Category: Art History
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The dog stays in the picture
In an Old Master narrative painting, is a dog ever more than “just a dog”? The ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes said dogs provide an honest bark of truth, and I think he may be onto something.
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The Tōkaidō Road through her eyes
We hear a lot about the men of the Tōkaidō Road. So I’m shifting the focus to the women in Hiroshige’s legendary woodblock prints—from tea house hostesses and traveling musicians to the ill-fated courtesans.
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Why isn’t Norman Lewis famous?
Abstract Expressionism, the first American art style to achieve global recognition, celebrates the limitlessness of creativity. But limitless for whom? How many Black abstract expressionists can you name?
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Matisse and that cursed armchair
French artist Henri Matisse suffered from anxiety, so he painted moments of repose in order to catch his breath before returning to the turmoils of daily life. Does this mean he isn’t a “serious enough” artist?
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Stuart Davis was hip to the jive
Can an abstract painter take the same passionate risks as a jazz soloist? Conversely, can a jazz ensemble translate the colors, lines, and layers of a Stuart Davis painting into live music? Let’s compare notes.
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Sheeler, Rivera, and the art of industry
Charles Sheeler and Diego Rivera immortalized Henry Ford’s revolutionary River Rouge Plant in their paintings and murals. Does their work exalt the efficiency of machines? Or warn us about living in a tech-driven society?
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Who cancelled Berthe Morisot?
Morisot’s brushwork was years ahead of its time, earning rare praise in a male-dominated era. Yet today, she remains the most overlooked of her colleagues. Impressionism’s first lady nearly vanished from art history—but why?
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George Bellows: Last stop, 59th Street
The lone tenement beneath the new Queensboro Bridge in New York looks strikingly out of place. Is it real? Or is it an architectural ghost, haunting the space where an East Side neighborhood used to be?