University of Cincinnati Libraries Press Release
Contact: Melissa Cox Norris, Director of Library Communications, (513) 556-1558 or melissa.norris@uc.edu
A New Digital Collection from the University of Cincinnati Libraries Showcases North American Indian Art
February 9, 2009 –A new digital collection is available at the University of Cincinnati Libraries Digital Projects Web site. C. Szwedzicki: The North American Indian Works, http://digitalprojects.libraries.uc.edu/szwedzicki/index.asp, is a collection of 364 images and texts showcasing North American Indian art.
Between 1929 and 1952, C. Szwedzicki, a publisher in Nice, France, produced six portfolios of artwork created by 20th-century American Indian artists. The publications were edited by American scholars Oscar Brousse Jacobson, Hartley Burr Alexander, and Kenneth Milton Chapman. Many of the images were published as pochoir prints, which are similar in appearance to silk screen prints. Important documentation of the Battle of the Little Big Horn is provided in the reproduction of the now-lost ledger art of Amos Bad Heart Bull.
C. Szwedzicki: The North American Indian Works is available to the public. Visitors to the site can view thumbnails and large versions of the images, and then can rotate, zoom in and out, magnify particular areas, and print the images. Searchable PDF versions of the text of the six portfolios are available on the Web site, in addition to an introductory essay by Janet Catherine Berlo, Professor of Art History and Visual and Cultural Studies at the University of Rochester. The essay includes links to images within the collection and can be used as a navigational tool.
The contents of this collection are drawn primarily from materials in the Archives and Rare Books Library at UC, but items are also included from the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County and the Yale Collection of Western Americana. Alice Cornell, Associate Senior Librarian Emerita, served as curator and editor of the collection.
C. Szwedzicki: The North American Indian Works joins several other library digital collections online, including:
- The News Record: issues of the University of Cincinnati's independent student newspaper, September 1960 through July 1970.
- George Catlin: The Printed Works: over 600 images of lithographic, chromolithographic, and engraved plates from Catlin's principal printed works. George Catlin (1792-1872) traveled the North American continent from 1830-1838 to chronicle the people, customs, and traditions of Native American tribes.
- The Architecture and Urban Planning Collection: over 2,500 architectural and urban planning images from China, Africa, Europe, and the United States, with an emphasis on Cincinnati.
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