Blogs

Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Conrad Marca-Relli

Thursday, June 5, 2025 | Karl Cole

Conrad Marca-Relli was part of the “first generation” of Abstract Expressionism, along with Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning. His artistic vision, however, was uniquely apart from eit ...

Curator's Corner

National Gardening Day: Arshile Gorky

Monday, April 14, 2025 | Karl Cole

In 1986, President Reagan established National Garden Week, which was first celebrated in 1987 from 12 through 16 April. In 2002 the National Gardening Association insisted that the entire month of Ap ...

Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Kenneth Noland

Thursday, April 10, 2025 | Karl Cole

Kenneth Noland was part of the Post Painterly Abstraction group of Color Field artists who sought to distance themselves from the gestural painting of Abstract Expressionism. His epiphany moment came, ...

Curator's Corner

Women's History Month: Janet Sobel

Monday, March 31, 2025 | Karl Cole

It is not often that we discover an artist whose work may have had a major impact on the direction of American art. But Janet Sobel is one such artist. You think Jackson Pollock (1912–1956) was ...

Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Barnett Newman

Wednesday, January 29, 2025 | Karl Cole

Barnett Newman’s earliest paintings share the organic/biomorphic abstract forms of Mark Rothko’s early works from the 1940s. By 1946, however, his forms began to be more abstract and shed ...

Curator's Corner

Jackson Pollock Month

Tuesday, January 21, 2025 | Karl Cole

The birthday of New York School painter Jackson Pollock (1912–1956) is January 28th, so I’m going to call January 2025 "Curator's Corner Jackson Pollock Month." I often feel that ...

Curator's Corner

Gem of the Month: Joan Mitchell

Monday, November 27, 2023 | Karl Cole

As a fiend for color in painting, it will come as no surprise that I absolutely worship the work of Abstract Expressionist painter Joan Mitchell. It’s very confusing to me—no, it’s i ...

Curator's Corner

An August Painting: Mark Tobey

Monday, August 14, 2023 | Karl Cole

I know we’re no longer on the “edge of August,” but this painting’s title gives me an excuse to showcase the work of one of the less-hyped New York School artists. Like many of ...

Curator's Corner

Saying Goodbye to World Watercolor Month 2023

Monday, July 31, 2023 | Karl Cole

Watercolor can be a very unforgiving medium—boy, don’t I know it! I started out studying for an MFA in painting using gouache and watercolor, but my professors suggested that what I was tr ...

Curator's Corner

Celebrating Juneteenth: Norman Lewis

Monday, June 19, 2023 | Karl Cole

In celebration of Juneteenth, or Freedom Day, let’s honor Harlem Renaissance (ca. 1920s–1930s) (and beyond) artist Norman Lewis, one of the earliest African American artists to embrace abs ...

Curator's Corner

Pride Month 2023: Ellsworth Kelly

Monday, June 5, 2023 | Karl Cole

Let’s celebrate the life of one of the pioneers of the Color Field movement in American modernism, Ellsworth Kelly, to mark the beginning of LGBT Pride Month. Kelly was one of the many gay artis ...

Curator's Corner

AAPI Heritage Month 2023: Walasse Ting

Monday, May 22, 2023 | Karl Cole

One of the great things about America is the fact that, since colonial times, awesome artists from all over the world have come here and made amazing contributions to American art history. As time has ...

Curator's Corner

Gems of the Month: Robert Motherwell's Lyric Suite

Monday, December 5, 2022 | Karl Cole

In order to beat the holiday rush, I think it’s a good time for some early presents in the form of gorgeous works of art. Unfortunately, I can’t gift the real artworks to you, but just see ...

Curator's Corner

Winter's Almost Here: Ruth Cyril

Monday, December 14, 2020 | Karl Cole

Winter is near. Although I’m often drawn to brilliant color palettes in landscapes, I find this winter example just as enticing to walk into. Remember the common wisdom established by Song ...

Curator's Corner

Autumn Color: Ellen Robbins and Hans Hofmann

Monday, October 26, 2020 | Karl Cole

The last few weeks have been wonderful for the array of reds, violets, maroons, yellows, and oranges contrasting with still-green trees in central Massachusetts. And if you think that doesn’t ge ...

Curator's Corner

Pride Month: Jasper Johns

Monday, June 8, 2020 | Karl Cole

To recognize and celebrate Pride Month, I am going to present LGBTQI+ artists who have made major contributions to my sanity during this dark period. Well, art history always does that, ...

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Abstract Expressionism

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Artist Birthday: Conrad Marca-Relli

National Gardening Day: Arshile Gorky

Artist Birthday: Kenneth Noland

Women's History Month: Janet Sobel

Artist Birthday: Barnett Newman

Jackson Pollock Month

Gem of the Month: Joan Mitchell

An August Painting: Mark Tobey

Saying Goodbye to World Watercolor Month 2023

Celebrating Juneteenth: Norman Lewis

Pride Month 2023: Ellsworth Kelly

AAPI Heritage Month 2023: Walasse Ting

Gems of the Month: Robert Motherwell's Lyric Suite

Winter's Almost Here: Ruth Cyril

Autumn Color: Ellen Robbins and Hans Hofmann

Pride Month: Jasper Johns

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