*In Person* EX LIBRIS: Walter Feldman: The Book as Art

The EX LIBRIS program series from the Providence Athenæum features an array of humanities scholars, authors, historians, and thought leaders, illuminating fascinating topics and inspiring the intellectually curious. EX LIBRIS programs take place at the Athenæum in front of a live studio audience and are simulcast via Zoom, as well as recorded.

This is the IN-PERSON event. In-person $5 tickets are exclusively available to members. They include access to a pre-program reception from 5-5:30 and a post-program book sale, if applicable. To register for the virtual simulcast, please click here.

Walter S. Feldman (1925 – 2017) was a modernist painter, printmaker, mosaicist, and book artist who spent most of his life and career in Providence, Rhode Island. Join art professional Catherine Little Bert to situate Feldman’s art books within the broader history of postwar American art and the development of contemporary book arts.

In 1985, Feldman shifted his focus toward the creation of handmade artists’ books, a transition that redefined the arc of his career. After more than twenty years at Brown University, Feldman established Ziggurat Press—followed by Brown/Ziggurat Press in 1990—where he conceptualized books as unified works of art. His practice integrated image, text, structure, and typography into objects that challenge traditional distinctions between visual art and the book form.

Two major themes shaped Feldman’s approach: collaborative works developed with poets, and introspective volumes that address central concerns of his artistic life—World War II, Jewish identity, memory, and an exploration of typography and mark making. His contributions to the field were recognized in 1993 with his appointment as John Hay Professor of Bibliography, and his influence endures through the Walter Feldman Book Arts Studio at the John Hay Library, founded in 2005.

Feldman’s artists’ books have been shown widely and are included in significant public collections such as Harvard Library, Boston Public Library, New York Public Library, the Library of Congress, Wellesley College, and Brown University, among others.

Bert will be joined by art historian Suzanne Scanlan during the moderated Q&A.

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Catherine Little Bert is Visual Arts Advisor and Curator of the Walter Feldman Trust for Artwork at Brown University, where she oversees the preservation, research, and public presentation of Feldman’s extensive studio legacy. In this role since 2018, she has advanced scholarship on the artist’s prolific career—from post-war modernist painting to his pioneering work in artists’ books—and has developed exhibitions, sales initiatives, and collections care strategies that broaden access to his work.

Bert is also a gallerist and professional art appraiser who has represented artist estates and promoted regional American art for more than forty years. As the founder of Bert Gallery (now bg Fine Art), she has mounted over 100 exhibitions highlighting the Providence School and other New England artists whose contributions shape the narrative of American art history.

A certified USPAP appraiser, Bert holds degrees from Providence College and the University of Connecticut and a Certificate in Appraisal Studies in Fine and Decorative Arts from New York University. Her publications include contributions to Infinite Radius: Founding Rhode Island School of Design and the humanities-funded journal Sketches. She lectures frequently on Providence School artists and their place in the canons of art history.

The Athenæum's Spring 2026 Season is generously sponsored by the following friends and partners:

Please note that we are piloting new waitlist procedures this season. If we receive cancellations, available tickets will be offered to waitlisted members in the order they registered for the waitlist. Two days prior to the event, any remaining tickets will be offered by email to all waitlisted members on a first-come, first-served basis.