Exhibits – Spring 2010

Perkins Gallery

Abel Pann, …And breathed into his nostrils the breath of life…. Lithograph

April–August

Illustrating the Hebrew Bible

This exhibit presents an array of artistic interpretations of the Old Testament that range from a 15th-century printed Hebrew Bible leaf to 20th-century lithographs by Abel Pann and artist books by Mordechai Beck and Ben Shahn and others. Opening reception 20 April. Details in “Events.”

August–October

Trinity Treasures: Highlights from the Trinity College Historical Society

Faculty and students founded the Trinity College Historical Society in 1892 for the purpose of collecting, arranging, and preserving written materials and artifacts illustrative of the history of South and North Carolina and to promote the study of southern history through lectures and publications. The Society’s museum, established in 1894, was the precursor of Duke’s Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library.

Special Collections Gallery

April–August

The Power of Refined Beauty: Photographing Society Women for Pond’s, 1920s–1950s

For over thirty years, fashionable British and American society women, including Mrs. Reginald Vanderbilt, Lady Milford-Haven, Mrs. George Whitney and Anne Morgan, graced advertisements the J. Walter Thompson Company created for Pond’s beauty products. This exhibit presents a selection of these images by prominent photographers Edward Steichen, Cecil Beaton, Louise Dahl-Wolfe, and others.

August–December

Deena Stryker
“Primer Maggio”

Deena Stryker: Photographs of Cuba, 1963-1964

Taken during the early years of the Cuban revolution, the 1,850 images in the Deena Stryker Photograph Collection depict urban and rural life on the island as well as many officials of the new government, including Fidel and Raúl Castro, Ernesto “Ché” Guevara, and Celia Sánchez Manduley. The thirty gelatin silver prints in this exhibit reflect the youth and vitality of Cuba’s leadership in the early 1960s and the optimism of the Cuban people.

Special Collections Biddle Rare Book Room Cases

April–June

You’ve Got Personality: Celebrity Endorsements in Advertising

Documents and other items related to the Pond’s “society women” advertising campaigns. The exhibit also features advertisements and additional examples of celebrity endorsements found in the collections of the Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History.

June–September

Ten Treatments

The Duke Libraries’ Preservation Department marks its tenth anniversary this year. As part of the ongoing celebration, the Verne and Tanya Roberts Conservation Lab is displaying ten treatments its staff has completed for the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library over the decade. This exhibit will run concurrently with an exhibit mounted by the Digital Production Center to highlight ten collections its staff has digitized. The DPC exhibit is on view in the Preservation Department exhibit case on the lower level of Perkins Library, just outside room 023.

The Verne and Tanya Roberts Conservation Lab

Generally, the Special Collections and Perkins galleries are open Monday–Saturday, 9am–9pm, and 10am–9pm on Sunday. Visit http://library.duke.edu/exhibits/ for more information or call 919.684.3009 to confirm hours.