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Established in 2007, Modern Artifacts is a series in Esopus produced in collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art Archives. In every issue, we feature items reproduced in facsimile from MoMA's extraordinary collection, curated and introduced by Chief of Archives, Library, and Research Collections Michelle Elligott.
Modern Artifacts 18: The Young Turks
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
Materials from the MoMA Archives related to the Museum's vital Junior Council
Modern Artifacts 17: Modern Renaissance
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
Materials related to 1940 MoMA blockbuster
Modern Artifacts 16: The Living Garden
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
Materials from the MoMA Archives relating to its sculpture garden
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Modern Artifacts 15: The Healing Arts
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
Materials related to MoMA’s “Arts in Therapy” program for WW II vets
Modern Artifacts 14: Imagining Possibilities
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
Contents from the never-published second issue of a legendary journal
Modern Artifacts 13: Seitz Specific
Introduction by Michelle Harvey
Re-locating the work of Claude Monet
Modern Artifacts 12: From Body to Object
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
Materials from MoMA related to Scott Burton's performances
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Modern Artifacts 11: Creating “Spaces”
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
Material related to a groundbreaking 1969 exhibition
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Modern Artifacts 10: Rent to Own
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
Never-before-seen materials related to the Museum’s discontinued Art Lending Service
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Modern Artifacts 9: One and the Same
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
Documents detailing an important opening and radio broadcast by FDR from the MoMA archives.
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Modern Artifacts 8: The Art of Broadcasting
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
This installment of the joint series with MoMA’s archives concerns MoMA’s relationship with TV.
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Modern Artifacts 7: Number 13
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
Materials from the MoMA Archives relating to this country’s first major Matisse retrospective
Modern Artifacts 6: States of Grace
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
Materials from MoMA’s archives relating to painter Grace Hartigan
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Modern Artifacts 5: Early Registration
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
A selection of pages from the Museum of Modern Art’s first guest book, many reproduced here for the first time
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Modern Artifacts 4: Drawing Comparisons
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
Sketches by former MoMA director René d’Harnoncourt presented with the MoMA archives
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Modern Artifacts 3: Tentative and Confidential
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
Documentation of a secret WW2–era MoMA project, referred to by insiders as “Exhibition X”
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Modern Artifacts 2: “Dear Miss Miller…”
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
Correspondence between two legends: artist James Lee Byars and curator Dorothy Miller
Modern Artifacts 1
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
A selection of Alfred H. Barr, Jr.’s papers from MoMA’s archives