Colin B. Bailey

This elegant publication presents for the first time the Eveillard Gift of drawings to the Morgan Library& Museum. It accompanies an exhibition at the Morgan and includes a catalogue of the works with entries by drawings experts. The Morgan celebrates the 100th year of its founding with a series of exhibitions devoted to promised gifts to the museum, including 28 drawings from the holdings of New Yorkbased collectors Jean-Marie and Elizabeth Eveillard, which will be on view during the summer of 2024\. The selection comprises drawings from the seventeenth to the twentieth century, and includes a rare compositional study for Rembrandt’s first painting, Greuze’s virtuoso depiction of a young cook made for his friend Georges Wille, Delacroix’s intimate portrait of his confidante and caretaker Jenny Le Guillou, and a spectacular nude by Bonnard. Also in the gift are significant sheets—many rarely seen—by major artists including Rubens, Guercino, Watteau, Constable, Seurat, Cezanne, and Vuillard, among others. In fully illustrated entries, drawing specialists explore the creation and context for each sheet, considering the artist’s choices and the ways in which drawing liberated the imagination in these exploratory studies.

This beautifully illustrated publication celebrates the first-ever restoration of the exterior of J. Pierpont Morgan’s Library — the historic heart of the Morgan Library & Museum. Morgan’s Library has stood as a significant cultural landmark ever since it was commissioned by J. Pierpont Morgan for personal use at the start of the 20th century. Its transition to a public institution in the twenties has lent to an even greater flood of admiration and patronage, by both local and international audiences. The elegant design by Charles Follen McKim stands as one of the finest examples of neoclassical architecture in the United States, significant for its distinctive Italian Renaissance style and its opulent interior period rooms. The site has been designated both a National Historic Landmark and a New York City landmark, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The book, following on the heels of the completed restoration, will punctuate this latest milestone in the building’s storied history.

The incredible story of the first director of the Morgan Library: a visionary Black woman who walked confidently in an early 20th-century man’s world of wealth and privilege When J. P. Morgan’s personal library opened as a public institution in 1924, the choice for its first director was an obvious one: Belle da Costa Greene (1879–1950). Not only had she organized and cataloged the collection, she had significantly expanded its holdings and displayed its treasures in curated exhibitions. While she was famous and well known for her librarianship in her lifetime, few people also knew that she had been born to a prominent Black family, and by her early 20s was passing as white in New York City. After Greene was hired by J. P. Morgan in 1905, she emerged as one of the highest-paid women in America and commanded respect in a field dominated by men. She spent millions of dollars on Morgan’s behalf to acquire outstanding medieval manuscripts, rare printed books and works of art. Following Morgan’s death she continued to work with his son, who established the library as a public institution. All told, she headed the Morgan for 43 years and was single-handedly responsible for turning it into one of the most important collections of rare books and manuscripts in the United States. Published to coincide with the centennial of the museum and of Greene’s appointment as director, Belle da Costa Greene: A Librarian’s Legacy presents a thematic collection of essays with new research on her family, education, portraits, professional networks and her own art collection, while also engaging with larger themes such as race in America, gender and culture, and the history of Black librarianship. The book offers a full picture of Greene on her own terms and in her own words—revealing her rich career as a curator, collector, library executive and dynamic New Yorker.

In this new title in Scala’s popular Director’s Choice series, Colin B. Bailey introduces the Morgan Library & Museum’s outstanding collection, including gems such as a rare Gutenberg Bible, working manuscripts by Mozart, Handel, Joyce and Wilde and works by Rembrandt, Schiele and Van Gogh. A museum and independent research library located in the heart of New York City, the Morgan Library & Museum began as the personal library of financier, collector and cultural benefactor John Pierpont Morgan. As early as 1890 Morgan had begun to assemble a collection of illuminated, literary and historical manuscripts, books, drawings and prints. Musical manuscripts, modern and contemporary works on paper and photography have been added to the collection as it has grown through the years. This beautifully illustrated volume offers a lively introduction to Bailey’s chosen works, providing unique and personal insights into the heart of this beloved collection.

Ulysses is widely regarded as the greatest novel of the twentieth century. Commemorating the 1922 publication of this modernist masterwork, One Hundred Years of James Joyce’s “Ulysses” tells the story of the writing, revising, printing, and censorship of the novel. Edited by world-renowned Irish novelist and literary critic Colm Tóibín, this book presents ten essays by preeminent Joyce scholars and by curators of his manuscripts and early editions, as well as an interview with Sean Kelly, the New York gallery owner who donated his extensive Joyce collection to The Morgan Library & Museum. Beginning with Tóibín’s expert interpretation of the Dublin context for Ulysses, the volume follows Joyce in Trieste, Zurich, and Paris from 1914 up through the novel’s publication—and the international scandal and fame that ensues. It draws on Joyce’s notebooks and letters, as well as extant manuscripts and proofs, to provide new insights into Joyce’s life, the narrative and place of Ulysses, and the printed book. Rich and illuminating, this volume is essential for scholars, fans, and readers of the novel. Along with the editor, contributors include Ronan Crowley, Maria DiBattista, Derick Dreher, Catherine Flynn, Anne Fogarty, Rick Gekoski, Joseph M. Hassett, James Maynard, and John McCourt.

Celebrates one of the giants of French Impressionism with luxurious, large-format images Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) was one of the founders of Impressionism and a friend of Monet, Pissarro and Sisley. He worked side-by-side with Monet on the banks of the Seine, sharing his concern with light and colour, but landscape painting never displaced his enduring love of figure painting. Delighting in the ample curves of the nudes he painted increasingly frequently in his later years, Renoir was also a master at capturing the spirit of Parisian life. His art is filled with optimism - his lifelong philosophy was that he painted because it gave him pleasure, and he shares that pleasure with those who see his work. It is almost always summer in his pictures, and in paintings like Moulin de la Galette, The Dance at Bougival and The Luncheon of the Boating Party he gives us an enduring record of contemporaries relaxing and enjoying their leisure.

This richly illustrated volume reveals the intriguing story behind the commission, rejection, and rehousing of Jean- Honore Fragonard's Progress of Love, a series of 14 paintings considered by many to be the artist's masterpiece. Fragonard (1732-1806) completed four large canvases for the comtesse du Barry's pavilion at Louveciennes, but they were replaced and returned to the artist. In 1790 Fragonard moved them to his cousin's house in Grasse, and over the course of the year painted two further large-scale works and 10 additional panels. With 140 colour images of the Fragonard paintings, details, shots of the room, plans, original sketches, and other comparative images, author Colin Bailey explores the commission of the four main panels, their original arrangement at Louveciennes and the possible reasons for their rejection. Equally enthralling is the history of how the paintings were rediscovered in the late 19th century and how they eventually came to The Frick Collection.