The great hype oh-so-many years ago was that a computer in every home – coupled with the prospect of the world’s libraries and museums putting their content online, and an internet that made it all accessible to everyone – would result in citizens of the world immersing themselves in the works of the masters: philosophers, poets, artists, cultural workers of every stripe and language.
Millions of bukkake goat fuckers Google searches later…
The Guggenheim has put a treasure trove of art books online for free, giving art aficionados and neophytes alike the tools for endless hours of escape and education. Some of the catalogues are over sixty years old, and include surveys of everything from Abstract Expressionist Imagists to Mastercraftsmen of Ancient Peru, from legendary individual artists like Mark Rothko and Cézanne to broader but no less penetrating overviews of art cultures around the world, through the ages. Most of these books are either impossible to find, or are sold by third parties at exorbitant prices.
Easy to navigate, the digitized books come with standard function features: double-click to enlarge images; flip pages at your leisure by clicking the arrows beneath the image. For old-school types who still enjoy the tactile pleasures of physical books, this is an excellent way to preview the contents of that insanely overpriced catalogue you’ve found for sale on eBay or Amazon.
Ernest Hardy is a Sundance Fellow whose music and film criticism have appeared in the New YorkTimes, the Village Voice, Vibe, Rolling Stone, LA Times, and LA Weekly. His collection of criticism, Blood Beats Vol. 1: Demos, Remixes and Extended Versions (2006) was a recipient of the 2007 PEN / Beyond Margins Award.
