GRAPHEION'S LINKS

by Robert Horvitz

A few years ago, the Internet looked like it would suck in and replace all other media. That now seems as unlikely as the "paperless office." Nevertheless the net continues to make deep and enduring changes to many facets of culture.
Thanks to search-engines and "too-cheap-to-meter" data delivery, people can easily find and distribute information about specialized subjects, regardless of their geographic location. Here is a collection of links related to Grapheion's agenda -- art on paper, limited edition prints and artists books. This listing is obviously subjective and selective. Your suggestions for improving and extending it will be much appreciated, as we plan to keep this page on the Grapheion website and update it regularly.



GENERAL

There are many good "meta-pages" for art--huge collections of links chosen (and sometimes annotated) by specialists in the subject. The ones I find most useful are:
Voice of the Shuttle's "Art & Art History Page" by Alan Liu
"Gateway to Art History" - compiled for use with Gardner's textbook, Art Through the Ages
"The Mother of All Art History Link Pages", maintained by the University of Michigan's art history department
There are also excellent online references:
The Virtual Library "Museums Pages"
This global registry and gateway to museum websites is a project of the International Council of Museums. A top-level menu links you to national-level directories which typically contain dozens or even hundreds of URLs. Other museum gateways of similar (vast) scope are Elsas Producties' "10,000 Links to Museums" and the 33,000 links of the Museum Network.
The AMICO Library
The Art Museum Image Consortium (AMICO) provides free access to thumbnail-size images of 65,000+ works of art. Universities, libraries and museums can pay annual fees for access to high-resolution images, provenance information, audio guides to collections, etc. Subscription prices start at about $1000 per year, higher for larger institutions. But a 30-day free trial is available for schools.
ArtDiaryNet
This is FlashArt's address-book of 30,000+ artists, critics, curators, editors, etc. So if you want to contact, e.g. David Hockney, Francois Morellet, Jasper Johns or someone else less famous, there's a good chance you'll find their address here.
Art in Context
This database turns exhibition schedules into a directory of which artists show where, and conversely, which galleries show what artists. Pleasantly minimalist in design, it is a useful tool limited by the number of exhibitions that the staff is able to catalogue.
Notebook
This idiosyncratic site looks as if it started as a private resource, yet the creator's identity is nowhere revealed. It's easy to get lost in it. Even finding links is hard, since they are not underlined or in color. But what makes this site extraordinary are the many long online texts, entire books in some cases. For example: the Boston Museum of Fine Arts' "Works on Paper" series; "On Composition" by John Ruskin (from The Elements of Drawing, 1857); William Blake's Theory of Art by Morris Eaves (Princeton University Press, 1982); etc.

GRAPHIC ARTS

The ArtServe Database of European Prints and Printmaking
The Australian National University's online imagebase of 2800 European prints. Access to low-resolution images is free; access to high-resolution images is by subscription only. One can search by artist, subject or technique, although, as they candidly admit, the search process is "highly imperfect."
A hundred highlights from the Koninklijke Bibliotheek
Printed graphics from the collection of the Netherlands' national library, shown and discussed on 100 finely crafted web pages. View them sequentially or by medium/subject: illuminated manuscripts, block books, albums, engravings, woodcuts, lithographs, drawings, typographic masterpieces, etc.
Les Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
Every page of the Limbourg brothers' medieval masterpiece is here, with detailed notes by Michael Olteanu and full-color images at various resolutions. Even with electronic scanning, the clarity of the original cannot be duplicated. But how many of us will ever see the original?

