Ridgefield Library and Ridgefield Guild of Artists Present:
Painted Books: From the Age of Exploration to the Digital Era
With James Lancel McElhinney
Sunday, December 9 @ 2 PM

From the Book of Kells to William Kentridge, artists have painted and drawn in books. Illuminated manuscripts disappeared with the invention of the printing press, at a time when explorers described unknown lands in journals and sketchbooks. Once the medium of choice for expeditionary artists, watercolor in the nineteenth century was embraced by studio artists. Digital technology today has redefined print media, leading to the rebirth of painted books. Pollock Krasner Grant recipient and Yale alumnus James Lancel McElhinney unpacks the epic tale of this once and future art-form

McElhinney working at the summit of Kilauea, on the Island of Hawai’i.
His work is currently the focus of an exhibition at Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia, and can be found in the collection of Yale Beinecke Library, New York Public Library and the Hudson River Museum. McElhinney will speak on Artists as Publishers at the College Art Association conference in New York on February 15, 2019. He will exhibit new artworks at Gerald Peters Gallery in Santa Fe, NM in Summer 2019.

This program is co-sponsored by the Ridgefield Library and the Ridgefield Guild. Please register at ridgefieldlibrary.org or call 203-438-2282. Ridgefield Library | 472 Main Street | Ridgefield | CT 06877

Downloadable PDF:

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From the Book of Kells to William Kentridge, artists have painted and drawn in books. Illuminated manuscripts disappeared with the invention of the printing press, at a time when explorers described unknown lands in journals and sketchbooks. Once the medium of choice for expeditionary artists, watercolor in the nineteenth century was embraced by studio artists. Digital technology today has redefined print media, leading to the rebirth of painted books. Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant recipient and Yale alumnus James Lancel McElhinney unpacks the epic tale of this once and future art-form

Book of Kells

Frans Post

Jacques Le Moyne des Morgues

William Kentridge

McElhinney working at the summit of Kilauea, on the Island of Hawai’i, Dawn, July 1, 2016.

McElhinney’s work is currently the focus of an exhibition at Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia, and can be found in the collection of Yale Beinecke Library, New York Public Library and the Hudson River Museum. McElhinney will speak on Artists as Publishers at the College Art Association conference in New York on February 15, 2019. He will exhibit new artworks at Gerald Peters Gallery in Santa Fe, NM in Summer 2019.

This program is co-sponsored by the Ridgefield Library and the Ridgefield Guild.
Please register at www.ridgefieldlibrary.org or call 203-438-2282.
Ridgefield Library | 472 Main Street | Ridgefield | CT 06877

PDF:

Download (PDF, 295KB)

Reserve a spot. Open-air journal-painting with James Lancel McElhinney. Meet outside the 190th Street A-train Station on Fort Washington Avenue.

For more information write:

wo*******@ne***********.com

Or reserve a place by contact the Greenwich Art Society. Downloadable PDF below:

Download (PDF, 2.44MB)

Open-air journal-painting with James Lancel McElhinney. Meet outside the 190th Street A-train Station on Fort Washington Avenue. For more information write:

wo*******@ne***********.com












Or reserve a place by contact the Greenwich Art Society. Downloadable PDF below:

Download (PDF, 2.44MB)

“Fieldbooks to Prints, Expeditionary Art” October 10 from 5:30-6:30, at the Greenwich Art Society, 2nd floor. Attendees will learn about how artists maintain a practice of exploring the terrain through the use of fieldbooks and journals, and how these images can be expanded into print editions. Free for G.A.S. members / $20 for non-members.

Writing grew out of drawing. With the rise of civilization and expanded personal mobility, writing, drawing and painting developed portable media to accompany travelers abroad. Knowledge has always been portable, whether in clay tablets or E-readers.

Early modern explorers developed expeditionary book-painting, which were later published as prints. Created to accompany official reports, public appetite for visions of faraway places fueled a growing printing industry, which expanded the art-market from the ruling elite to a rising merchant-class, and others of more modest means.

James Lancel McElhinney will unpack this history, and the revival of expeditionary journal-painting and publishing in his own creative practice, both as art and enterprise.

For more information, please consult this downloadable PDF

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O.T.W. On The Water THE SCHUYLKILL RIVER: A suite of seven archival digital prints of journal-paintings by James Lancel McElhinney due to be published October 25, 2018. Limited edition of 50.

