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Electronic Cataloging Project
In August 2010, Reynolda House embarked on a three-year, comprehensive electronic cataloging project of the Museum's collections. The first year of the project is focused on cataloging objects in the fine art collection. This includes photographing each object, organizing existing documentation, and creating original research. We have purchased a new database, The Museum System (TMS), in which we will be able to enter all of this information.
May 10, 2012 Chloe and I wrapped up our documentation project in RJ's Study this week. The main event occurred on Monday, while we were closed to the public. In order to fully document the room sized Sarouk rug we moved all objects off the rug and out of the room, including RJ's desk. This required that all hands be on deck from the Collections Management department. The desk is heavy with multiple moving parts and compartments (for a typewriter and such). In order to reduce the amount of stress on it during transport our Preparator, Che, devised a system that enabled us to move the object safely. As a team we carefully lifted one side at a time onto wood supports (only a small distance). The supports were then secured together to make a solid platform. We then lifted the platform onto dollies and were able to roll the desk out of the room. Once we had finished documenting the rug (and adjusting its placement too!), we rolled the desk back into place and reversed the platform assembly process.
April 23, 2012 Previous to this project, if someone wanted to learn about a work in our collection they needed to look in many different places. First stop would be the Object file—with information about acquisition into the collection and other basics. Additionally there are Condition/Conservation files, Exhibition files, Outgoing Loan files, Vertical files (in the library), as well as, separate locations for appraisals and provenance research. Now with our new database, all the different types of information (with media!) are captured in one location.
April 4, 2012  This week Chloe and I began to process objects in Katharine Reynolds' Study. We are affixing unique museum numbers, recording accurate measurements, and performing condition reports for each object. Additionally we are photographing them from all sides, as well as, capturing any important details.
Behind the scenes, we are creating paper files with all of this information as well as any important documents that relate to the object. Once we are finished in Katharine's Study we will continue on into RJ's Study – so if you come to visit you just may catch a glimpse of us behind the stanchions with clipboards, measuring tapes, and cameras!
It was fun to work on the provenance for our Jeremiah Theus, Mrs. Thomas Lynch, 1755. The painting had been kept in the family until the late 1960s when Barbara Millhouse purchased it from M. Knoedler & Co. Then in 1972, she donated the work to the Museum. I spent some time sorting through the different generations of family members that passed down the painting for the provenance record—looking up life dates whenever possible. I had to have a whole Word document dedicated to untangling the family members, but it was extremely satisfying when it was done.
March 2, 2012 
Earlier this week Ellen Denker, our lovely Decorative Arts Contract Curator, bid us a visit. This trip she spent time looking at objects currently and historically on view in both the Dining Room and Library. This included everything from sconces and girandoles to commodes and footstools. Chloe and I set up a workstation with Ellen on the Lake Porch. We transported easily movable objects to us, but for larger items we went to them. Ellen looked at about 70 objects from the two rooms. It is always a delight to find out new information about items in the Historic House.
Our work Map Projections: The Cube, 1986 by Agnes Denes was created using special techniques. It is a lithograph that has an added touch. The work was hand dusted with metallics according to a process invented by the artist in 1974. The new curatorial description describes the effect of the metallics:
January 27, 2012
It is a slow process. In one week, we were able to photograph eighteen Historic House objects. Not only are the objects heavy but they also require special handling techniques. We have to follow standard object handling procedures and lift the furniture from only its strongest points. For instance, when we had to move a table we couldn't lift the table by the table top, but instead we had to get down and raise it by the two base legs. We've been hoisting objects onto dollies and carts whenever possible to help us. All of this hard work is extremely gratifying though—as we will have terrific professional images for our database and eventually our website.
January 13, 2012
If you find yourself in the Library make sure to look for the floor lamp with the red pleated shade with a small metal unicorn on top. There is always something new to discover.
January 4, 2012 Happy New Year Everyone! We are just about halfway through our 2nd year and have accomplished much. The holidays were a nice quiet break, but things are about to get very busy!
December 9, 2011  New media in artwork can really be a challenge for registrars. This is evident in the repair history of our Nam June Paik piece, Leonardo da Vinci, 1991. Leonardo da Vinci is a multimedia work that has six tvs and a Sony Watchman that project video made by the artist—which was originally on laserdisc.
