Pursuit of Immortality: Masterpieces from the Scher Collection of Portrait Medals

Aimee Ng

ISBN 10: 1911282069 / ISBN 13: 9781911282068

Published by D Giles Ltd, GB, 2017

About this Item

The Stephen K. and Janie Woo Scher Collection of portrait medals is considered to be the world's greatest medals collection in private hands. This fully illustrated volume features twenty of the best objects in the collection, with a checklist of one hundred and sixty more, and an essay which highlights why the Scher collection is noted for its comprehensiveness and outstanding quality. An accessible introduction to a remarkable collection, this volume brings to life these masterpieces of small-scale sculpture, compellingly conveying the circumstances of their creation and their historic significance. A selection of some 160 portrait medals from the Scher collection is accompanied by an illustrated essay on the art of the medal, its origins, uses, and relationship to other arts. An in-depth scholarly publication that catalogues the entirety of this important collection-consisting of some 879 medals-is planned for a later date. AUTHOR: Aimee Ng is Associate Curator at The Frick Collection, NY, and a specialist in Italian Renaissance art. SELLING POINTS: . A compact guide to one of the best portrait medal collections in the world . Includes an essay on the art of the medal from the 15th- to the 19th-century in Italy, Germany, France, the Netherlands and England . Beautiful images makes this an accessible and appealing introduction to the subject 40 colour.

Seller Inventory # LU-9781911282068

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Pursuit of Immortality: Masterpieces from the Scher Collection of Portrait Medals
• Publisher: D Giles Ltd, GB
• Publication Date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1911282069
• ISBN 13: 9781911282068
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

The Stephen K. and Janie Woo Scher Collection of portrait medals is unparalleled among those in private hands. Noted for its comprehensiveness and outstanding quality, it includes medals dating from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries.

This new volume, the result of a the Schers’ gift of 450 medals to The Frick Collection in 2016, brings to life these masterpieces of small-scale sculpture, conveying the circumstances of their creation and their historic significance. Beginning in the Italian Renaissance, medals were made to commemorate individuals and to acknowledge specific events or milestones, such as marriages, deaths, coronations, and military victories. They were precious, portable, and popular among the wealthy and powerful. This book provides a concise, fascinating introduction to their artistry.

About the Author

Aimee Ng is Associate Curator at The Frick Collection, NY, and a specialist in Italian Renaissance art. She has held curatorial and academic positions at the Morgan Library & Museum, where she was postdoctoral fellow at the Morgan’s Drawing Institute in 2014, and at Columbia University, where she earned her Ph.D. She was guest curator of The Poetry of Parmigianino’s “Schiava Turca” (2014) and organizing curator of Andrea del Sarto: The Renaissance Workshop in Action (2015–16).