Suellen Glashausser Artists’ Books Collection Michael Joseph and Debra Schiff November 2009 Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University LibrariesFinding aid encoded in EAD, version 2002 by Debra Schiff 2009

Suellen Glashausser Artists’ Books Collection

By Michael Joseph and Debra Schiff

November 2009

Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries

Finding aid encoded in EAD, version 2002 by Debra Schiff 2009


Descriptive Summary
Creator:	Suellen Glashausser
Title:	Suellen Glashausser’s Artists’ Books
Dates:	1980-2000
Quantity:	74 boxes
Abstract:	This Special Collection is a collection of artists’ books executed between 1980 and 2000. The items are made from a wide variety of materials from cigar labels to glassine to soda cans. Some of the works are signed; some are signed and dated. All save one are unique works.
Collection No.:	TO COME
Language:	English
Repository:	Rutgers University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives

Biographical Sketch of Suellen Glashausser

Contributed by Romina Gutierrez and edited by Debra Schiff

Suellen O’Brien Glashausser was born in New York City on March 17, 1945, the daughter of William James and Agatha (neé Walsh) O’Brien, and died in Highland Park, New Jersey on December 27, 2000. She married Charles Glashausser in September 1965. They had two children, Alexander and Allegra. Glashausser was a well-known fiber and book artist, as well as a teacher of visual arts. She began creating artists’ books in the 1980s after spending most of her career producing large constructions and paintings. Glashausser received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Arts from Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York in 1965. She continued her studies in Paris, France, at the École Lemmonier d'Art Appliqué, earning in 1976, a “Degree Française Superier” from the Sorbonne. In 1969, she received her Master of Art in Textile Design from the University of California at Berkeley. Later that year, she and Charles Glashausser moved to Highland Park, New Jersey.

Glashausser began her teaching career in the 1970s as a part-time instructor at Middlesex County College in Edison, New Jersey; the New Jersey Center for the Visual Arts in Summit; and Livingston College, Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. From 1974 until her death, she taught at Montclair State University in Montclair, New Jersey, first as a part-time instructor and from 1983 as an assistant professor. Throughout her career, she taught and planned workshops, and served as a lecturer, panelist, and exhibit juror in the United States, Belgium, Japan, and France. A prolific artist, Glashausser exhibited widely in solo and group shows throughout the United States, Europe, Canada, and India. Her exhibits are numerous, and accounts of them reside in the Suellen Glashausser Papers archive in Special Collections. Along with her contributions to books on fiber arts and her art reviews, Glashausser’s best-known writing work is the basketry art book Plaiting: Step-by-Step, written with Carol Westfall.

At the time of her death, Glashausser was represented by Amos Eno Gallery, New York City.

References:

Lee, Anne. “Don't Judge a Book that Lacks a Cover.” The Star Ledger, October 21, 2000, Sec. In the Towns, p. 1.

Who’s Who in American Art. 23rd edition, 1999-2000. New Providence, NJ: Marquis Who’s Who, 1999.

Who’s Who in the East. 23rd edition, 1991-1992. Wilmette, IL: Marquis Who’s Who, 1990.

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Scope and Content Note

This Special Collection is a collection of artists’ books executed between 1980 and 2000. The items are made from a wide variety of materials from cigar labels to glassine to soda cans. Some of the works are signed; some are signed and dated. All save one are unique works. The collection of Suellen Glashausser artists' books was a gift from Charles Glashausser in 2002. All italicized quotations have been taken from captions Suellen Glashausser prepared for her display in "Preaching What We Practice," an exhibition at the John Cotton Dana Library in Newark, New Jersey (November 1996 - January 1997) accompanying the New Jersey Book Arts Symposium.

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Arrangement Note

Each work is individually housed in its own box or folder, with the exception of the Columns books and the Gardens books. Items that have digital images associated with them will include links named “Digital item” within their descriptions below. Torrado Natural is not part of the collection given to the libraries by Charles Glashausser. However, because it is a Suellen Glashausser work, it is included in this finding aid following the numbered list of boxes. It is assigned the box number "00." Torrado Natural is a cataloged work and its call number is listed with its entry below.

Suellen Glashausser Artists' Books

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Detailed Description of the Container List

This section provides descriptions of the materials found within each series. Each series description is followed by a container list, which gives the titles of the folders and their locations in the numbered boxes that comprise this collection.


