John pierpont morgan biography video about helen
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Portrait of Pierpont Morgan as a student at the University of Göttingen, ca. ARC
John Pierpont Morgan (–) was the greatest collector of his generation. Over the course of his life, he amassed an unrivalled collection of art and rare books and manuscripts, including three Gutenberg Bibles and the only Raphael altarpiece in any American collection.
Many of the hallmarks of Morgan’s collecting emerged during his youth. Members of the Morgan family frequently gave books to one another as gifts. On Morgan’s tenth birthday, years ago today, his grandmother gave him Jacob Abbott’s Boys’ and Girls’ Miscellany. Described in contemporary advertisements as a “notable gift-book,” the anthology included “excellent and entertaining Stories, Sketches of Travel and Adventure, Poems and popular articles in History, Biography, and Science.” When Morgan turned thirteen, he noted in his “Line-A-Day” diary that he had received another boo
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At the foot of Mount Ararat, on the crossroads of the eastern and western worlds, medieval Armenians dominated international trading routes that reached from Europe to China and India to Russia. As the first people to convert officially to Christianity, they commissioned and produced some of the most extraordinary religious objects of the Middle Ages. An unprecedented volume, published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and accompanying the exhibition Armenia! (on view through January 13, ), addresses the rich cultural legacy of this often overlooked medieval community that interacted with Romans, Byzantines, Persians, Muslims, Mongols, Ottomans, and Europeans. With groundbreaking essays by international scholars and exquisite illustrations, Armenia: Art, Religion, and Trade in the Middle Ages illuminates the singular achievements of a great medieval civilization.
Helen Evans, the editor of the catalogue and curator of the exhibition, spoke with me about her long history stu
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"Our Town" Out of Town
Submitted by Dale Stinchcomb on Wed, 01/15/ - amThere’s an old adage in the theater that says plays are not written, they are rewritten. For most of the twentieth century that rewriting happened on the road during two-week stints known as tryouts. These trial runs, in cities like Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia, gave new productions time away from the critical spotlight to get their acts together and avoid landing belly-up on Broadway.
Black Librarianship and the Legacy of Belle da Costa Greene
Submitted by Publications De on Tue, 11/12/ - amBelle da Costa Greene achieved unparalleled status as a library director, collector, and curator during her lifetime. As scholars continue to uncover the complex layers of Greene’s life, two main aspects have risen to the forefront of her legacy—her position as the personal librarian of financier J. Pierpont Morgan, along with the luxuries and challenges this position provided, and her Black ancestry