Reading List: Staff Picks by Angela Tillapaugh

Hello! My name is Angela, and I am the Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery Lead at the Frick Art Research Library. I manage the resource sharing activities of the library, which include loaning items from our collections to other institutions, receiving loans for our users to use, and providing scans of scholarly materials for those who are not able to visit in person. Read more about me in my Rapid-Fire Q&A below.

I love helping researchers access the materials they need and assisting researchers outside of New York City to access the Frick Art Research Library’s wonderful holdings. Our interlibrary loan and document delivery services are available to all registered researchers—register today, and learn more in our online guide!

When I am not at work, you can find me reading, knitting, or enjoying the great outdoors on a leisurely park stroll or a challenging hike. Keep reading to find out some of my favorite books in the library’s collections, and stop by the reading room to check them out in person. If that is not feasible for you, you can request scans of twenty pages or one full chapter through our document delivery service!

1. Brooklyn Arcadia: Art, History, and Nature at Majestic Green-Wood

By Andrew Garn (2023)

I came across this book shortly after moving to New York and it is what inspired me to visit Green-Wood Cemetery. This book challenges the common notions of cemeteries (creepy, morbid, etc.) by capturing the beauty and splendor of Green-Wood. It is filled with a wide array of the nature and artwork found there, from ancient trees to stained glass in the mausoleums. I particularly enjoyed the photographs that capture the various types of lichen and mosses found growing on the stonework (below).

2. Rachel Ruysch: Nature into Art

By Robert Schindler (2024)

One of my favorite areas of art is Dutch Golden Age still-life paintings, which are loaded with meaning and symbolism that speak to the cultural values of the time period. One of the masters of the genre was Rachel Ruysch, and this catalogue was published in conjunction with the first solo exhibition of her work, held at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. I was unable to make it to Boston in time to see this show, but luckily the catalogue is phenomenal. The detailed illustrations of her work and the essays will make you feel like you are (almost) there.

3. Sound May Be Seen

By Margaret Watts Hughes, edited by Christine Burgin and Andrew Lampert (2025)

One thing I love about my work as the interlibrary loan and document delivery librarian is that all kinds of interesting books cross my desk that I may not have encountered otherwise. This book is one such title. It covers the visual works of Margaret Watts Hughes, a Welsh opera singer. She invented the eidophone, which captures the vibrations of the human voice, using it to transform her voice into visual works that she called “Voice Figures.” The Voice Figures are abstract, but she was able to create many works that bear remarkable resemblance to ferns and other plants by carefully controlling her voice.

4. Patterns of Fashion 4: The Content, Cut, Construction and Context of Linen Shirts, Smocks, Neckwear, Headwear and Accessories for Men and Women c. 1540–1660

By Janet Arnold, Santina M. Levey, and Jenny Tiramani (2023)

If you have ever wondered how elaborate historical garments were constructed, this series of books will satisfy your curiosity. This installment is my favorite, as it includes the ruff collars that were worn by the fashionable throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Using extant garments, this book details the pieces and construction methods used to create these intricate pieces of neckwear. Conveniently, it includes patterns for some pieces, should you want to recreate your own sixteenth-century ruff for a special occasion.

5. Affinities: A Journey Through Images from the Public Domain Review

Edited by Adam Green (2022)

I spend a lot of time thinking about copyright as a resource sharing librarian, but I think the best thing about copyright is that it expires. The public domain is filled with wonderful works that are free for anyone to browse and use for their own creations. The Public Domain Review is dedicated to celebrating this reservoir of works, and Affinities is a collection of some notable examples. There is no particular rhyme or reason for how the works are presented, so you can peruse this book and enjoy the serendipity of what you might encounter: from Albrecht Dürer’s drawings of pillows (below) to eighteenth-century medical illustrations.

6. Avian Inspiration: Birds in Art and Illustration

Edited by Victor Cheung (2025)

If you saw my reading list on birds in art, you may have already guessed that I love birds and seeing how different artists represent them in their works. Any of those books could have made it onto my Staff Picks list! Instead, I am including this title, which features contemporary artists who make a wide array of bird artworks, from photorealistic portraits to charming watercolors.

7. Georgia O’Keeffe: “My New Yorks”

Edited by Sarah Kelly Oehler and Annelise K. Madsen (2024)

Georgia O’Keeffe is famous in part for her landscape paintings of the New Mexico deserts where she lived later in life. This book, published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same name at the Art Institute of Chicago, examines a series of work she called “my New Yorks,” created in the 1920s when she lived in New York City. I love this series and the different perspectives from which O’Keeffe painted New York’s imposing architecture: Sometimes Manhattan’s skyscrapers are looming over us on the sidewalk, and other times the viewer is surveying the city from above. I really enjoyed the essays in this catalogue, which place O’Keeffe’s work in conversation with her contemporary Aaron Douglas, in context with her own later works, and within the historical context of New York City.

8. Women’s Work: From Feminine Arts to Feminist Art

By Ferren Gipson (2022)

As a knitter, I have an affinity for fiber and textile art, and I am continually awed by the way fiber artists transform everyday materials into marvelous creations. This book includes a diverse array of artists and is a great resource for expanding your knowledge of artists that work in this medium. I especially adore the work of Alexandra Kehayoglou, who makes beautiful rugs and tapestries that resemble natural landscapes.

Rapid-Fire Q&A with Angela

Fiction or nonfiction?

Fiction

Print or e-books?

Print

Reading or audiobooks?

Reading

Iced or hot drinks?

Iced

Favorite season?

Winter (I like the cold!)

Favorite library or archive (besides the Frick)?

Petit Branch of the Onondaga County Public Libraries

Favorite depiction of your job in media?

Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Most interesting part of your job assisting researchers?

I love helping people track down auction and exhibition catalogues from the eighteenth century and earlier. It’s always a fun challenge!

Advice for hopeful future librarians?

Stay curious and ask lots of questions!

All photos by Joseph Coscia Jr., The Frick Collection