When the Museum was purchasing the work, it was believed that the technology would be much more resilient. According to a memo in the object file from April 1993: "[The gallery owner] described the piece as 'maintenance free and user friendly...the video disc itself should never wear out...a conservative estimate of the lifespan of the TVs would be a minimum of 10 years.'" Unfortunately by August 1994, the Museum began having problems with the televisions, laserdiscs, and laserdisc players (this can be seen from the size of the condition file). Luckily for the Museum the artist was forward thinking in his use of new media and made allowances for changing technology. In the object file, we have a contract from the artist stating that we are allowed to make certain modifications to the work including replacing the television sets with newer model hardware and replacing the laser disc players with newer technology (which we have—DVDs). According to the contract Nam June Paik states that "these modifications do not change the authenticity of this work as an original by me." At this point most of the hardware and software of the piece has been repaired or replaced—which is not that surprising, since how many of you still watch movies on laserdisc? It is lucky for us that we can adapt with technology—in fact the next step will probably be moving from DVD to completely digital (mpeg) and perhaps have a computer screen .
Part of the challenge of verifying a work's information can be finding the artist's signature—which is often hidden in the image. Chloe and I have had quite a time hunting down Thomas Cole's signatures in both his Voyage of Life: Childhood, 1854–1855 series print and Home in the Woods, 1847 painting. With some determination (and a flashlight!) we eventually found them concealed in the works. Of course once spotted, the signature is almost obvious. See if you can find it!
Tree, Cactus, Moon was an early modernist addition to the Reynolda House Museum of American Art collection. In 1979, the painting was unveiled to the public in Reynolda's Reception Hall, where works by nineteenth-century American artists Albert Bierstadt and George Inness also hung. At the unveiling, Barbara Babcock Millhouse, Reynolda's founding director, remarked, "In recent years, Reynolda House has attempted to match its very fine collection of nineteenth-century works of art with equally fine works from the twentieth century." Like Georgia O'Keeffe's Pool in the Woods, Lake George, 1922, a later gift to the Museum from Barbara Millhouse, Stella's Tree, Cactus, Moon continues Reynolda House's interest in landscape painting, but reinterprets the landscape using decidedly modernist visual language.
Fahua ware, the name given to this type of ceramic decoration, was an attempt to imitate the cloisonné in clay. Most examples of Fahua ware are assigned to the late 15th or 16th century, putting them in the period of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). July 5, 2011 Great News! Both the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and I will be staying with the project for Year Two. Reynolda House is ecstatic that NEA has graciously bestowed an even larger grant award for the second year of the project than the first. This money will allow for me to continue my full-time position, as well as, the hiring of a part-time staff member to help keep up our momentum. June 20, 2011  Last week was busy for Elizabeth and me, as we had the pleasure of working with our professional photographer, David Ramsey, for another collections photo-shoot. This time we had three different set-ups in our make-shift photography studio in the auditorium—large 3D, small 3D, and 2D. Some of our art pieces required special mounts that were built by our Preparator, Che Machado, for photography.Our Red Groom's work Gertrude, 1975 needed to be removed from her Plexiglas case and have a vertical mount that allowed her to float, since she has no base. A similar type of mount was built for our Lloyd Toone Styling, 1998. Two of our Alan Shields' works (Sun, Moon, Title Page, 1971 and Rat, 1974) are double sided and encased in Plexiglas, so Che created a mount that allowed them to hang vertically. June 10, 2011 Lately there has been a spate of presentations about the project (for staff, National Advisory Council members, new Board members & contract curators). We've been busy updating everyone on the progress we've made so far, as well as, the work yet come. I've been giving mini-tours of TMS and showing how we are capturing all the different kinds of data. Everyone has been interested. They have been asking all kinds of questions--which we are happy to answer. We want everyone to know more about what we are doing. May 20, 2011  In looking forward to Year Two of the project, we have begun research on historic house objects. It has been a pleasure working with our contract Decorative Arts curator, Ellen Denker, for the past week. Elizabeth and I have been removing objects from around the house and bringing them down to a storage room on the staff level for Ellen to look at and take notes. In the coming weeks she will be creating and submitting curatorial write-ups that we will enter into the database during Year Two. This is the first of multiple sessions that involves researching our historic house collection. In just this one week we have learned so many interesting things about our objects. (More details to come in a future post.) We are already looking forward to our next session! May 