Behind the Scenes of a Wolfsonian Library Installation Examining the Dust Bowl
• December 20, 2023 • Leave a CommentPosted in 1930s, Artists, CCC, Christopher DeNoon, CLara Helena Palacio Luca, collectors, curators, Disaster relief, donations, exhibit cases, exhibitions, FAP, FDR, Federal Art Project (FAP), FIU community, FIU students, Florida International University students, Francis Xavier Luca, gifts, Great Depression, History Department, Mitchell Wolfson Jr., museums, New Deal, New Deal (1933-1939), New Deal era, photography, postcards, posters, reception, student curators, Student exhibit, The Wolfsonian Library, Wolfsonian staff
Tags: 1919-1939, Alexandre Hogue, Amal Albaladejo, America & Movies: Between the Wars, black blizzards, buffalo hunt, Buffalo nickel, Burr Singer, Carlos Manuel Bleiker Morcillo, Children's books, Christopher DeNoon, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Clara Helena Palacio Luca, drought, Dust Bowl, Dust Bowl refugees, dust pneumonia, dust storms, Dwayne Krier, Ecological crises, Erskine Caldwell, Farm Secuirty Administration (FSA), Francis Xavier Luca, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945), FSA sanitary camps, George Lee, Golden Gate International Exhibition (San Francisco: 1939-1940), grasslands, Helen West Heller (1872-1955), Homestead Act of 1862, Indian Court Federal Building, Jeffrey Gold, land speculators, Louis Siegriest, Margaret Bourke-White, Missouri Woman (painting), Naomi Averill, Pennsylvania Writers' Project, Photographers, Plains Indians, railroad companies, Receptions, reforestation, Resettlement Administration (RA), sand dunes, Soil Conservation Act (April 1935), Soil Conservation Service (SCS), Soil Erosion Service (SCS), Sophia Medina, Steve Forero-Paz, the Great Plains, Valentina Berrio, wheat farms, William Kramer
Varied Views for a Variety of Visitors
• December 15, 2023 • Leave a CommentPosted in 1920s, acquisitions, African American History, Art Basel, Artists, bindings, book art, children's books, Cuba, curator, dance, Disney, displays, Dr. Nicolae Harsanyi, exhibitions, Francis Xavier Luca, French consulate, gifts, graphic designers, library donors, Michelle Oka Doner, Mitchell Wolfson Jr., museums, Orientalism, prohibition, The Wolfsonian Library, Vicki Gold Levi, Wolfsonian staff, World's fairs
Tags: 1939-1940 New York World's Fair, 1964-1965 New York World's Fair, A. Assus, Aaron Douglas (1899-1979), Al Hirschfeld, Alex Rigorard, All the World's a Stage: The Sketchbooks and Theatrical Designs of Albert Wainwright (Wolfsonian Library installation), André Suréda, Art Basel, Atomium, celebrities, Charles Laborde (1886-1941), collecting cards, Colonies, Cuba, dancers, Daniel Morris, Donald Deskey, ephemera, Expo '58 (Brussels), Exposition coloniale internationale, FIU, FIU Professor Maria Antonieta Garcia, Folies Bergere, France, France's overseas empire, Francis Xavier Luca, French Guiana, French Orientalists, Futurama, Guyane francaise, Harlem Renaissance, Josephine Baker, La Reunion, La Tunisie, LACMA, Louis Antoni, Marco Brambilla, Maurice Bouviolle, movies stars, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Monterrey (Mexico), paper toys, Paul Colin (1892-1985), pop-up books, Progressland, Prohibition, revues, Sheet music covers, singers, Sketchbooks, the Charleston (dance), tourism, Walt Disney
Skullduggery: Happy Howl-O-Ween from The Wolf
• October 16, 2023 • 1 CommentPosted in American war propaganda, Artists, book art, curators, displays, First World War (1914-1918), Francis Xavier Luca, graphic arts, Mitchell Wolfson Jr., museums, persuasive arts, posters, propaganda, propaganda arts, propaganda posters, rare books and special collections library, The Wolfsonian Library, Wolfsonian library collection, Wolfsonian staff, World War (1914-1918), World War I, WWI
