Venus
| Description: |
During my recent lecture trip to the Herron School of Art in Indianapolis, the library acquired several of my artists’ books, including two important unique books that I made in Italy in 2009. I was teaching for the University of Georgia’s study abroad program in Cortona. Venus is my response to the familiar painting with the addition of actual photos of the flowers in bloom outside my studio window.--Artists website (accessed July 5, 2018)This is a fore-edge bound accordion structure that I was introduced to while in Italy. The book can be expanded for viewing if placed in a glass case large enough. In addition to the paste papers, there are collaged parts of a printed poster of Boticellis Venus. The other images are of flowers that were in bloom all around me in Italy. I wanted to show that many of the same blossoms that Botticelli saw are still common and often unnoticed in the painting. They are on the garments of the women and being thrown through the air all around Venus (primarily pink roses). The cover leather was bought in Florence. The photograph of the woman posing as Venus is from some sort of mid-century advertisement card that I had in my collection for many years. Most viewers focus on the figure of Venus when admiring the painting. I chose to look at other aspects of the work, including the flowing lines of his work which are echoed in the way I paint, and appear in the paste paper--Artists statement from an e-mail (viewed September 14, 2017). |
|---|---|
| Origin: | 2009 |
| Created By: |
Nettles, Bea, 1946- |
| Publisher: |
Cortona, Italy: Bea Nettles, 2009. |
| Source: |
http://iuidigital.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/BookArts/id/951 |
| Collection: |
Herron Library Fine Press and Book Arts Collection |
| Rights: | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
| Copyright: |
In Copyright |
| Subjects: |
Nettles, Bea, 1946- Botticelli, Sandro, 1444 or 1445-1510. Birth of Venus. Artists books--21st century--Specimens. Venus deities in art. Roses in art. Photography, Artistic--21st century. Paste papers. Collage, American. leather-bound accordion |
Further information on this record can be found at its source.
This project is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, administered by the Indiana State Library.