16, 2011  Along with creating records for objects in TMS, I'm also busy working on a Data Dictionary. This defines the basic organization of our database by giving for each field: a definition, what it consists of, and how the Museum uses it. It may seem trivial to explain something that might be obvious but creating this document ensures that information is put in the same places, the same way, no matter who is entering it. Here is an example of one of our entries (warning-technical jargon ahead!): Field: Description April 29, 2011 While going through the various files related to Thomas Hart Benton, I came across a treasure trove of handwritten correspondence from him. In a letter to Reynolda House's founding president Barbara B. Millhouse from October 20, 1971, Benton discussed his painting Bootleggers, 1927 (1971.2.1): "Bootleggers" or "Prohibition Days" – (a later title) is my first entrance into painting "history, which was not history when it was painted but became history with its passage of time" I'm quoting here—but I don't remember who I'm quoting. April 15, 2011  A couple of weeks ago I wrote about taking registration photographs of works hanging in the Museum--this undertaking continued into fine art storage recently. Elizabeth Williams-Clymer and I were not there only to take photographs (of the frame and signature and additionally the reverse and any back labels or inscriptions), but also to update the dimensions of the works. We used a soft plastic tape measure while wearing Nitrile gloves to carefully measure the dimensions of the frame, canvas size, and visible image. March 30, 2011 Our file on Thomas Eakins's portrait of A.W. Lee, contains some interesting correspondence related to the sitter. The new curatorial description (written for this project) has transcribed some of those letters: In a typewritten letter from Clearfield [Pennsylvania] dated January 29, 1905, A. W. Lee wrote to Eakins: "My dear Sir: I am sorry that I have been unable to give you a sitting. Am now going South and will return by your City in March, when I hope to be able to give you some time. Very sincerely yours, A. W. Lee" Apparently Lee was able to pose for Eakins but the end result would not satisfy the sitter. In a handwritten letter dated September 19, 1905 sent from Tyrone, Pennsylvania, Lee again wrote Eakins: "Dear Sir: You will receive the Painting back from Washington addressed Mary E. Lee, 1729 Mt. V. I may make a suggestion when I am down soon. While not accepted by me I send you a cheque for $200 anyway. In a general way my daughter liked it. Very truly yours, A. W. Lee." March 18, 2011  Because much of my job involves me sitting at my desk going through files and working on my computer, I really look forward to tasks that get me up and moving around. Of course those assignments are even better if I get to spend time with the art firsthand. Every couple of weeks I've been traipsing around the Museum (especially in the Historic House) to take registration photographs of works in our fine art collection. We typically have the professional photographer exclude the frame of a work, instead cropping only the image. This is why I'm taking registration photographs of the whole work with its frame, a detail of the frame, and a detail of the artist's signature. They will supplement our professional images (see Jan 21st entry)—helping us to keep more thorough records. March 5, 2011 I have recently been working on records of a couple of our portraits, namely Gilbert Stuart's painting of Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis (Sally Foster) and Joseph Blackburn's painting of Elizabeth Browne Rogers. In doing so, I have come across some entertaining tidbits related to their acquisitions. Reynolda House purchased the Stuart portrait in early July 1967 from the Vose Galleries of Boston. Until that time the painting had been kept in the family of the sitter. Around the same time, the Blackburn portrait went up for sale. The Vose Galleries of Boston acted as an intermediary and represented Reynolda House at the auction. They purchased the work for the Museum (making a commission of course) and had it shipped down to Winston-Salem, NC. In a letter regarding the Blackburn's Elizabeth Browne Rogers dated July 19th, 1967 to the Museum's Founding Director Barbara Millhouse, Robert C. Vose Jr. of the Vose Galleries added this post-script about the Stuart painting: "P.S. A Philadelphia lady just phoned broken hearted that Mrs. Otis was sold. Asked buyer and price, on both counts I took the fifth amendment." February 14, 2011  I'm working with our Managing Curator, Allison Slaby, and Director of Education, Kathleen Hutton, to come up with a list of attributes for each work. Attributes are basically subject terms or keywords—relating to description, identification, and interpretation. These terms will be used to search for works. Many of the attributes are handily cross-referenced, so that if one person searches for the term "looking-glass" while another person searches "mirror" the results would be the same because they are equivalent terms indexed in the database. We use a couple different sources for this, the most important being the Getty's Art and Architecture Thesaurus.February 4, 2011 Various sources have graciously provided funding for this project. Funders for Year One include: the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA); the John W. and Anna H. Hanes Foundation; the Cannon Foundation; the Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County; and