Tags: Barron Gift Collier (1873-1939), book illustrators, caricaturists, Cartoonists, cartoons, dance macabre, dance with death, Death, demons, Devil, Edgar Allan Poe, Francis Xavier Luca, German expressionist films, gothic poetry and stories, Halloween, Harry Clarke, horror films, Kaiser Wilhelm II (Emperor of Germany), Louis Raemaekers (1869-1956), Militarism, propagandists, silent film classics, Skeletons, skulls, Tales of Mystery and Imagination / by Edgar Allan Poe, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (film: 1920), Wolfsonian Museum, World War (1914-1918)
A New Deal for the American Indian
• June 26, 2023 • Leave a CommentPosted in 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, Artists, book art, Civilian Conservation Corps, dance, ethnohistory, FAP, Federal One, Federal Writers' Project, Florida Writers' Project, Folklorists, forestry, Francis Xavier Luca, graphic arts, Jews, law, Legal affairs, Mitchell Wolfson Jr., museums, New Deal, New Deal (1933-1939), New Deal era, Photograph albums, photography, programs, The Wolfsonian Library, Wolfsonian fellows, Wolfsonian library, Wolfsonian library collection, Wolfsonian museum library, Wolfsonian staff, youth movements
Tags: American Indian Defense Association, assimilation, calendar of events, CCC, Christian missionaries, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), dances, dancing, Dawes Severalty Act (1887), Democratic National Convention, Emergency Conservation Work Agency, FAP, FDR, Federal Arts Project (FAP), Federal Writers' Project (FWP), Felix Cohen, Francis Xavier Luca, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945), FWP, Golden Gate International Exposition (1939-1940 : San Francisco), Great Depression, Harold L. Ickes, Index of American Design, Indian boarding schools, Indian culture, Indian Reorganization Act (1934), Indian reservations, Indian Territory, John Collier, Native American traditions, Navajo code talkers, New Dealers, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Roosevelt Administration, Roosevelt's "Tree Army", Taos Pueblos, The Christopher DeNoon Collection for the Study of New Deal Culture, Works Progress Administration (WPA), WPA, Wyoming
“Sam-I-Am”: The Passing of Cartoonist Sam Gross
• May 19, 2023 • 1 CommentPosted in Artists, exhibitions, Francis Xavier Luca, museums, The Wolfsonian Library, Wolfsonian library exhibits
Tags: "The Scream", accountants, animals, Cartoonists, cartoons, Charlie Chaplin, City College, Cosmopolitan (magazine), CPAs, death and taxes, Francis Xavier Luca, Grim Reaper, immigrants, library installations, National Lampoon (magazine), neo-Nazis, Sam Gross, Satire, Swastikas, The Bronx (New York), The Comics Journal, The Immigrant (silent film), The New Yorker (magazine), The Realist (magazine), Tyrants and Terrorists: Satirists Bite Back (Wolfsonian Library installation), wind-up dolls
Gags, Censorship, and Gagging
• March 23, 2023 • Leave a CommentPosted in 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, Adolf Hitler caricatures, American left artists, Anti-Nazi propaganda, Children's propaganda books, CLara Helena Palacio Luca, Communism, Communist Party of the United States, Communist Party of the United States of America, Communists, Cuba, curators, exhibitions, Fascism, First World War (1914-1918), Francis Xavier Luca, gifts, graphic arts, Great Depression, Hugo Gellert (1892-1985), leftist artists, Leonard A. Lauder, library donors, Mitchell Wolfson Jr., Nazi propaganda, Nazism, New Deal era, Pamela K. Harer, persuasive arts, photography, photomontage, political art, postcards, posters, propaganda, propaganda arts, propaganda posters, Russia, Soviet propaganda, Soviet Union, The Wolfsonian Library, totalitarian, Vicki Gold Levi, war propaganda, Wolfsonian staff, World War (1914-1918), World War (1939-1945), World War I, World War II, WWI, WWII
