Navigating The Block's Collection Database

NAVIGATING THE BLOCK’S COLLECTION D ATA B A S E blockmuseum.northwestern.edu/collections

Romare Bearden (American, 1911–1988) Mother and Child, from the portfolio CONSPIRACY: The artist as witness, 1971.

THE BLOCK MUSEUM HOUSES A COLLECTION OF OVER 6,000 ARTWORKS. With a foundation in works on paper, including prints, drawings, and photographs, in recent years The Block has expanded its collection with acquisitions of contemporary art across media by an international array of artists. As the museum collection grows, we seek to connect to Northwestern’s broad curriculum and deepen our representation of modern and contemporary culture globally and from diverse perspectives.

The core of our current collecting mission includes a commitment to living artists; a connection between the past and the present; and a cross-cultural, global perspective.

The Block Museum’s collection provides an innovative and active teaching and learning resource for the University and its surrounding communities. Educators in fields as varied as performance studies, journalism, and material science visit our collection and access our online database to teach visual literacy, develop critical thinking skills, and draw thematic connections. Our Eloise W. Martin Study Center is a special classroom inside the Block that offers an intimate setting for the study and use of artwork in the museum’s collection Explore The Block’s collection online through our digital database, including browsing by artist, theme, date and medium. Select works for study or further research through our dynamic My Collections feature.

Here some instructions to get you started...

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01. GETTING STARTED Welcome to The Block Collection Database, a jumping off point for research and exploration of over 6000 artworks.

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Not sure where to start or just taking a look around? Check out our Collection Highlights [1] which showcase a number of the collection’s strengths.

For example, in this page you’ll find the Recent Acquisitions [2] collection, which provides a sense of how the collection is developing.

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Every item in the collection has an individual object record [3].

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Click a record to see basic information [4] about the artwork, as well as larger images by clicking EXPAND [5].

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You’ll also find related objects in the collection in the Discover More [6] section.

Please remember our collection database is a living document. We update our records frequently. If you have any additional information, are seeking further resources, or are interested in higher resolution images for research or teaching please contact us: printroom@northwestern.edu [7]

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02. GENERAL SEARCH

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In the quick search field [1] the collection can be searched by artist, title, or keyword – which seeks the referenced word anywhere within an object record.

2 You can use an asterisk as a wildcard [2] in searches to match partial terms. For example, draw followed by an asterisk mark will return results for draw, drawn, drawings, etc.

Use quotation marks [3] around your search terms to find an exact phrase.

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The results page offers a few different ways to display your results [4]. This includes Images, List, and Table views.

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Sort by categories [5] such as Artist name to further refine what you see.

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Click View PDF [6] to generate a printable PDF of your results.

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Use the menu below the search bar [7] to browse our categories and classifications and hone your search.

From the database homepage you can also click “view all works” [8] which will bring you to our complete collection.

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03. ADVANCED SEARCH Using the advanced search [1] you can perform more complex searches for objects or artists in the collection.

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Under the Object tab [2], you can search for objects by artist, medium, and date range, among other criteria.

If you are seeking out a particular type of artwork in the collection it may be better to search for a higher-level classification [3] before searching for a more specific medium. For example if I were seeking photography I would indicate that here.

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The medium field [4] might be used to search for something more specific such as “Gelatin silver print”

Date range [5] offers a slider for easily setting a range.

Use the description field [6] for searches relating to the subject of the work of art, for example “flower.”

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04. MY COLLECTIONS The Block Collection Database allows you to create your own collections [1] for research, collection visits, or classroom teaching.

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Register for an account by clicking Register [2]. After you have established a login, you are ready to login to the database any time you return.

As you browse artworks click the heart button [3] to make your selections.

NOTE: You must complete step 4 to save your selections.

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In the top right you will see Add to my collections [4] and you are given options to “add all search results” or just the “selected objects.”

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You can create your collection [5] by giving it a name, and adding your selections.

The next time you want to add an object to a collection, the name will appear under “Use existing my collection” [6].

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7 04. MY COLLECTIONS (CON’T)

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You can navigate to your collection by clicking My Collections [7] and clicking on Private [8] in the menu.

By default, your collection will be private – viewable only to you. To make the collection visible to any visitor of the site, click edit [9] and then click the public checkbox [10].

This tab also allows you to rename your collection [11].

9 Interested in sharing your collection with a class or colleague? Navigate to your collection, and click View PDF [12] to download your list.

12 Once the PDF has loaded, you may download your file by right-clicking and selecting “Save As.”

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To share your list as a URL, make sure your collection is public and copy the URL [13].

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blockmuseum.northwestern.edu/collections

IMAGE CREDITS Barbara Hepworth, Two Forms (Divided

Edward Steichen, Martha Graham, 1931,

Andy Warhol, Portrait of Johann Wolfgang

Circle), 1969. Cast bronze with brown patina,

printed 1960s. Gelatin silver print 13 3/4 in

Goethe, 1982. Color screenprint, 37 3/4 in x

93 in x 89 in x 23 in. Mary and Leigh Block

x 10 3/4 in. Mary and Leigh Block Museum

37 3/4 in. Mary and Leigh Block Museum of

Museum of Art, Northwestern University, gift

of Art, Northwestern University, gift of the

Art, Northwestern University, gift of David C.

of Leigh B. Block, 1988.3.3.

Hollander Family in honor of Alissa Schapiro,

and Sarajean Ruttenberg, 1998.33.

2016.15.31

Catherine Opie, Skeeter, 1993. Chromogenic

Deborah Roberts, She’s Mighty, Mighty,

Omar Victor Diop, Juan de Pareja, 2014.

print 40 × 30 in. Mary and Leigh Block

2017. Collage 30 × 22 in. Mary and Leigh

Inkjet print, pigment based on paper, 47 1/4

Museum of Art, Northwestern University, gift

Block

Northwestern

in x 31 1/2 in. Mary and Leigh Block Museum

of Armyan Bernstein and Christine Meleo

University, purchased with funds donated by

of Art, Northwestern University, purchase

Bernstein. 2018.9.

Diane and Craig Solomon. 2017.11.

with funds from the Irwin and Andra S. Press

Museum

of

Art,

Collection Endowment, 2016.9.2.

Brett Weston, Untitled [kelp on sand], c.1967.

Kameelah Janan Rasheed, Sum Follow, 2019.

Wassily Kandinsky, Small Worlds III, from

Gelatin silver print, 11 × 14 in. Mary and

Inkjet print on paper. 20 x 16 in. Mary and

the portfolio Kleine Welten (Small Worlds),

Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern

Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern

1922. Color lithograph on paper. Mary and

University, gift from the Christian Keesee

University, purchase funds provided by the

Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern

Collection, 2018.13.11.

Julie and Lawrence Bernstein Family Art

University, 1985.136

Acquisition Fund, 2019.18.4

The Block Museum of Art Northwestern University 40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston, IL 60201

@nublockmuseum 847. 491. 4100 blockmuseum.northwestern.edu

ONLINE, FREE AND OPEN TO ALL