Artists’ Books, 1980/2000
	Arrangement: Each work is individually housed in its own box or folder, with the exception of the Columns books and the Gardens books which are housed in a box per set. The item in Box 67 is in conservation and is unavailable for viewing.
	Summary: The artists’ books are arranged alphabetically by title, omitting the first article.
Box
1		45% Less Fat, 1997 16 leaves: 6” x 4 ¾” Plastic, metal thread, cloth Digital item
		Not signed.
Box
2		Acetate Chinese Book, 1981 6 leaves, 2 covers: 11” x 8 ½” Acetate, paper, ribbon, thread Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser 5 juillet 1981” in ink, last leaf.
		Scanned images.
Box
3		AEIOU, 1987 3 leaves, 2 covers: 10 ¾” x 5 ½” Elastic ribbon, paper, crayon, graphite, pastels Digital item
		Not signed.
		“This book was made for an invitational show in Belgium with the theme of AEIOU as an acrostic of the Austrian national motto in Latin! Only a e i o and u are used. A two-page book about construction.”
Box
4		Amaretto Book, undated 7 leaves, no covers: 8 ½” x 8 ½” Found paper, aluminum, plastic, thread, waxed paper, netting Digital item
		Not signed.
Box
5		[“Août 1981”], 1981 7 leaves, no covers: 10” x 6 ¾” Paper, glassine, pencil, thread Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser août 1981” in ink, inside last leaf.
Box
6		Apocalypse, undated 6 leaves, no covers: 8 ¼” x 8 ¼” Paper, cloth, thread, plastic flower parts Digital item
		Not signed.
		The artist notes that Apocalypse “was created for a miniature show with the theme of the apocalypse. Sentences from the apocalypse are stitched around the edges of the pages since the center is full of holes.”
Box
7		Art History Book II, undated 6 leaves, 2 covers: 8 ½” x 11” Paper, thread, plastic, ribbon, foil Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser le 15 juillet 1981” in ink, last page of 4th leaf.
		Images scanned onto plastic and paper.
Box
8		Asparagus Book, undated 6 leaves: 5” x 6” Paper, thread Digital item
		Not signed.
Box
9		Beacon Brown Book, undated 26 leaves, covers not included: 8 ¼” x 6 ¾” Spiral notebook, found paper, ribbon, paint, pencil, thread Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser November 22 1982” in graphite, inside back cover.
Box
10		Best & Co., [1980-2] 6 leaves: 8 ¾” x 6 ¼” Brown paper bags, labels, seam binding, thread, foil Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser” in ink, inside last leaf.
		“Clothing tags from defunct stores were organized into lines. Some were sewn upside down to show the pattern of threads underneath. A favorite brown bag from Marie Papier forms the pages.”
Box
11		Birds, undated 9 leaves, 2 covers: 1 ¼” x 1 ¼” Paper, thread, foil, ribbon Digital item
		Not signed.
Box
12		Black Flexagon, 1999 1 continuous piece: 7” x 7” Cloth, thread, ribbon Digital item
		Not signed.
		Folds open into flexagon.
Box
13		Blue/Red Grid Book, 1981 8 leaves: 9“ x 7” Paper, thread, ink Digital item
		Not signed.
Box
14		Blue Zorro, 1985 7 leaves: 8 ¼” x 8 ¼” Versopaper, pencil, metal, thread, steel clips, copper staples, crayon, glassine Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser le 1 decembre 1985” in ink.
		Altered postcards of Los Angeles.
Box
15		Bunny Maze Book, [1981-2000] 16 leaves: 6” x 4 ¾” Cloth, paper, plastic, thread, netting Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser” in ink, inside back leaf.
		Opens up into maze book.
Box
16		Bush’s Beans, undated 28 leaves: 7 ½” x 5 ¼” Plastic, found paper, netting, thread, foil Digital item
		Not signed.
Box
17		Carbon Paper Numbers Book, 1981 61 leaves, 2 covers: 8” x 4 ¼” Carbon paper, staples, paper, graphite, fabric binding, pins, glassine Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser 9 juillet 1981” in ink, last leaf.
		Tear out numbers book altered with carbon paper, graphite, lables, pins, and staples.
Box
18		Chinese Book, 1981 6 leaves, no covers: 8 ¾” x 5 ¾” Printed paper, glassine, plastic, thread Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser 2/10/81” in ink, inside last leaf.
