Art Event #2 - Fore-Edge Paintings

On Thursday, December 7th, there was a reception for this semester's Museum Studies class about their work since September. This fall, the students worked with the book conservation lab at John's Hopkins library to create the stands for these books. These are not just normal books, however, the sides of the pages are illustrated with immaculate drawings - something I never even knew existed. 

Furthermore, the students presented and discussed why they took the class and their findings. Lucy Johnston, a student, explained that she researched the Knott family. She also mentioned that although these fore-edge paintings are typically landscapes,  the books she (I believe) researched had illustrations of playing cards, which she described as "unusual." When explaining why she took the class, she said that instead of it being the typical research and papers, this class is "hands-on" and that it is not everyday that you can interact with the artwork you are discussing. 

To conclude, I thought it was a very interesting event. As I stated above, I never knew that fore-edge paintings were even a thing. Finally, on a side note, I was also surprised about how formal the event was. There was food and drinks served, as well as very formally dressed attendees. Overall, it was an event that was everything I never expected.