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PRELIMINARY INVENTORY OF THE EBRIA FEINBLATT RESEARCH FILES, 1943-1989
970034
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Title: Ebria Feinblatt research papers
Date (inclusive): 1943-1989
Number: 970034
Creator/Collector:
Feinblatt, Ebria
Physical Description:
9.3 linear feet
(24 boxes)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, California, 90049-1688
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: Curator Ebria Feinblatt's research papers document her studies in seventeenth-century Bolognese ceiling painting and the development
of quadratura illusionistic painting. The collection focuses on the work of Girolamo Curti, Domenico Maria Canuti, Angelo
Michele Colonna and Agostino Mitelli, as well as their relationships with other artists and collaborators.
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Language: Collection material is in
English with some
Italian
Ebria Feinblatt (1913-1990) founded the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's department of prints and drawings in 1947. She
served a distinguished career as the County Museum's curator for 38 years. Feinblatt studied, collected and wrote on topics
ranging from ancient art to German Gothic to modern art, but she was best known for her studies in Bolognese seventeenth-century
quadratura painting. Feinblatt's interest in quadratura painting and the Bolognese Seicento artists associated with it originated
during a trip to Rome in the early 1950s on a Fulbright grant. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art's collection of seventeenth-century
Italian drawings was one of the best represented collections during Feinblatt's tenure as curator. She also wrote a seminal
book in the field,
Seventeenth-century Bolognese Ceiling Decorators.
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Contact
Library Reproductions and Permissions .
Ebria Feinblatt research files, 1943-1989, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 970034
Transferred from the Photo Study Collection, Getty Research Institute, in 1997.
In 2009 Laura Schroffel processed the collection, made an inventory, devised the arrangement and wrote the descriptive notes
under the supervision of Karen Meyer-Roux.
One book from the collection was separated to the library.
Scope and Content of Collection
Ebria Feinblatt's research papers are comprised of manuscript notes, typescripts and manuscript essays (many with annotations),
photographs (chiefly commercial reproductions), photocopies, reprints and offprints, letters sent and received, and bibliographies
and bibliographical notes. The collection materials were assembled to aid the curator in her research of seventeenth-century
Bolognese ceiling painting, also known as quadratura or prospettiva. Feinblatt's specific interest was in a quadratura style
of ceiling painting that was architecturally illusionistic. The bulk of Feinblatt's research files were to be used for her
publication,
Seventeenth-century Bolognese Ceiling Decorators.
Series I is comprised of artist files. The series contains research files on artists, such as Rembrandt and Picasso, whom
Feinblatt researched as part of her curatorial responsibilities. However, the series mainly focuses on the work of the Bolognese
ceiling decorators Girolamo Curti, Domenico Maria Canuti, Angelo Michele Colonna, Giuseppe Maria Rolli and Agostino Mitelli
as well as their relationships with other artists and collaborators.
Series II focuses on relevant sites where Bolognese quadraturisti executed ceiling paintings, primarily in northern Italy,
but also in locations outside of Italy such as France and Spain. Often more than one specialist in the field of quadratura
contributed to a particular site.
Series III focuses on topics ranging from Jesuit church painting to tarsia to theater, which Feinblatt assembled thematically
in her research. Large research files are comprised of surrogates for archival documents and reproductions of drawings that
were used in order to settle artist attribution questions. This series includes early drafts and annotated drafts for components
of Feinblatt's book,
Seventeenth-century Bolognese Ceiling Decorators. Feinblatt's personal writings, including plays, fiction, and academic papers are also found in this series.
The collection is arranged in three series:
Series I. Artists, 1948-1989;
Series II. Sites, 1952-1985;
Series III. Topics, 1943-1989.
Canuti, Domenico Maria, 1626-1684
Colonna, Angelo Michele, 1600 or 04-1687
Curti, Girolamo, ca. 1570-1631 or 2
Mitelli, Agostino, 1609-1660
Ceilings --Italy --Bologna
Interior decoration--Italy
Mural painting and decoration, Italian
Painting, Baroque--Italy--Bologna
Painting, Italian --Italy --Bologna --17th century
Black-and-white negatives
Color slides
Gelatin silver prints