Box
19		Closed Book, undated 6 leaves, no covers: 9” x 6” Paper, netting, colored Mylar, string Digital item
		Not signed.
Box
20		Collarboard Book, 1981 8 leaves, no covers: 9” x 8” Cardboard, thread, paper, stamps, crayon, ink Digital item
		Signed ”Suellen Glashausser November 30, 1981” in ink, inside back cover.
Box
21		Columns I, [1985] 5 leaves, no covers: 12” x 10 ¾” Wire, glassine, plastic, thread, acrylic, plastic fiber Digital item
		Not signed.
Box
22		Columns II, [1985] 5 leaves, no covers: 12” x 10 ¾” Wire, glassine, plastic, thread, plastic fiber, acrylic, plastic netting Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser Columns II” in ink, back cover.
Box
23		Columns III, [1985] 5 leaves, no covers: 12” x 10 ¾” Wire, glassine, plastic, thread, plastic fiber, acrylic Digital item
		Not signed.
Box
24		Columns IV, [1985] 4 leaves, no covers: 12” x 10 ¾” Plastic netting, acrylic, wire, glassine, metal binder clip, thread Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser Columns IV” in ink, verso.
Box
25		Digital Hankie, 2000 6 leaves, no covers: 10 ¼” x 8 ¼” Paper, ribbon, thread, cloth Digital item
		Not signed.
		Scanned images on shaped pages sewn together.
Box
26		Dotted Stitched Grid Book, 1981 7 leaves, no covers: 10 ¾” x 6 ¾” Graph paper, plastic, thread Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser” in ink, inside 7th leaf.
Box
27		Etiquettes Volants, 1982 5 leaves, no covers: 10 ¼” x 7 ¼” with 3 ½" fringe on spine Paper, plastic string, marker, colored pencils, thread, jute twine, glassine, steel, wire Digital item
		Signed "Suellen Glashausser" in ink, inside 5th leaf.
Box
28		The Farm, undated 25 leaves, 2 covers: 8 ¼” x 6 ¾” with pig on ribbon bookmark extending 2 ¾” Spiral notebook, ribbon, plastic pig, crayon, graphite Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser November 22, 1982” in graphite, inside back cover.
		Stenciled pages and covers. The plastic pig hangs from the ribbon as if a bookmark.
Box
29		Fast Food, 1995 6 leaves, no covers: 11 ¾” x 10 ¼” Paper, labels, pencil, seam binding, empty French fry wrappers, and one paper cup Digital item
Box
30		Florida Citrus Fruit, 1999 1 plastic piece folds open into 3 leaves: 8 ¼” x 8 ¼” Paper, plastic, thread Digital item
		Not signed.
		Flexagon
Box
31		Frutas Selectas, 1982 12 leaves: 14 ½” x 8 ½” closed; 28 ½” x 25 ½” open Paper, plastic, colored Mylar, thread, ribbon, cloth netting, plastic grapes Digital item
		Not signed.
		12 interconnected leaves that open to a single leaf of scanned images.
Box
32		Garden Book I, undated leaves, no covers: 47 ½” x 12” Acrylic, glassine, thread, velcro, plastic netting, paper Digital item
		Not signed.
Box
33		Garden Book II, undated leaves, no covers: 47 ½” x 12” Acrylic, glassine, thread, velcro, plastic netting, paper Digital item
		Not signed.
Box
34		Garden Book III, undated leaves, no covers: 47 ½” x 12” Acrylic, glassine, thread, velcro, plastic netting, paper Digital item
		Not signed.
Box
35		Garden Book IV, undated leaves, no covers: 47 ½” x 12” Acrylic, glassine, thread, velcro, plastic netting, paper Digital item
		Not signed.
Box
36		Gaultier Fan/Box, 1991 6 leaves, no covers: 8” x 4 ¾” x 1 ½” Tin, copper, paper, tape, cardboard, thread, velcro Digital item
		Not signed.
		Cross-shaped fan book housed in cross-shaped matching box.
Box
37		Gloves Book, undated 5 leaves, no covers: 10 ¾” x 6 ¾” Paper, thread, riboon Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser le 27 fevrier 1981” in ink, inside front leaf.
		Scanned images shaped as if a glove, bound by ribbon and thread.
Box
38		Gray Book, 1981 5 leaves, no covers: 8 ¾” x 6” Paper, plastic, thread, pencil, crayon Digital item
		Not signed.
		“Give-away artist postcards from an art fair in Basle were altered with oil stick, edged in plastic and bound with thread.”
Box
39		Green/Purple Pricked Book, 1981 6 leaves, no covers: 10 ¼" x 7” Glassine, thread, decals Digital item
		Not signed.
Box
