The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 40, October 7, 2007, Article 5

CATALOG REVIEW: 2007 FIDEM EXHIBITION CATALOG

Dick Johnson writes: "If you collect dates and mintmarks
you will think this catalog has nothing to do with
numismatics. Oh contraire!  This exhibit is numismatics'
contribution to modern art. Or modern art's contribution
to numismatics.

"The catalog records the display of the latest creations
of numismatic objects -- medals and medallic art -- by
the brightest bas-relief artists from all over the world.
The display and the Congress this year of the international
organization of artists, mints and issuers was hosted by
the American Numismatic Association. It fell to their
responsibility to mount the exhibit in their Colorado
Springs headquarters and publish the exhibition catalog.
The organization has a French name, but to everyone involved
it is simply 'FIDEM' (for Federation International de la
Medaille).

"And an exceptional catalog it is! Well organized, liberally
illustrated  (on almost every page), excellent typography,
color on both covers -- illustrating the official medal,
mentioned in last week's E-Sylum -- (and a special section
in the back). Not every medal exhibited is photographed,
but every artist has at least one photo of his work included.

"The logistics and production planning of this catalog must
have been horrendous. Credit here must be given to the
Publications Department of the ANA, which accomplished this
herculean task on top of all their other work!  Editor
Barbara Gregory was in charge, with help from Marilyn
Reback, Jerri Raitz and others with only a name mention
on the Acknowledgments page. That's dedication!

"The medals were gathered in the respective countries in
the later months of 2006. They were juried by their own
peers and accepted entries sent to Colorado Springs. The
medals began arriving in February 2007. First task was
to photograph every one. This was accomplished by Brad
Armstrong, Colorado Springs photographer.

"Then began writing and editing and arranging the text.
Fortunately, all text was submitted in English. Since an
overview is given of every country's exhibit this had to
be translated into French as well -- a longtime custom
of FIDEM catalogs. Olivia Qusaibaty of Washington DC
translated the English into French.

"Countries are listed in English alphabetical order, 32
in all. Then within each country section, artists are
listed in alphabetical order, then from one to six medals
listed for each artist (up to ten in a special section
in the back, the parallel exhibit 'FIDEM at 70' past issues
of invited artists by FIDEM). Well organized. Easy to
find any artist or particular medal.

"The layout was handled by the ANA Creative Services Department,
and here they used as their model the catalog of the previous
American FIDEM catalog of 1987 -- also hosted by ANA at
Colorado Springs. That catalog was the work almost entirely
of N. Neil Harris, the editor of The Numismatist at the time.
The present catalog followed his format and style of that
1987 catalog.

"For numismatic book collectors it is almost impossible to
obtain a complete set of past FIDEM catalogs. Early exhibit
catalogs were not in separate issues, they were published
in a host country's numismatic periodical. The first two
FIDEM Congresses (1937, 1939) were held in Paris and did
not have exhibitions.

"The first exhibit was held at the 3rd Congress in Paris
in 1949. The 4th Congress was in Madrid in 1959. I have
only a one-page photocopy of its exhibit (with 4 artists
from America). The 16th Congress Exhibition Catalog (Prague
1975) was bound. All other issues have all been paper cover.

"Buy a copy of the present 2007 catalog and enjoy looking
at what modern medallic art is currently producing. It is
available from ANA Money Market for $37.95 (ANA member price).
Order online at www.money.org or by phone 800-467-5725,
email at enterprise@money.org"

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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