An Art History Oops: Bent Pyramid
The idea of an “architectural error” doesn’t usually come to mind when studying the art history of ancient Egypt with its magnificent pyramid tomb construction and huge pylon temples ...
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Curator's Corner
Art for National Peach Month 2024
August was first declared National Peach Month in the United States in 1982. Since August is the month when peaches are supposed to be at their peak ripeness, let’s look at some works of art tha ...
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Curator's Corner
Summer Is Waning: Georges Lepape
Once August is here, New Englanders are fond of saying, “well, summer’s almost over.” I prefer to resist that inclination, since summer always seems so short in Massachusetts anyway. ...
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Curator's Corner
August is National Dog Month: Maruyama Ōkyo
I recently learned that August is celebrated as National Dog Month. I’m all for a month dedicated to those loyal and darling fellow sentients! A well-known doggy treat maker announced the month- ...
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Curator's Corner
Gem of the Month: Pieter Aertsen
I have presented quite a few posts about still-life painting over the years because (1) I like doing still life paintings myself and (2) still life is one of the first types of painting lessons many y ...
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Curator's Corner
Summer Weather: Kanō Yôsen'in Korenobu
July usually brings some steamy weather days to summer in New England. I’m sure we all know what it’s like when it’s already hot and humid and then it rains, adding a further haze to ...
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Curator's Corner
Celebrating Rembrandt's Birthday
As one of the most remarkable talents of the Dutch Golden Age of painting, Rembrandt had the distinction of becoming a fantastically successful artist. Although his contemporaries raved about him, Rem ...
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Curator's Corner
June in a Painting: George Inness
One could call painter George Inness a “nature worshipper” because he was part of the Swedenborgian movement. One of the tenets of their faith was the fervent belief in seeing the supreme ...
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Curator's Corner
Emancipated Artist: Moses Williams
In honor of Juneteenth this week, I present an earlier experience of emancipation—that of artist Moses Williams. When he was 9 years old, Williams’s parents were emancipated. At the time, ...
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Curator's Corner
Gem of the Month: Kyoko Tokumaru
Kyoko Tokumaru is a brilliant sculptor who creates organic forms in ceramics, fashioning complex pieces out of hard-to-work-with porcelain. Like many contemporary clay sculptures, Tokumaru’s wor ...
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