For people who lived (and died) in the 14th century — when the Great Plague (aka the Black Death, the Great Mortality) killed roughly half the world’s population — a truly horrible death was not hard to envision. It’s almost impossible for most of us, today, to understand the constant presence of death that was the reality of life for everyone until very recent times. […]
There is perhaps no more serene space in New York City than the Noguchi Museum and Garden in Queens. Profoundly influenced by Brancusi, Isamu Noguchi blended modernism and abstraction with Japanese traditions to create a powerful aesthetic of simplicity. […]
It is a testament to Rubens’ extraordinary skill that he could convey such tenderness and devotion without any hint of sentimentality. The Descent from the Cross shows the artist moving away from his exuberant Baroque compositions to a more Classical approach. […]
With this sensational painting, Rubens introduced the Baroque into Northern European art. In composition, iconography and size (15’ x 20’) it is resplendent with the artistic ideals of the Counter-Reformation. Imagine the effect this must have had when it was unveiled in 1610! […]
We see these saints in Medieval and Renaissance art, but can we fully grasp the profound meaning embedded in the works? Will today’s pandemic help us better comprehend the faith, the fear, and the hope that spawned these Patron Saints in art? […]
Take a quick 5-minute romp through Landscape Art history, covering 3500 years, from the Bronze Age to the modern age.
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The Morse is world-renowned for its comprehensive collection of works by the American artist and designer, Louis Comfort Tiffany, revealing that his creative talent and the output of his workshop soared well beyond jewel-like lamps and leaded glass windows. […]
A spectacular collection of Native American art is on long-term view at New York’s Metropolitan Museum. We couldn’t ask for more in an exhibition, for the purely aesthetic pleasure these objects give, for gaining a fuller understanding of their cultural significance, and for seeing indigenous art in the context of American art history. […]
The names of two men — both sons of considerable wealth, born in the 1870s, and both culturally- and creatively-inclined — were widely recognized in the early years of the 20th century. Their celebrity was well-deserved at the time — and deserves to live on. Sergei Diaghilev (1872 – 1929) was a Russian art critic, […]
Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg is not a name everyone would recognize. But drop half the letters and it becomes an adjective in the dictionary! Every English dictionary has a “Rube Goldberg” entry. Ours says, “ingeniously or unnecessarily complicated in design or construction.“ You know his name, you know his whacky contraption illustrations, you may even […]