40		India Book, undated 12 leaves, no covers: 9” x 7” Printed paper, aluminum, thread, ribbon, metal clasps Digital item
		Not signed.
Box
41		“It's Our Pleasure to Serve You,” 1997 6 leaves, no covers: 6” x 5 ¾” Paper cups, thread, colored pencil, cloth, rickrack ribbon, crayon Digital item
		Not signed.
		Attached paper coffee cups with silk skirts sewn onto each.
Box
42		[Kodachrome Slide Book], 1981 8 leaves, no covers: 10” x 6 ¾” Cloth, beads, thread, cardboard, paper, plastic, ribbon Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser janvier 1981”.
		Scanned images.
Box
43		Lake Placid Book, 1982 23 leaves, 2 covers: 8 ¼” x 6 ¾” Spiral notebook, thread, stencil, paint, crayon Digital item
		Not signed.
Box
44		Leaf Fan Book/Box, 1991 5 leaves, no covers: 13 ½” x 9” box; 13 ½” x 6” to 10” x 6 ¾” leaves Copper, aluminum, cloth, thread, fabric edging, plastic Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser” pricked into the verso of the copper box.
		Pricked copper cover with accompanying leaf-shaped box.
Box
45		Linen Book, undated 5 leaves, no covers: 5 ½” x 5 ½” Linen, copper, aluminum, thread Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser” in ink, verso last leaf.
		Loose leaves of linen canvas contain information about flax couched with copper wire. Copper and aluminum edges are necessary to make select pages firm.
Box
46		Luires et Structures en Bois, 1983 8 leaves, no covers: 13 ¼” x 10” Paper, plastic, thread, staples, pins, acetate, ink, pastels Digital item
		Not signed.
Box
47		La Lune, 1999 1 square piece of cloth 3” x 3” Cloth, thread, colored Mylar Digital item
		Signed “SG”.
		Flexagon.
Box
48		Mangez les Fruits, 1989 5 leaves, no covers: 9” x 9” with 1 ¼” spine extenders Paper, steel, paper clips, mylar, colored pencil, plastic, tape, thread Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser” in ink, inside leaf [5].
		Altered fruit bags with paper, tape, and thread.
Box
49		Mariage Montand, 1999 6 leaves, no covers: 18” x 10”; 17 ½” x 59” fully extended Rives lightweight, Sekishu, various colored kozo papers, silk ribbon, card stock, copper, plastic Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser” in pencil.
		Photo lithography, collage images, attachments (10 numbered impressions) in collaboration with The Brodsky Center (formerly RCIPP) with Gail Deery.
Box
50		Marriage 1854, 1991 4 leaves with 5 extra, smaller square inserts, no covers: 12 ¼” x 8 ¼” leaves; 4” x 4” inserts Paper, cloth, thread, colored pencil, ribbon, found objects and papers Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser” in colored pencil on middle insert.
Box
51		Metal Book with Leaves, 1989 4 leaves, no covers: 9 ½” x 6 ¼” Copper, aluminum, beads, brass, etched surfaces, adhesive, wire Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser” inside last leaf.
Box
52		Mini Upper Egypt, 1987 12 leaves, no covers: 4 ¼” x 4 ¼” Teapot protectors, paper, cloth, thread, colored pencil, foil part of a series of two books [second part not in libraries] Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser” in graphite, inside back cover.
Box
53		[MMA], undated 8 leaves, no covers: 8 ¾” x 7 ½” Paper, fabric binding, cellophane, colored Mylar, thread, plastic, metal museum buttons Digital item
		Not signed.
		Scanned images.
Box
54		Niagara Glassine, undated 7 leaves, not including covers: 9 ½” x 8 ¼” Paper, glassine, pastels, graphite, thread, ribbon binding Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser”.
		“A packet of information about a paper company was used to make a paper book. Because the cellophanes were from Niagara Falls, the books is a travelogue of altered postcards from scenic areas in the U.S.”
Box
55		Paper Towel Book, 1980 4 leaves, no covers: 8” x 7” (with 4 ¾” tassels on fore edge) Paper, ribbon, thread, vellum paper, plastic Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser 12/14/80” in ink, inside last leaf.
Box
56		Pleated Open Book, undated interconnected leaves open to a large, single leaf, no covers: 14 ½” x 8 ¾” opens to 28 ¼” x 26” Paper, thread, ribbon
