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Curator's Corner

An Art History Oops: Bent Pyramid

Monday, August 26, 2024 | Karl Cole

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 ...

Curator's Corner

Valentine's Day 2023: Akhenaten and Nefertiti

Monday, February 13, 2023 | Karl Cole

Because I’m a sentimental sap, this post is going to celebrate Valentine’s Day (with works of art, naturally). Presenting 2023’s Valentine’s Day couple in art: Akhenaten and Ne ...

Curator's Corner

A Visual Tribute to Labor Day Week 2022

Monday, September 5, 2022 | Karl Cole

Aside from the myth of Sunday as a “day of rest” in the West, it’s interesting to me that there is only one day a year that celebrates “labor” in the U.S. The movement to ...

Curator's Corner

Romance Awareness Month: Egypt, Rene Magritte, Mughal Period

Monday, August 23, 2021 | Karl Cole

As is obvious from art even from the distant ancient world, the ideas of romance, affection, and love were not inventions of modern humans. And there are many ideas through art history about how to de ...

Curator's Corner

How Art Looks at Age

Monday, August 9, 2021 | Karl Cole

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 ...

Curator's Corner

The Headgear of Ancient Egypt

Monday, November 9, 2020 | Karl Cole

Since I was a child art historian (there is such a thing), I have been fascinated by the art and culture of ancient Egypt. Aside from the amazing continuity of almost 3000 years in their canonized art ...

Curator's Corner

What Was Happening in the 20s?

Monday, January 6, 2020 | Karl Cole

As a celebration of the new year, let’s look back at what was happening in the ‘20s of centuries past. ...

Curator's Corner

Ancient Egypt Find

Monday, May 13, 2019 | Karl Cole

Because of the recent news about an exciting archeological find in Giza, I decided to show some stunning portraits from ancient Egypt. ...

Curator's Corner

Endlessly Engaging (Ancient) Egypt

Monday, December 7, 2015 | Karl Cole

Naturally occurring pattern always fascinates me, especially when there’s a good art history story behind it. I present you with three ancient Egyptian vessels, all with different, random patter ...

Curator's Corner

Utilitarian Object or Sculpture?

Friday, November 13, 2015 | Karl Cole

First of all, let me clarify the use of “utilitarian” or “decorative arts.” These are unfortunately terms art historians are stuck with from the 1800s art history gods in Weste ...

Curator's Corner

Stories of Ruler Portraits

Monday, October 19, 2015 | Karl Cole

Since (ugh) election time coming around once again, let’s look at some interesting portraits of people who were never elected (except for the last one). There are always interesting tidbits abou ...

Curator's Corner

Survey No. 12: Abstraction

Monday, February 2, 2015 | Karl Cole

In our art history survey, we are now at the end with the 1900s. The big “revelation” in Western art starting very late in the 1800s and flowering in the early 1900s was abstraction. Abstr ...

Curator's Corner

Hierarchical Size

Tuesday, October 14, 2014 | Karl Cole

Hierarchy is the level of importance allotted to an object, or, for the sake of this posting, a person. Hierarchical size deals with the principle of design known as proportion. Proportion has to do w ...

Curator's Corner

Holy Cats!

Monday, October 14, 2013 | Karl Cole

I’m always interested in how important of a role domesticated animals have played in the history of art, particularly in the sphere of funerary art. They almost always take on a protective or st ...

Curator's Corner

Cross-Cultural Similarities: Cambodia

Tuesday, October 30, 2012 | Karl Cole

I am really not convinced that aliens came to Earth in ancient times and seeded cultures with the same aesthetic ideas, despite programs on NatGeo or TLC that still propose such scenarios, comparing t ...

Curator's Corner

What's Old is New: Badarian Ceramics

Monday, July 11, 2011 | Karl Cole

I don’t usually go Gaga over ceramics (well, wait, yes I do!), but when we added this image to our collection I had a “never knew that” moment. Most art history texts cover the ancie ...

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An Art History Oops: Bent Pyramid

Valentine's Day 2023: Akhenaten and Nefertiti

A Visual Tribute to Labor Day Week 2022

Romance Awareness Month: Egypt, Rene Magritte, Mughal Period

How Art Looks at Age

The Headgear of Ancient Egypt

What Was Happening in the 20s?

Ancient Egypt Find

Endlessly Engaging (Ancient) Egypt

Utilitarian Object or Sculpture?

Stories of Ruler Portraits

Survey No. 12: Abstraction

Hierarchical Size

Holy Cats!

Cross-Cultural Similarities: Cambodia

What's Old is New: Badarian Ceramics

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