He never liked being referred to as an American Regionalist. Yes, he was tied to Western Missouri from birth to the day he died, born into a prominent family with deep roots in the state. And yes, the themes he returned to repeatedly were simple rural scenes and depictions of the everyday lives of working-class […]
He said, “I’ll paint you a picture if you’ll finance the eggs.” They did, and he did. It was 1930, it was his first mural, and it made him famous. It wasn’t long before he was on the cover of Time Magazine, the first artist ever featured there. Thomas Hart Benton became America’s #1 muralist, […]
There’s time-hallowed art museum in the US that flourishes an exclamation point in it’s name. Originally established in 1862, Buffalo’s most excellent AKG! fully deserves the emphatic punctuation! Originally known as the Albright Art Gallery — for it’s founding benefactor — with a 1962 expansion it became the Albright Knox Art Gallery — to recognize […]
Archer Huntington seems to have been as enamored of Joaquin Sorolla’s work as I am — leaving an awesome legacy to delight Sorolla fans on the border between West Harlem and Washington Heights of NYC at The Hispanic Society of America. In 1911 Huntington commissioned Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida (Valencia, Spain 1863 – Cercedilla, Spain,1923) […]
A mark of a good art exhibition is that it expands our range of vision: historically, geographically, culturally. Solid explanatory text on the gallery walls, or a really good docent, can turn a show from being “just pictures on the wall” into a magic carpet ride, revealing a view far beyond our own personal experience. […]
The Southwest Women’s Art Collection at Scottsdale’s Western Spirit Museum was a gift of the late Frances and Edward Elliott in 2020. The collection includes nearly 200 works by 25 women. Collecting these artists was Fran Elliot’s passion. The early art community in Arizona was almost entirely made up of independent women who were inspired […]
But for two votes in the 1866 legislature Wickenburg would have been the capital of the new territory of Arizona. Instead, Wickenburg today is a sleepy town, pop. approx. 8000, a worthwhile stop on the scenic route from Phoenix to Prescott and Sedona — or a destination unto itself —because of the surprising Desert Caballeros […]
Reuben Hale’s home and garden, in the historic El Cid neighborhood of West Palm Beach, shows off the talents and inspiring life story of this beloved local artist. “Local” in the sense that he move to Florida in 1961, teaching and working here for more than 50 years; “beloved” in the sense that his students […]
Perhaps the best way to begin this piece about the Gibbes Museum of Art is to reflect on the expository words of the museum curators themselves … “An active seaport in the 1700s, Charleston was a melting pot of cultures, religions and traditions. Powered by the labor of enslaved peoples in the rice and indigo […]
On Plantation Row along the Ashley River west of Charleston are three magnificant properties, with Drayton Hall and Middleton Place flanking Magnolia Plantation. All three have stories to tell, featuring large in both local and US history. Drayton Hall was built in 1738 by John Drayton (c.1715–1779) — the great-grandson of Thomas Drayton Jr., who founded Magnolia Plantation in 1676. Although John […]