Dr. Stephen J. Bury

Detail of catalog cover with black Cyrillic lettering
One Hundred Years at the Library: Art and Politics
In this installment of our series looking back at the past century of the Frick Art Reference Library through significant objects in its collections, Stephen J. Bury, Andrew W. Mellon Chief Librarian, explores three items connected to the career of the Futurist poet and artist Vladimir Mayakovsky and his involvement in the turbulent politics of early twentieth-century Russia.
Two women and a man at a desk holding books and marking a map with pencils and rulers
One Hundred Years at the Library: Monuments Men and Women
Stephen J. Bury, Andrew W. Mellon Chief Librarian, explores one of the most fascinating eras in the Frick Art Reference Library’s hundred-year history. A photograph from the 1940s sheds light on the creation of maps at the library during World War II, which were made to prevent the destruction of at-risk cultural sites and works of art in war areas.
Surrealist composite drawing of a figure with multiple crying eyes sharpening a blade
One Hundred Years at the Library: Surrealism in Print
As we continue celebrating the centennial of the Frick Art Reference Library, Stephen J. Bury, Andrew W. Mellon Chief Librarian, explores an unexpected strength of the library’s collections: materials on modern art. In this post, Stephen discusses a sample of the library’s exhibition catalogs from the Surrealist movement, which began in Paris in 1924, the same year the Frick Art Reference Library opened its first dedicated building.
Library staff member scanning an archival photo at a workstation with lights and an overhead camera
"Technological Revolutions and Art History": The Ethical Challenges of Digitization
The 2020–21 symposium “Technological Revolutions and Art History” explores current topics in digital art history. For a deeper dive into the major themes of access and bias, Ellen Prokop, former Digital Art History Lead, interviews Luciano Johnson, Associate Chief Librarian for Preservation, Imaging, and Creative Services, and Dr. Stephen Bury, Andrew W. Mellon Chief Librarian.
photo of Stephen Bury
Dr. Stephen J. Bury Appointed to the Post of Andrew W. Mellon Chief Librarian at the Frick Art Reference Library
video still of Stephen Bury in reading room
Restoring Our Library’s Reading Room

The Frick’s mission to serve as a center for innovative scholarship is largely sustained by the Frick Art Research Library (which was newly renamed from the Frick Art Reference Library to reflect its wealth of both print and digital resources). In this video, we welcome you into the library’s main reading room mid-restoration, where Stephen J. Bury, Andrew W. Mellon Chief Librarian, discusses key aspects visitors can look forward to experiencing upon our reopening.

video still of Stephen Bury with large book with print open
One Hundred Years at the Library: The Plum Pudding in Danger

Take a trip through the centuries in the latest episode of the Frick Art Reference Library’s anniversary series. In this video, Stephen J. Bury, Andrew W. Mellon Chief Librarian, explores the most famous political cartoon by the English caricaturist James Gillray. The 1805 print satirizes the news of the day, as Emperor Napoleon and British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger carve up the world in the form of a Christmas plum pudding. The print exemplifies the range of the library’s holdings, particularly its vast works on paper collection.

video still of Stephen Bury in library looking closely at telautograph
One Hundred Years at the Library: The Telautograph

In the 1930s, how did librarians communicate across the nine stories of the Frick Art Reference Library’s building? In this episode, Stephen J. Bury, Andrew W. Mellon Chief Librarian, introduces the telautograph, an innovative technology installed in the library’s original East 71st Street home. The machine allowed for handwritten notes to be transmitted from the reading room to the stacks and offices above. Used in tandem with dumbwaiters, the telautograph is an early example of the cutting-edge technology employed at the library since its founding.

video still of Stephen Bury pulling book item out of bag
One Hundred Years at the Library: Monuments Men and Women

Stephen J. Bury, Andrew W. Mellon Chief Librarian, presents a group of maps, guides, photos, and other objects related to the Frick Art Reference Library’s involvement in cultural preservation during World War II. From July 1943 to January 1944, the institution closed to the public to serve as the headquarters of the Committee on the Protection of Cultural Treasures in War Areas, part of the so-called Monuments Men program—a rare but pivotal time the library’s century-long history intersected with major world events.

video still of hands holding booklet open with photograph of man included
One Hundred Years at the Library: The Realm of the Surreal

The avant-garde Surrealist movement began in Paris in 1924, the same year the Frick Art Reference Library’s first dedicated building opened. In this episode of One Hundred Years at the Library, join Stephen J. Bury, Andrew W. Mellon Chief Librarian, for a look at two original Surrealist catalogs available for consultation in the reading room. The catalogs provide tantalizing evidence for the dramatic upheavals within the Surrealist movement and exemplify the rich objects added to the library’s collections over the past century.