All the learning about composition, color, brushwork builds in an intuitive way. Sometimes you have to paint over something that you love — a beautiful color, passage, image — in order for the painting to continue to unfold. […]
A Painter’s Process
Category: Artists
Isamu Noguchi: Knowing the Ways of Nature
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. […]
Art in Context: Peter Paul Rubens’ Altarpiece, The Descent From the Cross
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. […]
Art in Context: Peter Paul Rubens’ Altarpiece, The Raising of the Cross
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! […]
Eye to I: Self Portraits from the National Portrait Gallery
The term “self-conscious” takes on a particular meaning in the era of social media, with millions of off-the-cuff selfies posted every day. The 60 indelible self-portraits in this exhibition show us that to paint or draw ones self-portrait requires self-consciousness of quite a different sort. […]
The Marvels of Vik Muniz
Conceptual artist-photographer Vik Muniz is intent on meaningful engagement. “Art is not something you can make yourself,” he says, “— you need a spectator, a viewer, an audience. It is a collaboration.” Therein lies the marvel of Vik Muniz’ work. […]
The Sacred Stained Glass of Louis Comfort Tiffany
Glittering exhibition focuses on the design and production of Tiffany’s ecclesiastical window commissions, and explores these works in the context of both the art and social history of the period. At the heart of the exhibition are eleven outstanding, religiously themed windows made between 1880 and 1925 that demonstrate the signature designs, working methods, techniques, and production styles of Tiffany and his workshops. […]
“Bill Viola: The Raft” speaks to the resilience of humanity.
Ordinary people overwhelmed with an unexpected calamity display a range of responses to the crisis in this highly-affective video installation. It is a powerful statement of the resilience of humanity. […]
Emil Hoppé: Photographs from the Ballets Russes
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, […]
The Art of Rube Goldberg
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 […]