With support from The Henry Luce Foundation, one of the nation’s leading
funders of American art scholarship, the Museum Loan Network (MLN) recently
launched a new initiative, Energizing the Study of Early American Art
(EEAA), with the aim of stimulating interest and activity in early American
art. In 2005, the project awarded grants to 21 museums to identify early
American portraits to be added to the MLN online Directory. 

The EEAA entries, nearly 500 pre-1840 American portraits, are now available
online to museums through the MLN Directory. Descriptive object information
is accompanied by visuals and remarks fields which may contain biographies
of the artist and subject, historical context for the work, and provenance
research. Cataloguing information was derived from the original works of art
by curatorial staff, and in many cases, assisted by a group of interns
especially chosen for this project. The more than 130 artists identified
include Thomas Sully, Ammi Phillip, Robert Feke, Rembrandt Peale, Gilbert
Stuart, and Jane Stuart. By expanding the scope of online information and
images of works from this period, the Directory is creating a new forum for
discussion and facilitating research, scholarship, and sharing in the field
of early American art.

To view these entries, go to the MLN website:
http://loanet.mit.edu/Directory/di_Access.htm and click on Directory login.

On the pull down menu choose your institution and enter your case sensitive
password. If you do not have a password, please contact the MLN at
<a href="/scripts/wa-home.exe?LOGON=A3%3D0603D%26B%3D--%26E%3Dquoted-printable%26L%3DMUSEUM-L%26P%3D616352%26T%3Dtext%252Fhtml" target="_parent" >[log in to unmask]</a> or at 617.252.1888.

To see all of the EEAA entries in one search, choose EEAA in the Subject
pull down menu. Or to display entries by museum, choose the appropriate name
in the Museum pull down menu.

For more information on this project or to get a password to access the
Directory please contact the Museum Loan Network at 617-252-1888 or
<a href="/scripts/wa-home.exe?LOGON=A3%3D0603D%26B%3D--%26E%3Dquoted-printable%26L%3DMUSEUM-L%26P%3D616352%26T%3Dtext%252Fhtml" target="_parent" >[log in to unmask]</a>

Lori Gross,Director
Museum Loan Network, MIT
265 Massachusetts Ave., N52-401
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307
T:617-252-1888
F:617-252-1899
E:<a href="/scripts/wa-home.exe?LOGON=A3%3D0603D%26B%3D--%26E%3Dquoted-printable%26L%3DMUSEUM-L%26P%3D616352%26T%3Dtext%252Fhtml" target="_parent" >[log in to unmask]</a>
http://loanet.mit.edu 
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