Library Exhibitions

The Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and its Rare Book Collection stage a number of on-site exhibits each year. In some cases we also create an online counterpart in order to enhance and promote our on-site exhibits. These online exhibits continue to exist after the on-site exhibits must be taken down and packed away. Please enjoy some featured highlights from our rich and interdisciplinary collections. Direct any questions to the Special Projects & Reference Librarian.

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New Online Exhibit

Margaret Mee

The Dumbarton Oaks Rare Book Collection houses a collection of twenty-one paintings by the renowned British botanical artist, Margaret Mee (1909-1988). This exhibit provides Dumbarton Oaks an opportunity to display paintings acquired by Mrs. Bliss that reflect the work of Mee’s early journeys, when she had only just begun to chronicle the flora of the Amazon.

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Past Exhibits

The Ancient Future: Mesoamerican and Andean Timekeeping

October 5-December 31, 2012

Detail from an early representation of the Aztec Calendar Stone

The Aztec, Maya, and Inca civilizations used complex and multiple timekeeping systems for purposes of agriculture, worship, and political leadership. Because little of the material record of the pre-Conquest peoples of the Americas survived, scholars through the ages have had limited primary sources to study to reach a comprehensive understanding of timekeeping in the Americas.

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Maria Sibylla Merian

January 2012 – November 2012

Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium, plate 29

The Dumbarton Oaks Rare Book Collection is a participant in a project, organized by the National Museum of Women in the Arts, to celebrate works by great women artists in Washington, DC museums. The artist that the Research Library Rare Book Collection selected for this project is the naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717), and specifically her 1719 publication Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium (first published in 1705).

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Capturing Warfare: Enemies and Allies in the Pre-Columbian World

September 1, 2011 – December 31, 2011

Warfare in Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica and the Andes
This exhibit highlights two representations of warfare in pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica and the Andes. First, the exhibit includes fineline drawings of images painted on ceramic vessels produced by the Moche, a culture that flourished on the north coast of Peru in the first centuries of the Common Era. Second, the Lienzo de Quauhquechollan tells the story of the conquest of Guatemala by the allied forces of the warriors of Quauhquecholteca and the Spanish.

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Before the Blisses

April 15, 2011 – July 31, 2011

Mīkhaīl Petrovīch Botkin (1839–1914), Collection M. P. Botkine
This exhibition examines the ways in which 19^th-century collections and illustrated catalogs impacted the study and appreciation of early Christian, Byzantine, and medieval minor arts before Mildred and Robert Bliss began their collection.

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Robert & Monnoyer: French Botanical Artists of the 17th Century

Spring 2011

Jean Baptiste Monnoyer (1636–1699), Arrangement of Flowers
Nicolas Robert (1614–1685) and Jean Baptiste Monnoyer (1636–1699) were the leading proponents of two parallel styles of botanical illustration that developed in France during the second half of the 17^th century. Nicolas Robert’s work focused on the scientific aspects of the plant. Monnoyer, on the other hand, was one of the earliest practitioners of the decorative tradition in French flower painting.

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Bookbindings

December 15, 2010 – March 31, 2011

Queen's Binder B (binder), The government of the tongue
A book’s binding is a particularly satisfying piece of material culture. Like the frame of a painting, a binding can offer up valuable information about provenance and production. This exhibit examines some methods of binding books and some of the broader significance of particular materials and styles.