Created in support of a presentation given at the Malcolm M. Renfrew Interdisciplinary Colloquium Series at the University of Idaho on April 23rd, 2013 by faculty members Rochelle Smith and Kristin Henrich.
What Goes Where? Art and Craft in LC Classification
1. What Goes Where?
Art and Craft in the Library of
Congress Classification System
Rochelle Smith, Associate Professor, Reference & Instruction Librarian
Kristin Henrich, Assistant Professor, Reference & Instruction Librarian
Malcolm M. Renfrew Interdisciplinary Colloquium | University of Idaho
April 23, 2013
28. Dewey Decimal System
000 General Works
100 Philosophy
200 Theology
300 Sociology
400 Philology
500 Natural Science
600 Useful Arts
700 Fine Arts
800 Literature
900 History
700
710 Landscape Gardening.
720 Architecture.
730 Sculpture.
740 Drawing. Decoration.
745 Ornamental Design. Woven
fabrics.
746 Art Needlework.
750 Painting.
760 Engraving.
770 Photography.
780 Music.
790 Amusements.
Library of Congress System
A General Works.
B Philosophy
BL-BX Religion
C History—Auxiliary sciences
D History and Topography (except
America)
E America General and U.S. General
History
F U.S. Local and America outside
U.S. History
G Geography, Anthropology, Sports
H Social sciences
J Political sciences
K Law
L Education
M Music
N Fine arts
P Language and Literature
Q Science
R Medicine
S Agriculture
T Technology
U Military science
V Naval science
Z Bibliography
West = everyone agrees that this is art (Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel), Renaissance classic
Jackson Pollock (tend to agree that this is art as well)
Tom Joyce, blacksmith (bread paddle gate and courtyard gate)http://www.arktimes.com/EyeCandy/archives/2011/11/16/thursday-blacksmith-tom-joyce-at-aachttp://www.anvilmag.com/smith/910d4.htm
George Nakashima, 1950. Mira chair (courtesy ARTstor)Peace altar, St John the Divine Cathedral, New York City (black walnut)http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/announcements/contribute-to-the-nakashima-peace-altar/
What about these? Kilim rug from Turkey, ceremonial mask from BeninCraft? Material culture? Mask = religious and social significance, so imp. for anthropologists, but how does that differ from Sistine Chapel?
Coffin of Bakenmut. Egypt, Thebes, Deir el-Bahari (?), New Kingdom, late Dynasty 21, 1069-945 or early Dynasty 22, 945-924 BC. Gessoed and painted fig wood (courtesy of ARTstor). Ancient Egypt; canon of proportionsImage Courtesy Art Across Time by Laurie Schneider Adamshttp://www.oberlin.edu/images/artime27.html
Rogier van der Weyden - Isabella of Portugal (oil on panel, ca. 1500)http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rogier_van_der_Weyden_-_Isabella_of_Portugal_-_WGA25726.jpghttp://mode-im-mittelalter.de/kleidungsstuckeTop by PaulinaBojor (pron. Boyorr)
Are these art? Why or why not? http://img2.etsystatic.com/000/0/5532539/il_fullxfull.286978122.jpghttp://www.thesecurityblanketco.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/misc/show_image.html?linkedwidth=actual&linkpath=http://www.thesecurityblanketco.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/1418point.jpg&target=tlx_new
Clio, Thalia, Erato, Euterpe, Polyhymnia, Calliope, Terpsichore, Urania, MelpomeneThe Muses (history, comedy, lyric poetry, music, sacred poetry, epic poetry, dance, astronomy, tragedy) – scholarly or artistic disciplines in Greek world, and also later in medieval world – only changed in the RenaissanceDisciplines of the mindAs opposed to sculpture – this relief would have been considered craft http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Muses_sarcophagus_Louvre_MR880.jpg
Gislebertus; Weighing of Souls; detail from right side of the Apocalypse ca. 1120-1140 (Last Judgment) tympanum, Church of Saint Lazare, Autun (courtesy ofARTstor)Donatello; David (bronze; 1440s) (Photo Credit: Erich Lessing/ART RESOURCE, N.Y. courtesy of ARTstor)Renaissance = sculptors as artists, bid to make art above craft
Metropolitan Museum of Art – what goes in museums like this? Painting, sculpture, western art*why is non-western art separate?Met founded 1870; Freer Gallery of Art (Asian art) 1908; Smithsonian Museum of African Art 1964
Natural History Museum in LondonWhat goes in here?Also: anthropological artifacts – Benin sculpture? SmithsonianEiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art
Third kind of museumEiteljorg founded in 1989Met founded 1870; Freer Gallery of Art (Asian art) 1908; Smithsonian Museum of African Art 1964
Which museum? Limoges vase, late 18th c
Which this? Ming vaseFreer Gallery of Asian Art (1908)
Hopi vase? Now vs. 50 years agoEiteljorg not until 1989; until 60s or 70s would have been put into natural history museum
Diderot’s Encyclopedie (1751-1772); memory, reason, and imaginationEnlightenmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ENC_SYSTEME_FIGURE.jpegBut what about computer science, or interdisciplinary topics?