DRAWING

Tracey
If there is a focus for contemporary drawing on the internet, it is Tracey, maintained by Jane Tormey at Loughborough University's School of Art and Design in England. Nothing here about history, collecting or the art market. They view drawing as more than art -- as a tool for creative thinking and analysis, whose value grows as computer technology becomes more visually oriented. That attitude translates into an ongoing interest in "visual thinking" and how to teach it.
N. F. Karlin's "Drawing Notebook"
With it's chatty "Letters from [London, Rome, Paris, Venice, New York, Athens, etc.]," Artnet's online magazine must be described as essential reading for anyone working in the visual arts. N. F. Karlin's "Drawing Notebook" appears there once or twice each month, with insightful reviews of current exhibitions in New York and other eastern American cities.
Ars Libri Ltd.
Ars Libri Ltd. is an antiquarian bookstore in Boston, Massachusetts, that specializes in "rare and scholarly books in the fine arts." Their website lists the books and catalogues that they currently have in stock, and it is normally an awesome aggregation. See especially their Special List 1 (Old Master and 19th century Drawings) and Special Bulletin 104-N (Drawings)
Inventory-Catalogue of Drawings in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana
An ambitious project to put online all 12,000 drawings in the collection of Milano's Biblioteca Ambrosiana. They are about half done...but for some reason, their internet host, ItalNet, has blocked delivery of the images, so as we go to press, only text information is available (in Italian and English). The collection includes works by da Vinci, Michelangelo, the Carraccis, Durer, Raphael, Rubens and Tiepolo, though most of the drawings are only tentatively attributed. If this project is ever fully realized, it will be one of the premiere online resources for the history of drawing.
A Drawing Glossary
What's the difference between "bistre" and "sepia"? You'll know after reading this precise/concise glossary compiled by Edward Saywell for Harvard University's art museums.

INK

Inks, etc.: Recipes from the Household Cyclopedia
A century before the Whole Earth Catalog, there was The Household Cyclopedia, collecting "the most approved [recipes], in all the arts of Domestic and Social Life." The authors' conceit was that "if all other books of Science in the world were destroyed, this single volume would be found to embody the results of the useful experience, observations, and discoveries of mankind during the past ages of the world." Matthew Spong scanned and OCR'd this treasury of do-it-yourself tips and guidance, turning it into a website. The page giving recipes for inks summarizes a thousand years of earnest practice. Evan Lindquist, a teacher at Arkansas State University, has compiled additional "Recipes for old writing and drawing inks" and commented on their merits and shortcomings at
A more narrowly focused website - devoted exclusively to the problem of "iron gall ink corrosion" can be found. For centuries, gall (hard ball-shaped growths on oak leaves that are caused by insects and other parasites) was used to make "permanent" black inks. Leonardo's notebooks, Bach's musical scores, drawings by Rembrandt and Van Gogh, drafts of the American Constitution -- all were all made with it. But time has shown that not all gall inks are in fact permanent. Some are acidic enough to destroy the paper bearing them. This website, sponsored by the European Commission on Preservation and Access, is a resource for archivists and conservators. It promotes awareness of the problem and provides support for the people trying to solve it.

