"Process" and the NYPL Digital Gallery

"All this while I sat upon the ground, very much terrified and dejected."
N.C. Wyeth
Mid-Manhattan Library / Picture Collection
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?1697940

This spring I had the pleasure of working with a young choreographer named Dusan Tynek. Dusan was born in the Czech Republic but has established himself as New York City-based choreographer and company director of notable skill and promise. After I met with Dusan to discuss the new piece he was creating, I also became aware that we have something in common - an interest in local cultures, history, and folklore. Dusan told me he was creating a new piece called Widow's Walk. The term refers to an architectural detail that is often observable in homes in coastal communities, particularly in New England. A 'widow's walk' is a square, railed observation platform located on the roof from which the horizon can be scanned for returning ships. The romantic nature of the name suggests the dangers associated with maritime life.

"Widow'sWalk II"
Rob Gonsalves

Working with Dusan gave me the opportunity to use a resource that is truly a treasure to every designer - the New York Public Library's Digital Gallery. The NYPL has always been a favorite resource of designers based in the city. When I was an undergraduate student 15 years ago, using this resource entailed making a trip to the Mid-Manhattan Library branch and searching through files of clippings and color plates pasted onto card stock. When you checked them out, you were given a green folio to take them home in. Seeing someone carrying one of those signature folios likely meant they were a fellow designer or art student that couldn't afford their own research materials. Now, the entire collection (and so much more) has been digitized and is accessible to all.

I used the digital gallery to suggest a color pallete for the piece. Here are the images that inspired me and the resulting sketches and swatches.

The Men:

Whaler Rowing a Boat
Mid-Manhattan Library / Picture Collection
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?834485


The Wives:

"Momoyogusa = Flowers of a Hundred Generations"
Sekka Kamisaka (Japanese 1909)
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building / Spencer Collection
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?1269916


The Swimmers:

Greenland whale ; Sperm whale
From Naturgeschichte der Säugethiere : mit colorirten Abbildungen zum Anschauugs-Unterricht für die Jugend. (Esslingen : Schreiber, 1872) Schubert, Gotthilf Heinrich von (1780-1860), Author.
Mid-Manhattan Library / Picture Collection
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?823817