Kirjahaku

In this new title in Scala’s popular Director’s Choice series, Colin B. Bailey introduces the Morgan Library & Museum’s outstanding collection, including gems such as a rare Gutenberg Bible, working manuscripts by Mozart, Handel, Joyce and Wilde and works by Rembrandt, Schiele and Van Gogh.A museum and independent research library located in the heart of New York City, the Morgan Library & Museum began as the personal library of financier, collector and cultural benefactor John Pierpont Morgan. As early as 1890 Morgan had begun to assemble a collection of illuminated, literary and historical manuscripts, books, drawings and prints. Musical manuscripts, modern and contemporary works on paper and photography have been added to the collection as it has grown through the years. This beautifully illustrated volume offers a lively introduction to Bailey’s chosen works, providing unique and personal insights into the heart of this beloved collection.

This richly illustrated volume reveals the intriguing story behind the commission, rejection, and rehousing of Jean- Honore Fragonard's Progress of Love, a series of 14 paintings considered by many to be the artist's masterpiece. Fragonard (1732-1806) completed four large canvases for the comtesse du Barry's pavilion at Louveciennes, but they were replaced and returned to the artist. In 1790 Fragonard moved them to his cousin's house in Grasse, and over the course of the year painted two further large-scale works and 10 additional panels. With 140 colour images of the Fragonard paintings, details, shots of the room, plans, original sketches, and other comparative images, author Colin Bailey explores the commission of the four main panels, their original arrangement at Louveciennes and the possible reasons for their rejection. Equally enthralling is the history of how the paintings were rediscovered in the late 19th century and how they eventually came to The Frick Collection.