Linnaeus (1707-1778)Carolus Linnaeus in Laponian costume(Hendrik Hollander 1853)ttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Carolus_Linnaeus_by_Hendrik_Hollander_1853.jpg/429px-Carolus_Linnaeus_by_Hendrik_Hollander_1853.jpgDarwin (1809-1882)http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charles_Darwin_by_G._Richmond.jpg
1800s = about classifying informationLinneaus in 1700s, Darwin, move to scientifically order the worldDewey = interested in organizing all human knowledge b/c he was an egomaniacPutnam = more practical, interested in intuitive organization for researchers/scholarsPitfalls about classification (christianity takes up so much about religion, less space for Islam or Wicca; European history vs the rest of the world)Both cases systems seemed logical – now seem like fossils
Which…brings us to the Library of Congress (Jefferson Library Reading Room, 1814)
Library of Congress – intended to serve Congress, Roosevelt was President (1901-1909)LC Finalized in 1903Focused on US, informed political/Congressional decisionsWhich explains…
All European art and non-European art is in Ns, EXCEPT for Native American art – why? What does this tell you? Inconvenient and insulting to researchers now? http://southwestindianarts.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/levi-ledger.jpg
What about photography? Less culturally charged, but…this is an issue of technology. When LC created, photography = technological marvel, rather than art. Used chemicals, so with chem engineering as opposed to art. Mapplethorpe photo, but this would be in Ts as opposed to his paintings, or paintings of flowers in general, which would be in Ns
White Calla Lily, Lowell Nesbitt 1978 (oil on canvas; courtesy of ARTstor) Calla Lily, 1988, Robert Mapplethorpe (
ThéodoreChassériau,Study of a Negro (1838)Image provided throughARTstor by Erich Lessing Culture and Fine Arts Archives/ART RESOURCE, N.Y. Robert Mapplethorpe, Ajitto (gelatin-silver print, 1981)
Textiles – fine art vs craft; lots of reasons. Industrial revolution, mechanized production? Male art world vs female domestic world? Education? Economics? (Home Ec. Example)What makes separations obvious in 1900? Are they still obvious now? (William Morris tapestry)
In this famous photograph, Boston Cooking School Principal Fannie Farmer (1857-1915) holds a measuring cup to a student as if to reinforce her reputation as the "Mother of Level Measurements.” Boston Cooking-School Cook Book (1896)http://media.npr.org/assets/artslife/books/2010/10/fannies-last-supper/fannie-farmer-fac8d8ea5d2401fcd280e1280d9f4661f7a0aae2-s3.jpgIllustrated Book of Patterns for Lace Making (New York 1876)http://media-cache-lt0.pinterest.com/550x/5e/75/26/5e7526c2f68f2602b1f5562402488961.jpg
Where should these go, and where do they go? Both in TR and TT, although both obviously intended for artists. Problematic?