Tags: "Degenerate" art, algorithms, American League Against War and Fascism, Arthur Neville Chamberlain (1869–1940) caricatures, Audrey Feldman, August Mecklem Estate, Barron Gift Collier (1873-1939), Benito Mussolini (1883-1945), book banning, book burning, caricatures, cartoons, Censorship, Charles Coughlin, Collier's (magazine), Communism, Conrado Walter Massaguer, conspiracy theories, crown of thorns, dictators, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Entartete "Kunst" Ausstellung, Fascism, First Amendment, Francis Xavier Luca, freedom of speech, gagging, gags, Gerardo Machado (1871-1939), German Crown Prince, globes, Harald Engman, hate speech, Huey P. Long, Hugo Gellert (1892-1985), Instagram, J. P. Morgan, Jazz music, John Heartfield (1891-1968), Jordan Klepper, Joseph Stalin (1879-1953), Kaiser Wilhelm II (Emperor of Germany), Leonard A. Lauder, Louis Raemaekers (1869-1956), Lusitania (Steamship), Maps, Michael Rosenfeld, Miguel Covarrubias (1904-1957), Mundt-Nixon Bill, National Socialism, Nazi-occupied territories, Nazis, Neutrality, Pamela K. Harer, Paul Iribe (1883-1935), Photomontage, Plotting Power (Wolfsonian exhibitions), Sam Gross, skulls, Smith Act, Social (magazine), Soviet Union, spiders, The Evil Prince / by Hans Christian Andersen, The Saturday Evening Post (magazine), trolling, trolls, Tyrants and Terrorists: Satirists Bite Back (Wolfsonian Library installation), Ukraine famine, vampire bats, Vanity Fair (magazine), Vicki Gold Levi, William Gropper (1897-1977), William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951)
Some Things Gross: Scatological Humor Aimed at Hitler and his Henchmen
• March 4, 2023 • 1 CommentPosted in 1930s, 1940s, Adolf Hitler caricatures, American war propaganda, Anti-Nazi propaganda, antisemitism, curators, donations, exhibitions, Francis Xavier Luca, Mitchell Wolfson Jr., museums, Nazism, persuasive arts, political art, postcards, posters, propaganda posters, rare books and special collections library, Second World War (1939-1945), The Wolfsonian Library, war propaganda, Wolfsonian, Wolfsonian library exhibits, Wolfsonian staff, World War (1939-1945), World War II, WWII
Tags: Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), Adolf Hitler caricatures, amputee frogs, bathroom humor, caricatures, Cartoonists, cartoons, chamber pots, ephemera, Francis Xavier Luca, frog legs, Lacoste, National Lampoon (magazine), Nazis, New Yorker (magazine), plungers, postcards, Sam Gross, Satire, satirists, scatological humor, Swastikas, toilet bowls, Toilet paper, toilets, Tyrants and Terrorists: Satirists Bite Back (Wolfsonian Library installation)
Turning the Beat Around at a Concert With Palo!
• February 23, 2023 • 1 CommentPosted in collectors, Cuba, curators, dance, donations, FIU, Florida International University, gifts, graphic arts, library donors, Vicki Gold Levi, Wolfsonian staff
Tags: Afro-Cuban dance culture, Afro-Cuban funk, Afro-Cuban music, Boxeo y Beisbol: The Cuba-U.S. Sports Exchange, Brittany Ballinger, Caricaturas (Wolfsonian Library installation), Cha-cha-cha, concerts, conga, Cuba: From Gunboat Diplomacy to Good Neighbor Policy (Wolfsonian Library exhibit), Cuban Caricature and Culture: The Art of Massaguer (Wolfsonian installation), exhibitions, Francis Xavier Luca, Latin jazz, library installations, mambo, Miami Beach Bandshell, Miami Soundscapes, OS Photography Studio, Palo!, Promising Paradise: Cuban Allure--American Seduction (Wolfsonian exhibition), Rhythm Foundation, Richard Miltner, rumba, Steve Roitstein, The Wolfsonian Public Humanities Lab, Turn the Beat Around (Wolfsonian exhibition : Oct. 2022-April 2023)
