UWM Libraries Special Collections

UWM Libraries Special Collections Special Collections, a department of UWM Libraries

Special Collections consists primarily of rare and special printed materials that hold long-term, historical research potential for UWM academic programs. The collections support a broad range of research and teaching activities in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.

Wood Engraving WednesdayLeonard BaskinToday we present a few wood engravings by renowned artist Leonard Baskin (1922-200...
05/27/2026

Wood Engraving Wednesday

Leonard Baskin

Today we present a few wood engravings by renowned artist Leonard Baskin (1922-2000) from Leonard Baskin The Graphic Work 1950-1970, published in New York by Far Gallery as part of its 35th anniversary celebration in 1970. Baskin, who with his founding of the Gehenna Press in 1942 was among the first American fine-art book printers, spent a good proportion of his professional life in the Northampton region of Western Massachusetts where he was a teacher, mentor, and inspiration to numerous American artists working today, especially in wood engraving, and as such was the dean of what we like to call the Pioneer Valley School of artists.

Death and the human condition are recurring themes in Baskin's work, as can be seen here. In his idiosyncratically formal, almost 18th-century style, Baskin remarked:

It is the special province of the Graphic Arts to be tendentious, to excoriate, attack and denounce (even rarely to praise), inventing scarifying images with specific and immediate purport.

The Graphic Works, one of many hundreds of items donated by our late friend Jerry Buff (1931-2025), was designed by Leonard Baskin, typeset by the Stinehour Press, and printed at the Meriden Gravure Company.

Helen Frankenthaler’s Late WorksToday we’re highlighting images collected in Helen Frankenthaler: Late Works, 1988-2009 ...
05/24/2026

Helen Frankenthaler’s Late Works

Today we’re highlighting images collected in Helen Frankenthaler: Late Works, 1988-2009 published in 2022 by Santa Fe’s Radius Books. The book developed alongside a traveling exhibit of Frankenthaler’s later work organized by the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, and features writing by Elizabeth Smith, Suzanne Boorsch, and Douglas Dreishpoon, the director and editor of the ongoing Frankenthaler Catalogue Raisonné. Our copy comes to us as a gift of Radius Books.

Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011) was a major post-war abstract expressionist painter. She developed the soak-stain technique and was known for her large-scale paintings, and work that seemed spontaneous and whole – regardless of process. In a lecture at the Palm Springs Art Museum in 1996, Frankenthaler details this process:

"I seem to have consistently been involved in two approaches to my work. One is an immediate gesture in which my wrist seems to know exactly where to go, where to place what, when, in which color, when to stop. It is an economical vocabulary, a shorthand. The other is far more labored, worked-into…. In either case, any beautiful picture to me looks as if it’s been born at once, regardless of how many hours, or weeks, or years it took to make it."

Frankenthaler remained dynamic in her work over six decades. She continued to develop mastery of forms. As Boorsch explains in an essay on Frankenthaler’s prints, her late works “surpass” the output of her previous three decades “in size, in complexity, in audacious innovation, and in powerful effect.”

–Amanda, Special Collections Graduate Intern

Jean-Michel BasquiatJean-Michel Basquiat: and The Art of Storytelling was edited by Hans Werner Holzwarth and was publis...
05/23/2026

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Jean-Michel Basquiat: and The Art of Storytelling was edited by Hans Werner Holzwarth and was published in 2018 in Cologne, Germany by TASHEN. This very large, very heavy art book contains several high-quality color reproductions of Basquiat’s art and includes an essay by art historian and curator Eleanor Nairne.

Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) was born in Brooklyn, New York and died 27 years later in the same city. Basquiat is one of the most well-known contemporary artists of our time; right next to his friend, Andy Warhol (who he collaborated with on the tenth image). Despite dying young, Basquiat’s artistic career is expansive—his paintings and sketches number in the hundreds, each in the unique style that made him sought after. He was first invited to appear in New York/New Wave in 1981 by Mudd Club co-founder Diego Cortez. From there, Basquiat’s career would take off, and he began to appear in galleries throughout the country. Many publications and articles reference his time graffitiing under the name SAMO. However, Basquiat himself rejected this, stating that he was not a graffiti artist. Despite this, it has become a part of his legacy and is used to highlight his role in the “underground” art scene before breaking out into the public sphere. Today the name SAMO is synonymous with Basquiat; along with his iconic crown, his apparent fascination with bones, and the footprints he left behind on his prints.

Much of his art references his experience as a Black man in America and his Afro-Caribbean heritage. His art mixes drawn figures with fragments of phrases, speeches, and words. Some art historians have compared Basquiat’s style to being almost childlike in the way he sketches; however, I think this is a simplistic way of looking at his art especially when considering the subjugation and systematic oppression of Black Americans he often represents in his art.

