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Curator's Corner

March 2026 is Women's History Month

Monday, March 2, 2026 | Karl Cole

I have always maintained that there is no period in history anywhere in the world when women artists did not play a significant role in the world’s cultures. Up until about fifty years ago, howe ...

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Curator's Corner

This Day in Art History: Earliest photographic process introduced

Friday, January 9, 2026 | Karl Cole

On 9 January, 1839, Louis Daguerre (1787-1851 France) introduced his groundbreaking daguerreotype photographic process to the French Academy of Sciences. In early 1838 he had used the process to photo ...

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Curator's Corner

Art for National Fig Week: Luis Meléndez

Monday, November 3, 2025 | Karl Cole

November 1-7 is National Fig Week, and we celebrate with Baroque art! Just as very different painting styles co-existed in late Baroque France – the Rococo which catered to the nobility, and ...

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Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Frank Duveneck

Thursday, October 9, 2025 | Karl Cole

At the same time Impressionism was developing in France, a parallel movement was blossoming among American ex-patriate artists in Germany and Italy. Frank Duveneck was a pioneer in this style call ...

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Curator's Corner

National Oyster Day: Osias Beert, the Elder

Tuesday, August 5, 2025 | Karl Cole

Art historians consider Osias Beert possibly the first significant Baroque Flemish still life painter. The still life medium was just catching on in popularity during his period of activity, ...

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Curator's Corner

World Watercolor Month: Donald Holden

Friday, July 11, 2025 | Karl Cole

World Watercolor Month began in 2016 as a way to honor the watercolor artists from all over the world. The art of Donald Holden is truly a fitting tribute to this artform, which in many ways can be ve ...

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Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Juan Sánchez Cotán

Wednesday, June 25, 2025 | Karl Cole

Juan Sánchez Cotán was a Spanish Baroque painter who helped popularize the still life genre in Spanish Baroque painting. Spanish Renaissance and Baroque art were greatly influenced by th ...

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Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Ferdinand Bol

Tuesday, June 24, 2025 | Karl Cole

Ferdinand Bol was one of the outstanding history, portrait and still life painters to emerge from the studio of Rembrandt (1606–1669). In addition, he carried on the excellent development of the ...

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Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Jimmy Ernst

Friday, June 20, 2025 | Karl Cole

Jimmy Ernst was the son of pioneering German Surrealist artist Max Ernst. In the late 1940s he emerged as a major force in American Abstract Expressionism. ...

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Curator's Corner

National Cheese Day: Clara Peeters

Wednesday, June 4, 2025 | Karl Cole

Although little is known about her upbringing or training, Peeters was one of a growing number of women artists who were widely acclaimed as professional artists. She was also a pioneer in the relativ ...

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Curator's Corner

Jewish American Heritage Month: Gandy Brodie

Monday, May 12, 2025 | Karl Cole

Jewish American Heritage Month is celebrated in May to recognize and honor the contributions of Jewish Americans to the United States. It's a time to celebrate the diverse experiences and rich history ...

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Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Elizabeth Catlett

Tuesday, April 15, 2025 | Karl Cole

Elizabeth Catlett’s body of work as an artist was predominantly intended to connect with and honor achievements of African Americans, particularly women. Her works about women such as this army ...

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Curator's Corner

African American History Month 2014: Kermit Oliver

Monday, February 10, 2014 | Karl Cole

I’m always excited when I learn about a new artist! I’d never heard of Kermit Oliver, but discovered his story when we acquired an image of his work from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. ...

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Curator's Corner

African American History Month 2013: Edward Mitchell Bannister

Monday, February 11, 2013 | Karl Cole

In art history, generally, we tend to regard African American art as having its first significant period during the Harlem Renaissance (ca. 1918–1935). Like many periods in art history—jus ...

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Curator's Corner

Happy New Year with Mary Petty

Wednesday, January 2, 2013 | Karl Cole

Between the 1700s and early 1900s, women artists were not standouts in public exhibitions of art. They were, however, always front and center in painting miniatures, genre scenes, portraits, and illus ...

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