Afro-Cuban Dance Music in Hollywood and Mexican Movies
• January 28, 2023 • 1 CommentPosted in 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, acquisitions, bars, collectors, Cuba, curator, donations, Francis Xavier Luca, gifts, graphic arts, graphic designers, museums, posters, promotional materials, Puerto Rico, slums, The Wolfsonian Library, Vicki Gold Levi, Wolfsonian staff
Tags: "Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White)" (song), "El Manisero" [The Peanut Vendor] (song), "Patricia" (song), A Century of Progress International Exposition (Chicago: 1933-1934), Abakuá, actresses, Afro-Cuban jazz, Afro-Cuban polyrhythms, Andrea Queeley, Another Thin Man (film: 1939), ballroom dancing, big bands, cabaret dancing, Carole Lombard, cha cha cha, Cha-Cha-Cha Boom! (film: 1956), Chano Pozo, Chicago World's Fair (1933/34), conga drums, conga line dancing, Cuba, Cuban exiles, Cuban expatriates, Cuban Revolution of 1933, Cuban Revolution of 1959, dancers, danzón, Desi Arnaz (1917-1986), Desiderio Alberto Arnaz II, Dizzy Gillespie, Dominicans, Don Azpiazú and his Havana Casino Orchestra, El Bar de Hilda, ephemera, Eva Silot-Bravo, film-noirs, Francis Xavier Luca, George Raft, Harlem, Havana (Cuba), Havana-Madrid (nightclub), Holiday in Havana (film : 1949), Hollywood movies, I Love Lucy (television series), Jane Powell, Justo Ángel Azpiazú (1893–1943), La Dolce Vita (film : 1960), Latin jazz, Lawrence Tibbett, Lupe Velez, Luxury Liner (film : 1948), Margo, Matanzas (Cuba), melodramas, Mexican movies, Mexico, music, New York City, Nuyoricans, Pérez Prado, Perez Prado, Puerto Ricans, race, Racial prejudice, racism, Ramona Ajón, reggaeton, René and Estela, René Rivero Guillén, rhumba, Robin Moore, Rock & Roll, Rock Around the Clock (film), rumba, Rumba (film : 1935), rumba dancers, rumberas films, rumberos, salsa, Santiago de Cuba, Sheet music covers, Silvano “Chori” Shueg, singers, slums, solares, soneros, swing, The Beat Goes On (Panel discussion), The Cuban Love Song (film: 1931), Tierra Brava (film : 1938), timbalero, timbaleros, Too Many Girls (film: 1940), Turn the Beat Around (Wolfsonian exhibition : Oct. 2022-April 2023), Un Extraño en la Escalera [A Stranger on the Stairs] (film : 1955), Underwater! (film : 1954), Xavier Cugat (1900-1990)
Spotlight on Machito and the Titos–The Three Kings of Mambo By Far
• January 6, 2023 • Leave a CommentPosted in 1940s, 1950s, acquisitions, collectors, Cuba, curators, donations, exhibitions, Francis Xavier Luca, gifts, graphic arts, interns, library donors, museums, Puerto Rico, The Wolfsonian Library
Tags: "King of the Mambo", Afro-Cuban dance culture, Afro-Cuban jazz, album cover art, album covers, arrangers, Arsenio Rodríguez, Big 3 Palladium Orchestra, Birdland (Nightclub), Cab Calloway, Celia Cruz, cha cha cha, Chano Pozo, Charlie Parker, Club Cuba, Club Cuba (Nightclub), composers, concerts, Cuban bandleaders, Cuban bebop, Cubans, Cubop City (Nightclub), Dizzy Gillespie, drummers, ephemera, Fania All-Stars, Francis Xavier Luca, Frank Grillo, Harlem Renaissance, Israel ("Cachao") López Valdés (1918–2008), Jazz, jazz musicians, La Lupe, Machito, Machito and His Afro-Cubans, mambo, mambo madness, Mario Bauzá, Miguelito Valdés, New York City, Nuyoricans, Orchestra Siboney, Palladium (Dance hall), percussionists, Perez Prado, Puerto Rican bandleaders, Puerto Ricans, RCA Victor, Sheet music covers, Stan Kenton, the "Borscht Belt", the Catskills, The Peanut Vendor (song), The Three Kings, Three Kings Day, Tico Records, timbaleros, Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez, Turn the Beat Around (Wolfsonian exhibition : Oct. 2022-April 2023), United Artists Records, Vicki Gold Levi, Victoria Calveira