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Curator's Corner

An April Birthday Boy: Antoine Vollon

Tuesday, April 23, 2019 | Karl Cole

Antoine Vollon, known primarily for his excellent still-life paintings, had a birthday on April 23rd. In the glory days of the annual academic Salon in Paris (1760s–1890s)—when the self-ap ...

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Curator's Corner

Deceiving the Eye: American Trompe-l'Oeil Realism

Wednesday, June 21, 2017 | Karl Cole

I’ve written before about the long-standing interest in extreme realism in American painting. Colonial American self-taught artists (“limners”) may not have been schooled in anatomy, ...

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Curator's Corner

Still Life and Our Culture of Abundance: John F. Francis

Monday, May 15, 2017 | Karl Cole

I got so excited the other night while watching Antiques Roadshow. A person brought two little still-life paintings from 1865, and I said to myself, “Oh, those look like John Francis’s wor ...

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Curator's Corner

Impressionist Armand Guillaumin

Tuesday, February 9, 2016 | Karl Cole

I very often come across an artist that I don’t know that much about and think “Wow! I really like this painter’s stuff!” Such was the case years ago when I first saw the gorge ...

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Curator's Corner

The Winter Sads Call for Art: Bartolomeo Cavarozzi

Thursday, February 4, 2016 | Karl Cole

Even though the weather hasn’t been that bad this winter in New England (yet), I still have a major case of the sads for warm weather. What we do to beat the sads is travel 40 minutes into Bosto ...

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Curator's Corner

African Realism: Yoruba

Monday, June 15, 2015 | Karl Cole

During the 1800s, when European invaders were exploiting the riches of the African continent, art historians were “astounded” at the richness and variety of African art. They had no knowle ...

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Curator's Corner

Survey No. 10: Ubiquitous Real

Monday, January 19, 2015 | Karl Cole

So far we have taken a look at Classicism and Romanticism around the world in the 1800s. Now let’s look at “realism,” which—like every other style—has been a trend somewh ...

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Curator's Corner

Americans Abroad: Charles Caryl Coleman

Monday, May 19, 2014 | Karl Cole

This offering is not so much about Americans abroad as it is for my admiration of any artist who can work in pastels. I’ve mentioned in a previous post how I always longed to become pr ...

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Curator's Corner

African American History Month 2014: Kermit Oliver

Monday, February 10, 2014 | Karl Cole

I’m always excited when I learn about a new artist! I’d never heard of Kermit Oliver, but discovered his story when we acquired an image of his work from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. ...

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Curator's Corner

Mexican Artists in America: Jose Francisco Xavier de Salazar y Mendoza

Monday, September 24, 2012 | Karl Cole

I’d like to point out in this blog post the contribution of Mexican artists to American art since long before many parts of the country were colonized as American states. The Spanish tried to lu ...

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Curator's Corner

Celebrating Back-to-School: Winslow Homer

Wednesday, August 29, 2012 | Karl Cole

My nieces and nephew return to school this week, and I thought we should celebrate with an image of school in American art. With a twist, of course. I’ve written about Winslow Homer before in th ...

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Curator's Corner

Edgar Degas Early Self-Portrait

Tuesday, May 8, 2012 | Karl Cole

As a painter myself, I find it fascinating to watch a famous painter’s progress from early to late work. In the case of Edgar Degas (1834–1917), I’m always over the top because he is ...

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Curator's Corner

Women's History Month 2012: Eva Gonzalès

Monday, March 12, 2012 | Karl Cole

Last week I featured a woman who was a member of the first generation of Japanese women admitted into art schools, the coveted guild of ceramic artists in particular. I featured a Japanese woman artis ...

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Curator's Corner

Women, Restriction, and Art History: Barbara Regina Dietzsch

Monday, August 29, 2011 | Karl Cole

I have previously mentioned in this blog my observation that even though women artists are not covered adequately in art history surveys, they nonetheless were an integral part of art history. I said ...

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Curator's Corner

The Anonymous Artist: J.T. Bowen

Tuesday, July 5, 2011 | Karl Cole

While accessioning the John James Audubon Quadruped series this week, something occurred to me that I never really considered before, call it my “Hmmm” moment of the week: In the hist ...

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Curator's Corner

African American History Month 2011: John Biggers

Monday, February 7, 2011 | Karl Cole

Let’s start off African American History month with one of my favorite artists, John Biggers. The theme for this month in SchoolArts is “Messages,” so let’s examine what Bigger ...

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Blogs

realism

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An April Birthday Boy: Antoine Vollon

Deceiving the Eye: American Trompe-l'Oeil Realism

Still Life and Our Culture of Abundance: John F. Francis

Impressionist Armand Guillaumin

The Winter Sads Call for Art: Bartolomeo Cavarozzi

African Realism: Yoruba

Survey No. 10: Ubiquitous Real

Americans Abroad: Charles Caryl Coleman

African American History Month 2014: Kermit Oliver

Mexican Artists in America: Jose Francisco Xavier de Salazar y Mendoza

Celebrating Back-to-School: Winslow Homer

Edgar Degas Early Self-Portrait

Women's History Month 2012: Eva Gonzalès

Women, Restriction, and Art History: Barbara Regina Dietzsch

The Anonymous Artist: J.T. Bowen

African American History Month 2011: John Biggers

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Always Stay in the Loop