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The Dartmouth
March 28, 2024 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Behind the Curtain: Sherman Art Library

3.4.14.arts.sherman
3.4.14.arts.sherman

Above the fireplace in the Sherman Art Library’s reference room sits a dragon-like emblem of Francis I of France, which displays a salamander, thought to be able to magically survive fire. Visual arts librarian Laura Graveline encourages students to visit Sherman, the College’s art research library, to see the expansive collection for themselves.

Sherman houses catalogs from art museums, galleries and image databases. The library also includes the Art Special Collection, which displays collections of artists’ handmade books, facsimiles and other rare items.

The Sherman Art Library was built as an extension of Carpenter Hall in 1929, connected to Baker-Berry Library by Berry’s circulation desk. Over time, the library has expanded to include two additional floors below the reference floor as well as the special collection. Altogether, the library holds around 240,000 items, including over 1,000 journals in both print and electronic formats, Graveline said.

The Sherman collection primarily supports the art history and studio art curricula. Acting as the library’s liaison to academic departments, Graveline works with the faculty and Hood museum curators to acquire new books and resources to supplement the curricula.

Sherman’s collection includes rare, seminal art publications, like the catalog for the exhibition at the 1913 Armory Show, the first large exhibition of modern art in the U.S. that is credited with changing the course of American art, Graveline said.

Leandra Barrett ’15, who worked at the art library this summer, said she curated an exhibit from the Special Collection with complete freedom to draw inspiration from the library’s manuscripts and rare books.

Librarians want to boost awareness of the library’s content, she said.

“Most people are not aware that Sherman has a collection of rare and expensive art books, similar to the books found in Rauner Library,” Barrett said.

After looking at the resources that Sherman had, Barrett decided to focus her exhibition on the art of tattoos.

Barrett said that the sheer number of resources Sherman contained on the subject surprised her. After picking and choosing the collection’s most “intriguing” resources on tattoos, Barrett arranged the materials, which focused on the social changes of tattoos through time and across cultures.

The Sherman special collection also displays other exhibits showcasing rare items that the library can hold within a limited time frame. The library is currently showing a spring flowers exhibit, with accordion artist books featuring flowers of bright colors and designs.

Sherman previously possessed 12 facsimile volumes of Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Codice Atlantico,” and formed an exhibit around them. According to Sherman’s database, the collection of Da Vinci’s notes and drawings is the largest ever assembled, consisting of 1,119 individual sheets, 1,750 drawings and 119 pages of notes.

The library’s distinctive ambiance helps separate it from Dartmouth’s other libraries and study spaces, art library supervisor Joseph Wright said. The wood-paneled reference room is surrounded by large windows.

“[In Sherman, students] can feel slightly more alone, and the bottom level seems even quieter,” Wright said.

Wright said that while Sherman is generally known as an art library, students from various subject areas have recently begun to use the space. One year, economics and government students seemed to crowd the library, he said, while the next it was mainly used by psychology and neurology students. This year, Wright said, the crowd has been more mixed.

“Although I’m not an art major, I’ve taken several studio art classes, and the library is a great resource to find inspiration for artwork,” Barrett said. “You can go down the stairs to the stacks and basically pull any book off the shelf, and it’ll have some interesting and beautiful image.”