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 […]
Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987), magnified popular American culture in his art, and in so doing he himself became a paradigm of popular culture. “His pop sensibility embraced an anything-can-be-art approach, appropriating images, ideas and even innovation itself,” according to curatorial signage at Andy Warhol Portfolios: A Life in Pop. This exhibition, on through September 8th, […]
At the angle of New York Ave. and H St. NW in Washington DC stands a 1908 landmark that was built as a Masonic Temple. In that capacity, women were not permitted to enter the building. Today, that same building is all about women — although men are more than welcome! Refurbished in accordance with the […]
Ima Hogg, despite her unfortunate name, stands among the greatest patrons of American art. Her philanthropic legacy is broad and varied, but Bayou Bay — her home, gardens, and American decorative arts collection — is perhaps the most tangible. […]
With a wink to Gene Autry and Tex Ritter who lauded the Lone Star state with the song, Deep in the Heart of Texas, I’m singing the praises of the Menil Collection, deep in the heart of Houston. In an idyllic tree-shaded art neighborhood covering 30 urban acres, the Menil campus includes five museum buildings, […]
Not unlike Grandma’s curio cabinet, a 16th- and 17th-century ‘cabinet of curiosity” was filled with a collector’s treasures. Although a small collection might have been laid out in a drawer, or arrayed on shelves, the term cabinet originally was defined as a room rather than a piece of furniture (think water closet and the Italian equivalent, gabinetto). It […]
Jules Andre Smith’s experimental artist’s colony is an aesthetic masterpiece, created over 22 years by his singular artistic vision. Now the Maitland Art Center, and one of the only remaining examples “Mayan Revival” fantasy architecture in the Southeastern U.S. Smith’s compound is must-see National Historic Landmark. […]
From the Renaissance through the mid-19th century, Western artists applied the logic of perspective in their work and were judged by their skill in reproducing reality. But fundamental changes in technology, science and philosophy were occurring by the end of the 19th century, inducing a series of new aesthetic movements. Some were longer-lived than others. […]
Nestled by a Central Florida lake, under magnificent ancient oaks draped with Spanish moss, is a charming small art museum whose appeal lies in the variety of genres and time periods in the art it exhibits. […]