating catalog. The catalog should be in every art library, including art and design libraries. It is also important for the history of printing, culture and imagery, and social history.  It is published by Oak Knoll Press and readily accessible from your favorite sources.

 

I am sure that many colleagues will share my enthusiasm for this original exhibition and outstanding catalog.

 

Ken

 

 

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Kenneth Soehner
Arthur K. Watson Chief Librarian
Thomas J Watson Library
212 570 3934

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10028
@metmuseum
metmuseum.org