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
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
International Dance Day 2024
I cannot think of a more joyous April sendoff than art that features dancing in celebration of International Dance Day. The International Theater Institute began International Dance Day on April 29, 1 ...
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Curator's Corner
How Art Looks at Age
Having made my weekly visit to my dear friend Alice in a senior residence—where she was committed by a state conservator—I began thinking about how society perceives older (and I refuse to ...
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Curator's Corner
Another Art History Myth Busted: Northern Renaissance
I’m sure you are all familiar with the refrain we hear in art history books about the differences between the Renaissance in Northern Europe and Italy. Well, to put it mildly, the idea that the ...
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Curator's Corner
Early Renaissance Sculpture
Just this week, I became reacquainted with this BEAUTIFUL head from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, probably from Flanders/Burgundy. Being half-Swiss I naturally gravitated in college to the study of t ...
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Curator's Corner
An Ode to "Swiss"
I just returned from a week in Switzerland to visit family. Walking through their churches—stripped of all sculpture, painting, and Biblical stained glass because of the Reformation’s frow ...
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Curator's Corner
The Brueghel (Bruegel) Family
Having ancestry in northern Europe (Switzerland), I naturally gravitated toward Northern Renaissance art in college. I’m particularly fond of Flemish artists, because they reflect a similar unva ...
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Curator's Corner
National Book Month: Basil Besler
Rounding out our “national something month” is National Book Month. You can probably imagine that I would not feature just a run-of-the-mill book for this blog. I choose instead one of the ...
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Curator's Corner
New Acquisitions: Treasured Renaissance Book
I’ve really admired the work of manuscript illuminators since I went to the Newbury Library at the University of Chicago while in grad school. I got to actually hold some of these precious works ...
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