Ruth Wallach, head of the The Helen Topping Architecture and Fine Arts Library, reports that the libraries just received two large donations of books on art and architecture. Herbert Hymans (1935-2007) managed the fellowship program at Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities (subsequently the Getty Research Institute) for many years. His family donated scholarly books on European art history and architectural history—many of which were published in Europe—collected by Mr. Hymans on his travels. Of note are several exhibition catalogs from the Amsterdam Jewish Museum.
Elizabeth Lovins, the granddaughter of the artist Henry Lovins (1883-1960)—who founded the Hollywood Art Center School in 1912—recently donated a collection of books from the school’s library. Prior to founding the Hollywood Art Center School, Henry Lovins served as head of painting and drawing at the USC Roski School of Fine Arts under founding Dean William Lees Judson. The Hollywood Art Center School (1912-2000) was noted for many of its faculty, among them Roger Noble Burnham, the sculptor of Tommy Trojan. The donation includes many historic books about artistic methods and printing techniques, as well as books of general interest to students of art-making. Among them are Die Olympischen Spiele 1936 in Berlin, a promotional volume for the 1936 Olympic games with tipped-in photographs of events, and several 1930s octavo books from the British Pitman’s Common Commodities and Industries Series, illustrated with photographs and drawings of machinery, such as this “booth” folding machine from the handbook on shoes.
Books from both collections are being catalogued for access by researchers.