Following the death of Andy Warhol, Basquiat’s drug use increased and he overdosed in 1988. We do not know how his art would have further evolved, but his approach to art continues to inspire new artists.

–Olivia, Special Collections Art History Field Worker

Farewell Friday: For MaxBy Jody Williams, In Here Out There is a 1998 book from her Flying Paper Press. It is structured...
05/22/2026

Farewell Friday: For Max

By Jody Williams, In Here Out There is a 1998 book from her Flying Paper Press. It is structured in one of her characteristic tiny boxes, and is made up of three distinct parts. The top opens up with a ladder to a window, and there are two separate chapters titled respectively “In Here” and “Out There”. This book is one of our most utilized items in our book arts collection, and is one of Max’s favorites. It demonstrates in a concise and beautiful way the possibilities of structure in the book arts, and demands that the reader consider not just the text of the book, but the book as a medium.

This was the first Jody Williams book that Max showed me when I visited Special Collections and sparked the curiosity that led me to look at all of her works in our collection. Williams’ artistic precision and contemplative subject matter drew me in and really made me want to explore the rest of our book arts collection. Similarly, Max’s enthusiasm and knowledge of Special Collections has always been rooted in the encouragement to explore, to be curious, and most importantly, to play.

-Elizabeth, Special Collections Graduate Intern

Farewell Friday: For MaxOn Max’s last day in Special Collections, I wanted to highlight two things (among many) that I l...
05/22/2026

Farewell Friday: For Max

On Max’s last day in Special Collections, I wanted to highlight two things (among many) that I learned from him: to treat this library work as play, and to always pay attention to the medium itself.

In tribute to his spirit of play, I’m highlighting several irreverent poems by Felicia Lamport (1916-1999) from her 1961 collection Scrap Irony, published by Houghton Mifflin out of Boston. With illustrations by Edward Gorey (1925-2000), Lamport jokes and rhymes her way through maxims, warnings, and responses to news.

Here she advises us to retain our youthfulness, and to defy the “thinking machines.”

Many thanks to Max for this opportunity, and for sticking around Milwaukee.

--Amanda, Special Collections Graduate Intern

Farewell Friday: For Max For my contribution, I chose There Still Is Time (1940), written by Walter Buchen, an American ...
05/22/2026

Farewell Friday: For Max

For my contribution, I chose There Still Is Time (1940), written by Walter Buchen, an American advertising executive, museum trustee, and enthusiastic member of various very serious organizations dedicated to adventure, exploration, and presumably getting slightly sunburned in interesting places. He moved in circles that included safaris, geographical societies, and clubs with names that suggest everyone owned at least one very impractical hat.

There Still Is Time carries that same energy: restless, forward-moving, and deeply uninterested in the idea that life should be postponed indefinitely. It moves through seasons and landscapes with a kind of cheerful urgency, circling back again and again to a simple refrain: that there is still time. Time to go, to do, to see, to stop treating “later” as a personality trait.

There is something fitting about that reminder here. Libraries, and especially Special Collections, are places deeply shaped by time. We spend our days preserving it, cataloging it, interpreting it, and trying in our own small ways to hold onto what would otherwise slip quietly into the past. But if this poem insists on anything, it is that time is not only something to preserve, it is also something to use.

Which feels like a pretty excellent retirement philosophy.

So for Max, this seemed like the right choice: a small literary nudge toward whatever comes next—whether that means travel, adventure, well-earned rest, or simply the freedom to enjoy the days without anyone asking for one more thing to be pulled from the stacks.

And finally, to Max, I think the poem has retirement figured out: stop working, go have fun, and, as it so helpfully reminds us, get some drinking done.

-Melissa (who fully supports letting poetry set the retirement agenda, in this case), Distinctive Collections Library Assistant ✨

Farewell Friday: For MaxThis week, Fairytale Friday is temporarily rebranding itself as Farewell Friday.Instead of our u...
05/22/2026

Farewell Friday: For Max

This week, Fairytale Friday is temporarily rebranding itself as Farewell Friday.

Instead of our usual wandering through fairy tales and illustrated worlds, we’re doing something a little different (and a little more personal): marking Max’s last day with us and his retirement from Special Collections. Over the years, Max has shaped not only Special Collections but also the way we think about the stories, objects, and histories we care for here.

To celebrate him, we’re doing a three-part post, one from me and our two interns, Amanda and Elizabeth, each built around a book chosen with Max in mind. Think of it as a collaborative shelf of gratitude: three different books, three different lenses, and one shared goodbye tucked between the pages.

