Humor in Art Since the 1500s
Now that winter has set in with a vengeance, I think it is the perfect time to look at some art that can elicit a smile. ...
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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
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
Auspicious Friend for the New Year: Kanō Isen'in Naganobu
Pine trees are one of the three “auspicious friends”—plants (along with bamboo and plum blossom) that help welcome the New Year in Japan. Pines are auspicious because they survive an ...
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Curator's Corner
Women's (Art) History Month: Sarah Wyman Whitman, Sabina Elliott Wells, Seikō Okuhara
Women’s (Art) History Month continues with tributes to three more interesting artists I have encountered in my art historical travels. ...
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Curator's Corner
Gem of the Month: Tokuyama Gyokuran
A nice way to spend a summer day: imagining yourself wandering in this landscape by my Gem of the Month, Tokuyama Gyokuran. (As a side note, Chinese scholars considered a painting successful if it inv ...
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Curator's Corner
Simplicity: Sakai Hōitsu
The first week of August is called National Simplify Your Life Week. What says “simplicity” more than a series of paintings inspired by the Zen Buddhist philosophy of finding Enlightenment ...
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Curator's Corner
Pioneer Japanese Woman Artist: Kiyohara Yukinobu
Every year when March rolls around, I start to yearn for spring. What better way to celebrate that yearning than by presenting an artwork with spring as the subject matter? ...
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