Inspired by expeditionary artists, from Jacques le Moyne and John White to J.M.W. Turner, John-James Audubon, Seth Eastman and Thomas Moran, Delaware Valley native James Lancel McElhinney has revived the practice of journal-painting during trips to Europe, Hawaii, Ecuador, Peru, California, the Rocky Mountains, the American Southwest, the Hudson Valley, and now the Schuylkill River, as it flows through Fairmount Park.
Reviving practices employed by such traveler-artists as Benjamin Henry Latrobe, William and Thomas Birch, Joshua Rowley Watson, Nicolino Calyo, James Lancel McElhinney now returns to Philadelphia to explore its Hidden River, call attention to its environmental priorities, explore its history and celebrate its beauty.
Works from the project O.T.W. The Schuylkill River will be featured in an exhibition at Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia, opening on October 24, 2018. The show will be on view for one year.

Following the examples of these late-18th and early 19th-century artists, McElhinney’s works have been reinterpreted as suites of prints, which can be enjoyed in the form of an unbound book, or framed for display on the wall.
O.T.W. The Schuylkill River, the limited edition, follows the success of McElhinney’s Hudson Highlands: North River Suite Volume One, which can be found in the following collections:
Avery Fine Art and Architecture Library, Columbia University
Boscobel House and Gardens, Garrison, New York
University of Denver. Library Special Collections. Denver Colorado
Hudson River Museum, Yonkers New York
Huntington Library and Museum, San Marino, California
West Point Museum, United States Military Academy
Yale Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. New Haven Connecticut
Newberry Library. Chicago, Illinois
And private collections in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

PREVIEW

Needlewatcher Editions announces the forthcoming publication of O.T.W. The Schuylkill River, a suite of seven (7) numbered, signed and dated archival digital prints. Loosely bound in a fine cloth-covered Solander (clamshell) box, this suite of prints is accompanied by a descriptive chapbook. The edition is composed of 100% archival materials and limited to fifty (50) copies. Below is a selection of journal-paintings included in the deluxe limited edition.

You are invited to support this project with a subscription to the deluxe limited edition at $1200.00 per copy.
Subscribers who pledge prior to October 8, 2018 will be thanked in the limited edition, and acknowledged in the exhibition at Independence Seaport Museum, opening on October 24, 2018. The show will remain on view for one year.
On October 25, 2018 (the official release date) remaining copies of the limited edition will be offered with tiered pricing, starting at $1,600.00 per copy. Personal check, PayPal and credit cards are accepted by Needlewatcher Editions. For further details, or to reserve a copy, please enquire at

ot*@ne***********.com











, or call 347-266-5652

James Lancel McElhinney is a visual historian, author and publisher, known for his investigations of American rivers and battlefields. The Delaware Valley native attended Tyler School of Art, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and Yale.
He is a recipient of a 2017 Pollock-Krasner Grant., and an artist fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
McElhinney is listed on the Master Artist Council of the Arthur Miller Foundation. O.T.W: The Schuylkill River will be on view from October 24, 2018, at Independence Seaport Museum, as the inaugural exhibition in a contemporary art-space complementing the museum’s new River Alive galleries. McElhinney lives in Manhattan with his wife, historian, author and curator Dr. Katherine Manthorne, and a feline named Maeve. His website is www.mcelhinneyart.com

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Reviving the historic model of expeditionary travel, drawing and painting in books, later unpacked as books and prints in limited editions, James Lancel McElhinney is one of a growing number of living artists producing new works in dialogue with history, science and literature. In this talk, McElhinney shares his experience, research, practice and insights, as an historian, visual artist and publisher.

We hope to see you there. Please share.

Poster:

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Hudson Highlands: North River Suite Volume One was published on November 17, 2017. Four months later, the majority of the edition has found its way into private and public collections including West Point Museum, Yale Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Newberry Library in Chicago, Boscobel House and Gardens, Garrison, New York, with other museum and library acquisitions pending. A limited number of copies are still available at the original price. Information regarding purchase may be found here:

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A wonderful article by Fine Art Connoisseur Editor in Chief Peter Trippi unpacks the story behind the genesis of Hudson Highlands in the magazine’s March-April issue, now on sale at Barnes & Noble and other locations. The same issue features articles on Thomas Cole, Wilhelm Schadow, a new murals arts project in Washington DC, American Realism in European collections and other engaging articles.

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Hudson valley Sketchbook 2012-2016 is on view through Sunday, March 11 at Antipodean Books, booth D29, ABAA New York International Antiquarian Book Fair, Seventh Regiment Armory, 643 Park Avenue. This is the first occasion where this work has been exhibited in a selling environment. It’s a tremendous show, with several dealers specailizing in contemporary artists’ books. I am very grateful to David and Cathy Liburne of Antipodean Books for featuring my work among their offerings.

Cathy Lilburne at the Park Avenue Armory