Reading an artist’s diary is the next best thing to being there.
Reading an artist’s diary is the next best thing to being there. Direct and private, diaries provide firsthand accounts of appointments made and met, places seen, and work in progress—all laced with personal ruminations, name-dropping, and the occasional sketch or doodle. Whether recording historic events or simple day-to-day moments, these diary entries evoke the humanity of these artists and their historical period.
Some of these diaries were posted in conjunction with an exhibition, "A Day in the Life: Artists' Diaries from the Archives of American Art," that was on display in the Archives of American Art's Lawrence A. Fleischman Gallery. More details about that show are available at http://www.aaa.si.edu/exhibitions/day-in-the-life-diaries