		Not signed.
		Scanned images.
Box
57		Popeye, 1998 6 leaves, no covers: 6 ¾” x 4 ½” with 3 ½” attachment on spine Paper, plastic, foil, thread Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser” in ink, inside back leaf.
		Found papers and wrappers.
Box
58		PQR Book, 1981 12 leaves, no covers: 6” x 8 ¼” Paper, thread, pencil, plastic, crayon Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser 11/16/81” in ink, inside back leaf.
		“A store-bought stencil book was dismantled and made over by hand with pencil and crayon and glassine paper pages.”
Box
59		Ripped Out Number Book, 1981 61 leaves, not including covers: 8 ¼” x 4” Paper, plastic decals, carbon-ink, glassine, brass, graphite Digital item
		Not signed.
Box
60		San Francisco Book, [1980-2] 7 leaves, 7 interleaving strips: 4 ½” x 6” Post cards, paper, plastic flower parts, metal rings Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser” in graphite, verso of last card.
Box
61		Santa Claus Book, 1980 3 leaves, 2 covers: 10 ½” x 6 ¾” Paper, stickers, cellophane, thread Digital item
		Not signed.
		German Santa Claus and fairy tale images wrapped in cellophane.
Box
62		Santa Fe, 1991 2 leaves, 2 covers: 11” x 10 ¼” Paper, thread, foil, ribbon Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser” in graphite, inside back cover.
		Postcards and commemoratvie glassine stamp bags.
Box
63		Select Cigars, 1981 10 leaves, no covers: 10 ¼” x 6 ¾” Printed paper, cellophane, thread, plastic Digital item
		Not signed.
Box
64		Sprite, 1999 12 leaves including covers: 6 ¾” x 5” Paper, thread, metal, steel chips, aluminum Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser” in ink, inside back cover.
Box
65		Vielle Fine, 1987 5 leaves, no covers: 5 ¼” x 5 ¼” Paper, thread, mull, Belgian liquor labels Digital item
		Not signed.
Box
66		Waikiki Beach, 1985 6 leaves, no covers: 7 ½” x 6 ¾” Paper, cloth, thread, plastic pencil, postcards, crayon, copper staples Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser” in ink, verso.
		Airline hot towels cover altered postcards.
Box
68		Wedding Cake Book, 1981 13 leaves including covers: 10" x 17" Paper, thread, glassine Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser 24 mars 1981” in ink, inside back cover.
		“There is a very subtle contrast between pricked placemats and glassine pages. The whiteness and scalloped edges reminded me of a wedding cake.”
Box
69		A Winter Book In Wood by Suellen Glashausser, undated 6 leaves including covers: 11 ¾” x 8” Balsa wood, thread, paper, white crayon, metal rings Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser” in green thread, sewn into the cover.
Box
70		Woosh Gat Drasomly, 1981 8 leaves, no covers: 10" x 6 ¾” Paper, ink, thread, ribbon Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser le 10 juillet 1981.”
		“Used tissue paper are printed with brown inked rubber stamp letters in a poem by the artist. Stitching intrudes on the pages.”
Box
71		Yellow Metal Book, 1992 5 leaves, not included covers: 10” x 8 ¾” Metal, paper, pastels, paper bag, pencil, crayon, thread, ribbon Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser” in graphite, inside back paper cover.
Box
72		Yvon Bordeaux, 1981 39 leaves, including covers: 3 ½” x 6” Paper, thread, metal, crayon, glassine Digital item
		Signed “Suellen Glashausser November 4, 1981” inside back cover.
		Altered book of postcards; alternating leaves of sewn and pricked glassine.
Box
73		Yvon Chateau de La Loire, 1981 21 leaves, no covers: 3 ½” x 6” Paper, thread, metal Digital item
		Not signed.
		Altered book of postcards.
Box
00		Torrado Natural, 1999 11 leaves, no covers: 12” Cloth
		Not signed.
		Consists of 11 Brazilian coffee bags (Torrado Natural) sewn together along the long side. Bags are printed by Torrefaccao Lusitana Ltd. in red, green and blue ink, which the artist has oversewn with green thread and red fabric strips in various patterns. This work is cataloged in the library under call number N7433.4.G5T67 1999.