Thursday 13 October 2011The Look of Love: a visual delight
The Look of Love
To be published by D Giles Limited in association with the Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama, in February 2012, The Look of Love: Eye Miniatures from the Skier Collection is a delightful, lavishly illustrated exploration of a little-known but fascinating decorative art, the “lover’s eye”.
According to popular lore, the phenomenon of "lover’s eyes," hand-painted miniatures of single human eyes set in jewellery and given as tokens of affection, or created to memorialize a deceased loved one, began in the late 18th century. In 1785 the Prince of Wales secretly proposed to Mrs. Maria Fitzherbert with a miniature of his own eye, inspiring a fad among the aristocracy for exchanging eye portraits mounted in a wide variety of settings including brooches, rings, lockets and toothpick cases.
This new book, featuring 200 colour illustrations, accompanies an exhibition by the same title organized by the Birmingham Museum of Art. Opening in February 2012, it will be the largest exhibition of its kind to date, with over 95 examples from the private collection of Dr. and Mrs. David A. Skier of Birmingham, AL. Theirs is a definitive and comprehensive collection and the exhibition of these rare and exquisite objects will be a celebrated event, and the book will serve as a beautifully illustrated guide.
Foremost authorities on the subject contribute their expertise: Graham Boettcher, Birmingham Museum of Art, discusses the history and function of lover's eyes as well as the language and symbolism of their jewelled settings, and Elle Shushan, who works with museum collections throughout the U.S., examines the role of lover's eyes in the broader context of Georgian and early Victorian portrait miniatures. Jo Manning, romance novelist, provides five fictional vignettes imaging the circumstances surrounding the creation of these extraordinary and rare objects.
“Taking time to study these small marvels is a visual delight and offers an expanded view of late Georgian and early Victorian history and decorative arts.” Gail C. Andrews, Director’s Foreword
The Authors
Graham C. Boettcher is the William Cary Hulsey Curator of American Art at the Birmingham Museum of Art, where he oversees the collections of American fine and decorative art before 1945. His publications include contributions to American Sublime: Landscape Painting in the United States, 1820–1880 (2002); Art and Emancipation in Jamaica: Isaac Mendes Belisario and His Worlds (2007); and Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: American Art from the Yale University Art Gallery (2008). Elle Shushan is among the world’s foremost dealers in American and European portrait miniatures. In addition to private collectors, Shushan works with museum collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Yale University Art Gallery. A foremost authority on miniatures, she has lectured and published widely, including articles in Antiques, Art + Auction, and Antiques & Fine Art Magazine. Jo Manning is a romance novelist and the author of My Lady Scandalous (2005), a biographical account of the royal courtesan Grace Dalrymple Elliot. Her novels include The Reluctant Guardian, Seducing Mr. Heywood (a Booklist Ten Best Romances of the Year selection) and The Sicilian Amulet.
THE LOOK OF LOVE
Eye Miniatures from the Skier Collection
Edited by Graham C. Boettcher
Essays by Graham C. Boettcher, Elle Shushan and Jo Manning
Hardback
ISBN 978-1-907804-01-4
208 pages
180 × 180 mm, (7⅛ x 7⅛ in)
200 colour illustrations
In association with the Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, Alabama
RRP US$35.00/UK£20.00
Publication date: February, 2012
Publisher: D Giles Limited, London
Distributed in the UK and Rest of World (excluding US and Canada) by ACC
T: +44 (0)1394 389950
F: +44 (0)1394 389999
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Distributed in the US and Canada by:ACC Distribution
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For Further Information and Review Copies:
In the UK contact: Liz Japes
Tel: +44 (0)1273 480225
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In the USA contact: Karen Lunstead
Tele: 845 297-4569.
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