Curator's Corner

Curator's Corner

This day in History: Premier of "The Beggar's Opera" (1728)

Thursday, January 29, 2026 | Karl Cole

The Beggar's Opera is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay (1685-1732)  with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch (1667-1752). It is the only example of the once thrivin ...

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Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Alice Neel

Wednesday, January 28, 2026 | Karl Cole

Alice Neel was a great American portraitist. Her portraits were insightfully realistic, although not to the point of Photorealism, for her works tended to emphasize rich color. The most enduring aspec ...

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Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Georges Mathieu (1921-2012 France)

Tuesday, January 27, 2026 | Karl Cole

After producing paintings that were copies of postcard views, Georges Mathieu went through what he called his "limbo" period (1944-1946), a time when he developed a completely personal new p ...

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Curator's Corner

Who Knew? Healthcare can be Art Subject Matter

Monday, January 26, 2026 | Karl Cole

Healthcare, medicine costs, insurance, etc. have been a hot topic for a long time, and a lot of the problems have consistently not changed for the better. Another thing about healthcare that has not c ...

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Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Édouard Manet

Friday, January 23, 2026 | Karl Cole

Although his realist paintings never approached the point of pure Impressionism, Manet’s work was a great influence on the burgeoning Impressionist artists. He definitely experimented with the e ...

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Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Catherine Murphy (born 1946 US)

Thursday, January 22, 2026 | Karl Cole

Catherine Murphy follows the  cherished American artistic tradition of carefully observed realism in her fabulous, Photorealist paintings. Her aesthetic also transcends countries and time periods ...

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Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Esteban Vicente (1903-2001 US, born Spain)

Wednesday, January 21, 2026 | Karl Cole

Esteban Vicente was part of the vibrant Abstract Expressionism scene in American art after World War II (1939-1945). His work reflects the type of biomorphic abstraction influenced by Surrealism seen ...

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Curator's Corner

More Winter White: Keisai Eisen (1790-1848 Japan)

Tuesday, January 20, 2026 | Karl Cole

I continue to celebrate winter, my second favorite season after autumn, with yet another snow scene. Eisen Keisai is typical of the artists of the classic Ukiyo-e period (late 1700s to early 1800s), i ...

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Curator's Corner

National Hat Day: Art by Tom Price

Thursday, January 15, 2026 | Karl Cole

Since at least 1983, schools, libraries, and museums have observed National Hat Day. People are invited to wear their favorite type of hat. The date also commemorates the day in 1797 when the first to ...

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Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Burgoyne Diller

Tuesday, January 13, 2026 | Karl Cole

Burgoyne Diller was a true pioneer in American abstraction. During the period when Abstraction Expressionism dominated American modernism, Diller quietly pursued geometric abstraction that was inf ...

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