Zaporozhets’ za Dunayem (Kyiv, 1935)Today’s staff pick is a rare libretto edition of Zaporozhets’ za Dunaem (“Cossacks B...
05/19/2026

Zaporozhets’ za Dunayem (Kyiv, 1935)

Today’s staff pick is a rare libretto edition of Zaporozhets’ za Dunaem (“Cossacks Beyond the Danube”), published in Kyiv in 1935 by the State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre of the Ukrainian SSR. This volume includes the libretto, press reviews, and commentary explaining a Soviet-era adaptation of the opera.

Originally composed by Semen Hulak-Artemovsky (1813-1873) and premiered in 1863 in Saint Petersburg, Zaporozhets’ za Dunayem is one of the earliest and most influential Ukrainian-language operas. Hulak-Artemovsky, who was also a performer at the Mariinsky Theatre, drew inspiration from Italian and German “light” opera traditions, combining them with Ukrainian folk themes, language, and humor. The plot reflects the fate of the Zaporozhian Cossacks after the destruction of the Sich in 1775, when some fled to the Ottoman Empire and later returned.

The 1935 edition reveals how the opera was reshaped in the Soviet period. According to the editors, elements of “national romanticism” were replaced with more comic, folkloric, and accessible material, better suited to a socialist audience.

Today, the opera remains widely performed and has largely returned to its original form. This volume offers a glimpse into one moment of its transformation—and into the shifting meanings of Ukrainian cultural heritage across time.

– Kate, Special Collections Graduate Art History Fieldworker

Raina Telgemeier Zines!Today we highlight two zines by beloved children’s graphic novelist Raina Telgemeier (b. 1977). W...
05/17/2026

Raina Telgemeier Zines!

Today we highlight two zines by beloved children’s graphic novelist Raina Telgemeier (b. 1977). Winner of multiple Eisner Awards, Telgemeier is best known for Smile (2010), Drama (2012), Sisters (2014), Ghosts (2016), Guts (2019), and for her graphic adaptations of Ann M. Martin’s The Babysitter’s Club series. Telgemeier is a very big deal to my kids, so I was excited to see the donation of two issues of her early mini-comic series Take-Out, self-produced between 2002 and 2005.

Issue 3: With Friends Like These, came out in 2002, and features a Ouija Board-inspired cover in honor of its sleepover birthday party story. The short story is fraught with crushes, practical jokes, and betrayal, and captures Telgemeier’s warmth, earnestness, and precision in capturing middle school drama (her note at the end explains that she is still working “to forget her middle school social life (or complete lack thereof).”

The bright purple cover comes from Take-Out Issue 6, from 2003, and features very brief vignettes capturing small rich childhood moments: the adventure of taking the BART to grandma’s house, the terror of seeing dad without his beard for the first time, a visit to the science museum, and the possibility that a classmate might die during heart surgery.

These issues came to us as part of a large zine donation by former Special Collections intern Jessica Bublitz.

–Amanda, Special Collections Graduate Intern

Surreal Saturday: Max ErnstMax Ernst, by Irish author and photographer Edward Quinn (1920–1997), was published in Paris ...
05/16/2026

Surreal Saturday: Max Ernst

Max Ernst, by Irish author and photographer Edward Quinn (1920–1997), was published in Paris by Éditions Cercle d'art in 1976. Ernst and Quinn worked very closely together on this book, resulting in a work that is autobiographical, with images of its 400 paintings, collages, prints, and drawings personally approved by Ernst. Additional essays are provided by noted art historians Uwe M. Schneede and Diane Waldman, and by art critic and surrealist specialist Patrick Waldberg.

Max Ernst’s (1891-1976) artistic career can be traced through multiple styles and eras. When he first began to draw, his stylistic expression seemed to take greater inspiration from Expressionism. After fighting in World War I, Ernst, like many German men who had been on the frontline, came back jaded. Following his return home, he became interested in the Dadaist movement that had begun to form in Germany and established the Cologne Dada group with a few of his friends. Although Ernst was born in Germany, the majority of his artistic career was in Paris, France, moving there in 1922 and leaving his wife and son behind. No longer a Dadaist, Ernst became entrenched in the Surrealist movement and today is remembered as one of the leading Surrealist artists in Paris at the time.

Ernst’s style is dreamlike; the surrealist quality of the figures jumps dramatically from the ethereal to the nightmarish. In one painting, a strange creature dances across a desert landscape—in another the crucifixion of Jesus takes place somewhere dark, jagged, and sharp. The images shared here are only a small sample of Ernst’s work, but the variety in what he creates is impressive. In some, he has fragmented his figures into shapes, constructing the painting like building blocks. For others his human figures are realistic but retain the surrealist features that mark them as Ernst classics. Beside paintings, his works also include sculptures, collages, poetry, and prints.

-Olivia, Special Collections Art History Fieldworker

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