ART BOOK COLLECTION DONATED TO BROOKLYN MUSEUM

AN IMPORTANT COLLECTION OF APPROXIMATELY ELEVEN THOUSAND ART BOOKS ASSEMBLED BY THEA WESTREICH AND HER HUSBAND, ETHAN WAGNER, IS BEING GIVEN TO THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM'S LIBRARY. COLLECTED OVER THE COURSE OF SEVERAL DECADES, THE GIFT INCLUDES KEY WORKS IN THE HISTORY OF ART, WITH EMPHASIS ON MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY MATERIAL. THE COLLECTION IS BEING DONATED IN PHASES. MANY OF THE BOOKS HAVE ALREADY BEEN RECEIVED AND LISTED IN BROOKMUSE, THE ONLINE CATALOG OF THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES. WESTREICH AND WAGNER ARE THE PRINCIPALS IN THEA WESTREICH ART ADVISORY SERVICES, A CONSULTING FIRM SPECIALIZING IN IMPRESSIONISTS, MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART. THEY ARE ALSO PUBLISHERS OF BOOKS BY ARTISTS SUCH AS RICHARD PRINCE, MIKE KELLY, CHRISTOPHER WOOL, LARRY CLARK, MARTIN KIPPENBERGER AND OTHERS. WESTREICH SAID IN A RECENT INTERVIEW: 'I STARTED COLLECTING BOOKS WHEN I WAS TWENTY YEARS OLD, AND IT HAS BEEN A PASSION EVER SINCE. I AM SURE WE WILL STILL BE BUYING BOOKS WHEN, YEARS FROM NOW, OUR LIBRARY SHELVES HAVE BEEN EMPTIED AND OUR BOOKS ARE OTHERWISE ALL AT THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM.' THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES IS A NON-CIRCULATING COLLECTION SERVING THE MUSEUM STAFF AND VISITING PUBLIC THAT CONTAINS MORE THAN 30,000 VOLUMES. THE RESEARCH HOLDINGS REFLECT THE MUSEUM'S ENCYCLOPEDIA COLLECTIONS. SPECIAL AREAS OF INTEREST INCLUDE ARTISTS' BOOKS, DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHS, FASHION AND COSTUME SKETCHES, AND RARE BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS.