Title	Read art calling card
Creator(s)	Davidson, Laura, artist.
Link to library catalog	http://catalog.bostonathenaeum.org/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=521073
Date created	2012.
Publishing details	[Boston] : [Printed by Laura Davidson],
Physical Description	2 prints : linocuts with gold or brown ink with small collage element on Kitakata rice paper ; image 30.6 x 23 cm., sheet 37.5 x 27.2 cm. or smaller.
Biographical or Historical	According to the artist statement, the artist was inspired by a calling card that hung in her childhood home by the Michigan artist Edna Riendel. Created in 1920, Riendel's calling card was a "visual representation of what she did, and where she lived" and was used as a visiting card which she left with book publishers while in New York City.
Summary	Two artists' calling cards showing an open book in the center flanked by pens and pencils. A rectangular image of the buildings on A Street in the Fort Point district of Boston, Mass. including the artist's studio building at 249 A Street, is printed on the bottom third of the print. At the top of the print, the title "Read Art" appears surrounded by a black rectangular border. A collage element is pasted down to the left of the word "read." The two calling cards are nearly identical with the exception of the imagery on the pages of the open book and in the collage element. One of the calling cards (a) has a key and the vowel letters printed in gold on the pages of the open book. The other calling card (b) has an owl and a tree trunk printed in brown on the pages of the open book. On one of the calling cards (a), the collage element is a pair of eyeglasses drawn in black on top of a piece of text. On the other calling card (b), the collage element consists of a pair of eyeglasses drawn in black on a floral background.
Notes	Printing and paper information provided by artist. Both calling cards are artists' proofs. Title from image and from inscription under image. Title, "A.P." artist's signature, and date inscribed in graphite left to right under image. Print under copyright by the artist. Exhibited in "New England on Paper: Contemporary Art in the Boston Athenaeum's Prints & Photographs Collections" held at the Boston Athenaeum, April 6 - September 3, 2017.
Provenance	Purchased; from artist with income from the Frances Hovey Howe Print Fund; September 2015; #2015.22 (nos. 1 and 2).
Subject	Artists' studios--Pictorial works. Artists' tools--Pictorial works. A Street (Boston, Mass.)--Buildings, structures, etc.--Pictorial works. Fort Point Channel Area (Boston, Mass.)--Buildings, structures, etc.--Pictorial works.
Genre terms	Artists' proofs--United States--2010-2020. Linocuts--United States--2010-2020. Visiting cards--United States--2010-2020.
Exhibition	New England on Paper: Contemporary Art in the Boston Athenæum's Prints & Photographs Collection
Location/Call number	Prints and Photographs Dept. (Appointment required) A U9 Dav.l.2012 (a and b)
Source	8593_Read Art.tif
Rights	Collection of the Boston Athenaeum. May not be reproduced or quoted without written permission. For more information, see http://www.bostonathenaeum.org/node/46