Introduction to Prompt Engineering (Focusing on ChatGPT)
Museum Studies Exhibition Seminar Portfolio
1. Quastler The Life and Work of G
Gertrude Quastler The Life and W
Work of Gertrude Quastler The L
Life and Work of Gertrude Quast
Restrike: The Life and Work of Ge
Gertrude Quastler The Life and W
2. 3. Research
4. UAG
5. Library of Congress
6. Graphic Design
7. Photography
8. Postcard
9. Flyer
10. Poster
11. Fonts
12. Labels
13. Object labels
14. Intro label
15. Other Panels
16. Title and Quotes
17. Exhibition Documents
18. Exhibition Blueprint
19. Transcriptions
20. The Exhibit
21. The Concept
22. Picking Objects
23. Gallery Layout
24. Installation
25. Final Thoughts
Contents
4. 4
UAG Research
Discovering the research
conducted by Mary A.
Schmidt author of the
exhibition catalogue for
the recent Quastler exhibit
at the Westmoreland
Museum of American Art.
Speaking with collector
Graham Shearing about
his Quastler collection.
5. 5
Library of Congress Discoveries
Biography and personal relationships
Scope and visibility of her professional work
11. King: Modest typewriter font. Used in exhibition quote panels.
Neue Haas Grotesk: Bold, ‘50s European designer font. Produced for
newsprint. Made popular by: “Zero Dark Thirty” (2012) movie poster,
American Apparel and Instagram logos. Used in this portfolio’s headers.
Baskerville Old Face Regular: Transitional style font designed in 1757 with
pronounced serifs. Shown to increase “agreeability” among readers. Produced for
the publication of Classical works of poetry and literature. Made Popular by:
Northwestern University, and the “Canada” wordmark. Used in the exhibition’s
object labels, theme labels, and marketing materials.
FONTS
11
13. 13
Gertrude Quastler
Dog , 1950
Papier-mâché, cloth, and acrylic
1986.1.12
Gertrude Quastler’s explorations into an array of media are
renowned. Although primarily a woodcut printmaker, she also
worked in silk screen printing, monoprints, and textile work,
exhibited paintings in oil, watercolor and gouache, and created
sculpture of wire and wood. Many of these techniques allowed
Gertrude to serially produce her art quickly and fluidly.
Despite quickly adapting to diversity and innovation in the United
States, the creation of this papier-mâché sculpture exposes feelings
of European nostalgia. The dog, a subject never before exhibited by
Quastler, appears to be a stylistic representation of a collie owned
by her family in Austria, as depicted in the photo below, one of a
few childhood photos that remained in her possession at the time of
her death. Although the use of papier-mâché may suggest a
departure from previous techniques, the implementation of fiber is
reminiscent of her early life and fashion design career in Vienna
and Paris.
What images of childhood nostalgia do you still carry with you?
Gertrude Quastler
Counterpoint #2, 1951
Ink and paper
1985.01.009
One of two editions, Counterpoint is Gertrude’s most renowned
woodblock print. This version initially began to gain exposure with
its 1952 publication in the American magazine Perspectives USA as
a visual aide for an article about fellow printmaker, William
Lieberman. In 1954, the image captured the attention of LIFE
magazine, where it was subsequently adopted for an article about
the revival of Woodcut printing in North America. A copy of this
print was acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in New York in
1952.
A second, slightly different production of this print can be viewed in
the Rotunda Gallery.
15. 15
Restriking Poetry
Like the visual arts, the written word has pervaded every aspect of
Gertrude Quastler’s life. Handmade creations such as
handwritten birthday poetry, and woodcut printed greeting cards
were among her favorite gifts to give. In casual correspondence
with friends, intimate letters to her husband Henry, and
professional contact with galleries and buyers, Gertrude
commonly chose old-world pen and ink over typeface and phone
call.
This affinity with the literary crafts extended far into the lives of
her friends. Gertrude and Henry held weekly poetry gatherings,
inviting many of their closest friends from the University of
Illinois, along with renowned Shakespearean scholar, Charles
Shattuck, to sketch and paint social works of art inspired by open
readings in their Urbana home.
We invite you to continue in Quastler’s tradition and “restrike”
poetry inspired by Quastler’s works of art. Simply use the
materials provided to reimagine her artistic vision through your
own words and experiences. When you are done, tack your
completed poem near the work or works that inspired you.
Uncovering Quastler
Research for this exhibition was conducted in both the
archives of the University Art Gallery and the Library of Congress
in Washington D.C. Although the UAG’s holdings include dozens
of letters of correspondence between Mary A. Schmidt, author of
the Westmoreland Museum of American Art’s Quastler
retrospective catalogue, and various friends of the late artist, the
largest quantity of Quastler’s personal documents exist at the
Library of Congress.
These documents include letters of submission (and rejection)
to and from various galleries and museums, birthday and holiday
cards, poetry, love letters, family photographs and much more.
These artifacts open a window into the life and context of the
artist, her professional goals as well as her personal relationships,
and provide an unedited autobiography written and read in her
own handwriting.
Various facsimiles of these documents are on view throughout
this exhibition. We invite you to search through these letters and
files as we have and discover the artist on terms invisible through
her art work alone.
Theselabelsweremodifiedforexhibition
19. 19
“Maps are not funny
We want to pin
That gigantic [view]
To a definite point in the landscape
That way it looks more like a game
And that does good
To our haunted souls”
Transcriptions
25. Final Thoughts From scouring the Library of
Congress for a “Big Idea” to the
deinstallation of the final print,
Restrike: The Life and Work of
Gertrude Quastler has been an
enlightening and educational pre-
professional adventure.
The success of the show is due to
our teachers and mentors Janet
McCall, Isabelle Chartier, and
Annika Johnson, as well as my
Documentation group members
Katherine, Ryan, Deanna, and
Danny, and my curatorial
teammates Mariah, Michaela, and
Sarah.
Special thanks to Graham Shearing; The
Fine Foundation; the Office of the
Chancellor, the School of Arts and Sciences;
and the History of Art and Architecture
Department of the University of Pittsburgh.
The show was co-sponsored by the
European Union Center of
Excellence/European Studies Center
EUCE/ESC.
