An Epidemic Satirized in Art: Franz Dörbeck
With the current focus on the Ebola outbreak, let’s reflect on the many epidemics that caught the world’s attention in the 20th and 21st centuries: bird flu, SARS, swine flu, flesh-eating ...
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Curator's Corner
Design for Living with Flair: Christopher Dresser
William Morris (1834–1896, British) is not the only artist who can be associated with the Arts and Crafts Movement of the late 1800s. I uncovered this artist in our collection who, in many ways, ...
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Curator's Corner
A Roesen is Still a Roesen...
I’m a big fan of artists, especially American artists, who may not be household names like Homer, Peale, or Eakins, but who nonetheless had an impact on art during their careers. There is such a ...
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Curator's Corner
Head Vessels
Effigy (portrait, human head, or whole figure) ceramic art (usually male) has been featured in all sorts of wares since ancient times from throughout the world. In many instances it is associated prim ...
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Curator's Corner
Artists and Refugees: Lewis Hine
It often astounds me how little we learn from history (and by “we” I mean we human beings: any culture on this planet!). If you need reminding, I mention the massive immigrant/refugee cris ...
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Curator's Corner
Happy Fourth of July! Gilbert Stuart
I’m celebrating the 4th of July by showing you one of the many portraits Gilbert Stuart did of our first president, George Washington. I hate to be an overly sappy art historian, but one of my s ...
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Curator's Corner
Unsung Hero of American Modernist Art: Alfred Maurer
I have long been a big fan/advocate for the importance of the earliest American artists who sought to buck the European-inspired academic system of history painting and realism. This “bucking&rd ...
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Curator's Corner
Unsung Heroes: Dorothea Lange
There are many ways to be a hero. I by no means denigrate our men and women in the armed services, who have given their all recently in two wars (one of which should never have happened). But, there a ...
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Curator's Corner
Vikings: Gol Stave Church
I know there’s a popular cable show called Vikings. I’ve watched a few episodes, but, as an historian and art historian, I find it really doesn’t address many of the cultural co ...
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Curator's Corner
Japanese Porcelain Tradition: Shōmura Ken
Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but I’m absolutely bonkers about ceramic art, and particularly Japanese and Chinese. This piece especially garnered my attention because it combines re ...
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