Kathy Mountcastle & Mark Koster. On behalf of the Museum staff and board, I want to thank them for their generous assistance—this project would not be possible without the aid of Reynolda House supporters like them. As the project continues, we hope interest and future donations will make Years Two and Three possible. January 21, 2011  One of the goals of this project includes creating professional images of our collection objects. Today was the last day of a successful shoot with photographer David Ramsey. Elizabeth Williams-Clymer (Assistant Registrar & ECP Project Manager) and I have been camped out in the auditorium for the past two weeks--where we put together our own photo studio. David created sets for both two-dimensional works (prints & paintings) and three-dimensional objects (sculpture & some decorative arts). We were able to shoot over 115 objects (many including details)! It was tiring to move around so many works, but extremely satisfying. We are thrilled with the results. These new images will be a great addition to, not only our documentation, but our future website and publications. January 7, 2011 When using a new database there is often a certain amount of trial and error that goes into making the system work for you and your museum. It is a good idea ease into adding records initially with a cataloging project like this. Sometimes you need to work with something for a while and get a feel for the big picture before you can become more certain on how to use all the fields. This was true when I started working with the media records (image, video, audio, & document files) that are associated with object records. We constructed a plan to execute, but after entering about 20 records it became apparent that we needed to revamp our standards to better capture information in the fields. Shifting around data for only a couple dozen records wasn't too painful, but it goes to show that if you start slowly in the beginning, you won't end up having to correct as many things.  January 4, 2011 Happy New Year, everyone! After a lovely winter break for the holidays, it's time for us to get back to work at Reynolda House--even though we are closed to the public in January. The collections staff will use this time to get some special projects done (keep an eye out here for an update on one related to this cataloging project). Best wishes to all!  December 17, 2010 This project has allowed us to realize that Reynolda House has quite a few works that retain their artist-created or artist-designed frames. This bit of information frequently can be overlooked when everyone is focused on the main image. Research by me and other staff members have made us more aware of these original frames--and therefore, we realize how important it is to get photographs of them specifically. The frame of Childe Hassam's Giant Magnolias, 1904 was designed by the artist, and you can see a detail of it here. December 8, 2010 Maynard Weber, the son of artist Max Weber (1881-1961), visited Reynolda House with his wife Dorothy in 1986. They happened upon the Museum by chance (and a recommendation from Old Salem staff to visit Reynolda Village for lunch). Their visit facilitated the decision to donate one of Max Weber's paintings, The Dancers, 1948. In the object file is an interview transcript with the son from May 24, 1988. Here is an excerpt of Maynard talking about Reynolda House: "Among the art were many works by my father's contemporaries. The furnishings of the house were inviting...it has a relaxed atmosphere, and we felt welcome--as if we were visiting someone's home--Reynolda House is a home. It is not sterile and not merely a showcase; the building does not have the awesome size and emptiness of many of our museums today. It has instead a softness and a warmth--homelike....I wanted one of his [Max Weber] paintings to be here. It is a place he would have loved."  November 18, 2010It has been really exciting to get to know more information about Grant Wood's Spring Turning, 1936. The history of the painting is rich. While our files on Spring Turning are already robust, I dug deeper into its history while researching the painting's provenance. I had to put together pieces of information into a coherent timeline of provenance. I used a myriad of clues and sources to reveal past ownership. Sometimes I found names from old back labels, while email correspondence with art dealer James Maroney Jr. provided even more leads. It's amazing how helpful other museums and galleries will be in divulging information about a work of art if you take the time to contact them. Even when an institution failed to come up with more information for me, they were kind in responding to my inquiries. After much research, I now believe we have a good idea what the chain of ownership was for Spring Turning from its execution until it was donated to Reynolda House. The label pictured is great, because it is an exhibition label from 1936, right after the painting was completed--while Wood still owned it.  