PRINTMAKING

PrintForum
Printforum provides free webpages for print dealers and galleries, creating a database of hundreds of of entries, searchable by city. Oriented toward collectors, they also have the beginnings of a good library of historical references, some of which they publish on CD-ROM.
Printmaking Links
Middle Tennessee State University has created an excellent printmaking link-site. It will point you to university programs, fellowships and grants, commercial fine art presses, organizations, online magazines, museums and galleries, printmaking history, equipment and supplies. They also host an informative Online Discussion Forum (message-board) oriented toward students and beginners. And finally, they are the home of...
Keith Howard's Non-Toxic Printmaking Page
Traditional intaglio uses materials known to be hazardous. For schools, that raises the question of legal liability for knowingly exposing students to these chemicals. This web page describes some modern non-toxic alternatives which are supposed to be technically superior to, as well as cheaper than, the materials that have been traditionally used.
New Directions in Printmaking: The Technical Side
Nik Semenoff is responsible for a number of technical innovations that are spreading rapidly though the print world: waterless lithography using aluminum plates and silicone (such as builders use for caulking); lithography with the dry toner powder that photocopy machines use; electro-etching; a "palm printer" that eliminates the need for a larger press, etc. If printmaking by hand has a future, part of it might be glimpsed here.
International Association of Fine Art Digital Printmakers
IAFADP is proof, if one was needed, that digital imagery and inkjet printing are ready to take their place in the canons of art history. Sharing information about how to create digital prints of the highest technical quality, with inks that are color-stable on papers that will endure: that's the aim of this group headed by Jeffrey Leonard. See especially the Technical Notes section, featuring Henry Wilhelm's essay on "The Intimate Relationships of Inks and Papers" -- as well as Wilhelm's ongoing series of longevity test reports.
Art on Paper's "Guide to Print Workshops"
Art on Paper is a bimonthly magazine with interests similar to Grapheion's but focussing on North America and covering photography, too. Their website has article summaries and tables of contents from current and past issues; occasionally they add a web-exclusive article. But their most informative online offering is probably their annual guide to print workshops in the USA: contact addresses plus brief descriptions of technical capabilities and special interests.
Woodblock.com
Home of the Baren Encyclopedia of Woodblock Printing, and archive of the email-based Baren Forum. Sponsored by David Bull, this is the place for info on woodblock printing...with a tilt toward Japanese approaches.

PAINTING ON PAPER

The Society of Tempera Painters
Founded in 1997 (but inspired by an earlier group with a similar name and purpose), these people are devoted to reviving and preserving the medium of egg tempera. Their website is serious and informative, with information about the properties of dry pigments and where to get them, lists of artists working in this medium (from Botticelli to Wyeth), an annotated guide to relevant books and a discussion forum for practitioners.

PAPER

The Paper History Channel
A multi-lingual gateway to the history of paper, organized by Luigi Bagnato. See especially the pages called Webguide to the World of Handmade Paper When Dieter Freyer started producing handmade papers, he turned to the Internet for inspiration and guidance. His list of URLs grew and grew and eventually got organized into this elegant "webguide" (in German and English, with a little French and Spanish). Don't miss his directory of antique paper-mill and paper-museum websites ("Museums"). But most of his links are to webpages created by individual artists to display their work, and that makes the overall focus of his site more human and personal.
Confederation of European Paper Industries
Probably the best designed of all the websites discussed here. Unfortunately, there's not much information for the general public... because that's on a separate CEPI website called Paper Online , which looks like it was designed for children.

BOOK ARTS

Book_Arts-L Archive
The Book Arts Web
Peter Verheyen started an email-based discussion list called Book_Arts-L in 1994. It has grown to include some 1400 participants, including bookbinders, paper-marblers, printers, collectors, artists and librarians. To join Book_Arts-L send an email message to them saying, in the body of the message: "subscribe Book_Arts-L Yourfirstname Yourlastname".
Use your real first and last names instead of "Yourfirstname Yourlast name." An archive of all the messages distributed to Book_Arts-L can be found at the URL given above. The Book Arts Web, also managed by Peter Verheyen, is pretty much what it sounds like. It offers several large collections of links and a gallery showing work by the Guild of Book Workers.
Keith Smith's list of book-arts resources
A huge (90kb) address list, mostly suppliers of material and tools, workshops for production and training, distributors and organizations in North America and Europe.
The Colophon Page
Dedicated to the "fine publishing arts," this site in New York City includes, among other things: Umbrella's international directory of dealers handling artists' books; Maurizio Scudiero's page on "The Italian Futurist Book;" a page for the New York Center for Book Arts; and links to offsite exhibitions like "The Czech Avant Garde: European Art and Photography in Book Design, 1922-1940."
SHARP Web
Archives of SHARP-L
"The Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing was created in 1991 to provide a global network for book historians, who until then had usually worked in isolation. SHARP now has about 900 members in 20 countries." SHARP-L is their very active email-based discussion group. A wealth of information connected to the history of publishing can be found in the searchable archive of previously-distributed messages, as well as info about how to subscribe to SHARP-L (it's free).

