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Connections: Books

Chief librarian Ken Soehner on his favorite depictions of books.

"I think it's going to be many years before there's a formal portrait where the sitter is clutching his or her Kindle or iPad."

Chief librarian Ken Soehner on his favorite depictions of books.

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Contributors

Kenneth Soehner
Arthur K. Watson Chief Librarian, Thomas J. Watson Library

Black and white photo of woman posting where wearing a tradition Asian style dress.
How did the legendary actor Anna May Wong use fashion to define her agency and legacy?
Cindy Kang
March 24
Collage of Miami storefronts palm trees and white torso.
Samoylova’s images capture the trompe l’oeil of Florida, many to do with water and glass—the mise-en-abyme of cypress trunks reflected in a tannic creek.
Ange Mlinko
March 21
More in:ConnectionsInspiration

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A Scene in a Library, William Henry Fox Talbot  British, Salted paper print from paper negative
William Henry Fox Talbot
before March 22, 1844
The Artist's Portfolio, Pont Aven, Paul Gauguin  French, Two inside covers decorated in watercolor and gouache over charcoal with graphite on heavy gray wove (blotting) paper sewn to leather; leather binding inscribed in pen and ink with additions in watercolor; multicolored silk ribbons stitched into binding.
Paul Gauguin
1894
Reading in the Subway, John Sloan  American, Etching
John Sloan
1926
Portrait of a Young Man, Pompeo Batoni  Italian, Oil on canvas
Pompeo Batoni
ca. 1760–65
Portrait of a Young Man, Bronzino (Agnolo di Cosimo di Mariano)  Italian, Oil on wood
Bronzino (Agnolo di Cosimo di Mariano)
1530s
Self-Portrait, Gerrit Dou  Dutch, Oil on wood
Gerrit Dou
ca. 1665
L'Arlésienne: Madame Joseph-Michel Ginoux (Marie Julien, 1848–1911), Vincent van Gogh  Dutch, Oil on canvas
Vincent van Gogh
1888–89
Oleanders, Vincent van Gogh  Dutch, Oil on canvas
Vincent van Gogh
1888
Madonna and Child, Filippino Lippi  Italian, Tempera, oil, and gold on wood
Filippino Lippi
ca. 1483–84
Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717–1768), Anton Raphael Mengs  German, Oil on canvas
Anton Raphael Mengs
ca. 1777
The Annunciation, Hans Memling  Netherlandish, Oil on wood
Hans Memling
ca. 1465–70
Comtesse de la Châtre (Marie Charlotte Louise Perrette Aglaé Bontemps, 1762–1848), Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun  French, Oil on canvas
Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun
1789
Qur'an Bookbinding Inset with Turquoise, Leather; stamped, painted, gilded, and inset with turquoise
16th century
Section from a Qur'an, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper; tooled leather binding
probably second half 13th century
A Nobleman Reading, Opaque watercolor on paper
ca. 1750–75
Book-Cover Plaque with Christ in Majesty, Copper: engraved, chased, scraped, stippled, and gilt; champlevé enamel: dark and light blue, turquoise, green, yellow, red, and white, French
French
ca. 1210–20
Booklet with Scenes of the Passion, Elephant ivory, polychromy, and gilding, North French (carving); Upper Rhenish (painting)
North French (carving); Upper Rhenish (painting)
ca. 1300 (carving); ca. 1310–20 (painting)
Sarcophagus with a Greek Physician, Marble, Roman
Roman
early 300s
The Belles Heures of Jean de France, duc de Berry, The Limbourg Brothers  Franco-Netherlandish, Tempera, gold, and ink on vellum, French
The Limbourg Brothers
1405–1408/1409
Reading at a Table, Pablo Picasso  Spanish, Oil on canvas
Pablo Picasso
1934
Book of the Dead for the Chantress of Amun Nauny, Papyrus, paint
ca. 1050 B.C.