Looking for a thought-provoking or entertaining book to spark your interest this spring semester? The librarians have selected a collection of new titles, all of which can be found on display and checked out from the first floor of Hamon by the periodicals and reference section.
Baigell, Matthew. Social Concern and Left Politics in Jewish American Art: 1880-1940. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press, 2015.
Baigell identifies a neglected area of research in his book revealing the origins of engagement with left politics by Jewish artists from the end of the nineteenth century through World War II. Many of these artists, who emigrated from Eastern Europe, were strongly influenced by the Judaic tradition and culture, which the author demonstrates from newspapers and journals in Yiddish and English during this period.
Selected by Beverly Mitchell, Art and Dance Librarian.
Cinematic Canines: Dogs and their Work in the Fiction Film. Edited by Adrienne L. McLean. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2014.
Read about the real dogs featured in Hollywood movies, both the famous canines like Lassie, Rin Tin Tin, Toto, and Benji, but also less famous working dogs playing supporting roles on the Hollywood screen. This delightful and informative book looks at nearly every aspect of the lives of dog movie stars and featured players and the meanings they have imparted to movies over the years.
Selected by Jolene de Verges, Film and Media Arts Librarian.
Craig, Maxine Leeds. Sorry I Don’t Dance: Why Men Refuse to Move. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.
The assumption that men do not dance is a cultural influence in the United States, and one that Craig examines as having to do with gender, race, class and sexuality. Her study uses interviews, observation and archives to reveal the derivation of this recent, mid-twentieth century bias and to demonstrate how it is changing.
Selected by Beverly Mitchell, Art and Dance Librarian.
Crawford, Dorothy Lamb. A Windfall of Musicians: Hitler’s Émigrés and Exiles in Southern California. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011.
This book is the first to examine the brilliant gathering of composers, conductors, and other musicians who fled Nazi Germany and arrived in the Los Angeles area. Musicologist Dorothy Lamb Crawford looks closely at the lives, creative work, and influence of sixteen performers, fourteen composers, and one opera stage director, who joined this immense migration beginning in the 1930s. Some in this group were famous when they fled Europe, others would gain recognition in the young musical culture of Los Angeles, and still others struggled to establish themselves in an environment often resistant to musical innovation. Emphasizing individual voices, Crawford presents short portraits of Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg, and the other musicians while also considering their influence as a group—in the film industry, in music institutions in and around Los Angeles, and as teachers who trained the next generation. The book reveals a uniquely vibrant era when Southern California became a hub of unprecedented musical talent. –Publisher’s summary.
Selected by Sara Outhier, Digital Media Librarian.
Léger, Marc James. Drive In Cinema: Essays on Film, Theory and Politics. Chicago: Intellect, 2015.
This book of essays focuses on the films of the most influential 20th century avant-garde and independent filmmakers, Jean-Luc Godard, Werner Herzog, Alexander Kluge, Pier Paolo Pasolini, and several others. It explores the relationships in their films to the broader political and social movements and cultural theory of their time, specifically addressing complex radical ideas and questions posed through the work. Interdisciplinary perspectives on these relationships are presented through the essays, which go beyond traditional preoccupation with cinematic technique and style.
Selected by Jolene de Verges, Film and Media Arts Librarian.
México Ilustrado: libros, revistas y carteles, 1920-1950. Edited by Salvador Albiñana. México: Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes: Editorial RM, 2014.
New, expanded edition of a catalog originally issued to accompany an exhibition held in 2010 at the Museu Valencia de Il·lustració i la Modernitat in Valencia, Spain, and later in Madrid, Prague, Berlin and Budapest. This catalogue has a wealth of images of book covers and other printed materials from the graphics industry in Mexico.
For the previous 2010 edition, you may find it available on the second floor in Hamon.
Selected by Beverly Mitchell, Art and Dance Librarian.
Skinner, Amy. Meyerhold and the cubists : perspectives on painting and performance. Bristol: Intellect, 2015.
This book offers a rich analysis of collage practices in the theatre of Vsevolod Meyerhold. Focusing on the philosophical and formal tenets of the form, and supporting her analysis with wide-ranging examples from both theatre and fine art, Amy Skinner develops collage as a framework for reading the whole of the theatrical experience, from scenography and mise-en-scène to text and spectatorship. An innovative exploration of the influence of collage on twentieth- and twenty-first-century theatre, ‘Meyerhold and the cubists’ will be essential reading for theatre scholars and practitioners alike. –Publisher’s summary.
Selected by Emily George Grubbs, Archivist and Interim Theater Librarian.
Talley, André Leon, Deborah Moses, and Kayleigh Jankowski. Badgley Mischka: American glamour. New York, NY: Rizzoli, 2015.
Looking forward to seeing the gowns on the red carpet at the upcoming Oscars? This photo book is a celebration of all things beaded, ruffled, feathered, and fishtailed. Badgley and Mischka have long been associated with evening wear, bridal gowns, and of course, Hollywood, and this lavish book showcases their work that inspired a modern sense of American glamour.
Selected by Megan Heuer, Communication Arts Librarian.
Theatre and Human Rights after 1945: Things Unspeakable. Edited by Mary Luckhurst and Emilie Morin. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.
This book defines vitally important new territory in thinking about the intersection of theatre, social engagement, and human rights. Nuanced readings of 20th and 21st-century performance practices investigate the unique role of theatre in relation to issues such as post-conflict violence, torture, elder abuse, political censorship, corporate labour practices, and disability. Cathy Caruth analyses the politics of listening and Catherine Cole writes magisterially on institutional ethics and the performance of genocide. This is a brilliant expose of the way performance can sometimes transcend and sometimes spectacularly fail in the wake of the famously unspeakable horrors of Auschwitz. –Review by Yoni Prior, Deakin University, Australia.
Selected by Emily George Grubbs, Archivist and Interim Theater Librarian.
Waldrep, Shelton. Future Nostalgia: Performing David Bowie. New York : Bloomsbury Academic, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Inc, 2015.
This title, published in October, 2015, is a significant volume in the field of David Bowie Studies. Shelton Waldrep, Professor of English at University of Southern Maine, has written an engrossing examination of David Bowie as a performer and the influence of the artist on multiple art forms and media. Waldrep addresses several specific periods of Bowie’s career—including 1972 (Ziggy Stardust), 1977-79 (Berlin Trilogy), and 1980-83 (New Wave and pop)—and examines key moments, personas, and performances through the scholarly framework of gender/identity, subculture, and sound and performance studies.
Selected by Pam Pagels, Music Librarian.
Webb, Brian and Peyton Skipwith. Eric Ravilious: Design. Woodbridge, England: ACC Art Books, 2015.
This publication is a revised and expanded edition of a 2005 edition. It provides a generous sampling of work by this highly influential, early twentieth century designer on British style. Ravilious started his academic training at the Royal College of Art, London, where he began a career producing woodcut designs and went on to create illustrations for books, ceramics and textiles.
Want to learn more about this fascinating artist? Hamon also has another recent publication available: Eric Ravilious : Artist & Designer.
Selected by Beverly Mitchell, Art and Dance Librarian.
Contact your subject librarian for more suggested readings.