OTHER SITES

Isekatagami: Japanese Cutting Paper Works
"Isekatagami" is a traditional Japanese paper craft oriented toward surface-filling patterns. It requires non-tearing, non-warping papers, and this website shows with delightful animations how they are made. They also sell "Isekatagami Making Kits" for beginners and special cutting tools and supplies for advanced practitioners.
Tinami
"Manga" is the Japanese name for comic books, and there has been a boom in this artform in recent decades. It's a logical extension of ukiyo-e. Tinami is "The Information Navigator of Manga Artists on the Internet." If you know the name of a particular artist or author, this search engine will point you to webpages featuring his work and online articles about him. Unfortunately, Tinami's own pages are entirely in Japanese, but searches can be done using names spelled in the Latin Alphabet, and website names are always spelled Latinically, too.
Conservation OnLine (CoOL)
"Resources for Conservation Professionals" is the subtitle of this educational website created by the Libraries of Stanford University. But it's more than that. Their full-text archive of "Conservation/Preservation Information for the General Public" is one of the most valuable services found anywhere. It covers not just paper but perishables of all types, from feathers to videotape, furniture to faxes. Their "Educational Opportunities" list is a worldwide directory of academic courses and programs in conservation, including some that try to keep dying skills alive (goldleafing, making paper from flax, etc.). They also host webpages for the Institute of Paper Conservation, the International Association of Book and Paper Conservators, and other worthy organizations. Much of the Internet seems to be about Everything Right Now. Conservation OnLine is about saving the Past for the Future.
European Commission on Preservation and Access
"The European Commission on Preservation and Access [ECPA] was established in 1994 by a group of scholars, librarians and archivists out of concern for the fate of millions of books and documents that are being threatened by acidification and embrittlement... The accumulated knowledge contained in these books and documents will be irretrievably lost unless large-scale preservation programmes are initiated... The ECPA aims to raise public awareness of this problem and to impress on users how critical the situation is..." The ECPA's "Preservation Map of Europe" on their website summarizes the national programs and projects of EU-member and -candidate countries.
Bodleian Digital Library Projects
One of the best uses of the World Wide Web is providing visual access to materials so rare that it is impossible to allow physical access to them. Oxford University's Bodleian Library has been a leader in developing web access to scanned pages from their collections of medieval manuscripts, sheet music, 18th/19th century journals, etc. Here is a gateway to the online images. There are of course other notable examples of web access to rare publications and manuscripts. For an overview, see the University of Idaho's list of 3800+ websites representing Repositories of Primary Sources.
Handmade Parchment and Vellum
Rick Cavasin makes and sells parchment, using traditional techniques. His small website describes the process, provides a parchment-making bibliography, discusses the differences between vellum and parchment, and offers tips on caring for and using these materials. Since most of the links he provides to other parchment-making sites seem to be dead, his site must be more or less unique.
Cynscribe's Calligraphy Compilation
Created by Cynthia Garinther, with 1,000 links it's overwhelming. And confusing. Because sites often fit more than one category, there are many duplicate entries. But still it's the best place to start looking for things calligraphic: lettering in Arabic/Chinese/Hebrew/Hindu/Japanese/Latin, organizations, Celtic knotwork, history of the alphabet, quills and brass pens, ink vendors, rubber stamps, mail art, quotation archives, calligraphic computer-fonts, manuscript collections, overcoming left-handedness, etc., etc., etc.
ArtHistoryTV.com
NicheTV is a free "video jukebox" that offers "niche programming" to netsurfers on demand. In ordinary English, that means you can download video documentaries about artists like Leonardo da Vinci or Edward Hopper and view them on your computer. Less than a dozen documentaries are currently available, but this is a concept that could grow. By bundling together many different specialized "channels," the aggregate audience may be big enough to attract advertisers to buy banners on NicheTV's homepage, thereby covering the cost of operation -- without interrupting the videos.
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Last modified by Olga Fridlova on November 10, 2000