November 5, 2010 Driving down Reynolda Road this time of year, I can't help but think of Jasper Francis Cropsey's Mounts Adam and Eve, 1872, because I recently read its new curatorial description that was generated for TMS. An excerpt: Initially, English critics challenged the authenticity of Cropsey's palette, calling the brilliant autumn foliage gaudy and unrealistic. However, after Cropsey displayed fall leaves from the Hudson River Valley alongside his paintings in order to prove their authenticity, the European critics were swayed. October 25, 2010 TMS is designed to be institution-specific, therefore, there are many fields that do not come pre-populated. At this point we still need to set up many 'behind-the-scenes' aspects of the database. The project team members need to create the currently unpopulated fields as appropriate. We are undergoing a series of meetings to determine what our TMS drop-down fields should be. With all of the many features in TMS, this is no small feat! We are refining terms based on Collections needs, and then we are consulting with our Managing Curator and Director of Education for further input.  October 13, 2010 For the next three days, ten staff members will be participating in on-site TMS training. Annie Van Assche, a consultant with Gallery Systems, will be here to instruct us on the ins and outs of this great program! August 24, 2010 Today we installed our new Gallery Systems' TMS database. The National Endowment for the Arts' Access to Artistic Excellence grant allowed for the purchase of this collections management software. TMS is a program capable of capturing information about provenance, publications, exhibitions, images, etc. Initially this upgrade from our previous database will allow Museum staff greater access to comprehensive data on collection objects.  August 16, 2010 I have been sorting through physical records--like object files, condition reports, loan files--for museum objects and distilling pertinent information to be captured in the new database. I make a point to research the history of the object beyond just its time at Reynolda House by looking up provenance and exhibition information. I also glean data from the existing database that needs to be transferred over. Then I create templates of composite information, so it will be easier to enter into the database. The project is starting with the fine arts works, but then will continue with all the objects from the historic house.  August 2, 2010 Today is Kim's first day at Reynolda! We're excited to begin the Collections Cataloging Project. July 30, 2010 Kim is originally from Chicago and graduated from the University of Michigan with B.A. degrees in Art History and Classical Archaeology. She received her M.A. in Museum Studies from The George Washington University in Washington, DC. Kim has multiple year experience as an image cataloger at University of Michigan's Art History slide library. More recently Kim has been working part-time as a collections contractor at the Smithsonian Institution's Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, as well as at the National Gallery of Art as a library technician in Image Collections. July 29, 2010  Reynolda House is pleased to announce that we have hired Kim Sissons as cataloging project intern. This position is funded through a generous grant from the Cannon Foundation and will last for a period of one year. This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. It is additionally supported by a grant from The Arts Council of Winston-Salem & Forsyth County with funding from the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Cultural Resources and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that great nation deserves great art. |
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Greetings from the Reception Hall! Our professional photographer, David Ramsey, has been at Reynolda House since January 17th working on the third major photo shoot of the ECP. Last week we worked with Fine Art in the Auditorium (getting 43 works done), but this week we switched our focus to large Historic House objects. We took advantage of Reynolda's closure to the public and commandeering the Reception Hall into a make-shift photography studio. We have been carefully moving heavy and cumbersome objects—like sofas and marble-top tables—onto white background paper to be photographed.
You can walk through the same room over and over again and still notice new things. This was definitely true for Chloe and me earlier this week. We were working with some objects in the Library behind the stanchions when we realized that the floor lamp (1922.2.59) near the piano has a unicorn finial. We were surprised and delighted to find a bit of the magical hidden away in Reynolda House's Library.
Prints and engravings from the 19th century frequently have more than one artist associated with their creation—but typically only the painter of the original work gets the attribution. This is true of our four Thomas Cole (1801-1848) Voyage of Life, 1854-1856 prints. The four prints are engravings completed by artist James Smillie (1807-1885) after paintings by Thomas Cole. Smillie was a specialist for the American Art-Union in landscapes.
I've uncovered some more little gems of information while gathering information in letters between Reynolda House's Founding President Barbara B. Millhouse and artist Jacob Lawrence regarding his painting 
Contract Curator Ellen Denker's visit has provided us with lots of new and exciting information about some of the objects in Reynolda's historic house collection. For instance, the pair of Chinese vases that sit on the mantel in the reception hall are not 19th century replicas--like they were so often thought of--but in fact much older. Home | Links | Press Room | Contact Information | Employment | About the Site | Español
Reynolda House Museum of American Art | 2250 Reynolda Road, Winston Salem, NC 27106 | (336) 758-5150