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George Santayana’s famous maxim about those who forget history being doomed to repeat is, unfortunately, all too sad of a truism when it comes to architecture in this country. Among the greatest firms in the history of architecture, McKim, Mead, and White, built the sorts of structures that Americans at the turn of the previous century could justly be proud of when showing off … Read More Art News Roundup: History Repeating Edition
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Regular readers know that I have a love-hate relationship with museums. I love visiting both temporary exhibitions and permanent collections, in order to see the wealth of art that mankind has produced over the centuries, and thereby (hopefully) experience both pleasure and a greater sense of humility, as I recognize my own continual need for education. Part of the hate aspect, if that isn’t … Read More Art News Roundup: A Place for Everything Edition
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It’s not surprising that one of the most interesting subjects in art media, whether you follow it like I do or not, is the topic of art crime. Even someone with no particular interest in what’s going on in the art world will read an article or watch a report on the theft of a famous or valuable work of art, or the news … Read More Art News Roundup: Pursuing Perspective Edition
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It’s rather curious how some of the most short-lived of living things – flowers – can bring us a great deal of joy and fascination, and indeed hope, when things aren’t exactly hopeful all around us. Case in point, let’s consider one of Florentine Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli’s (1435-1510) most famous works, “Primavera” (“Spring”) (painted sometime around 1480), which currently hangs in the Uffizi … Read More Art News Roundup: Springing Eternal Edition
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For this week’s Art News Roundup, it’s time to settle in for a good wallow into some rather juicy new scandals from museum world, all of which seem to have hit the fan at about the same time. If you don’t have time to look into all of these stories, I want to at least encourage you to read this absolutely jaw-dropping report by … Read More Art News Roundup: Institutional Insanity Edition
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I had intended to do a regular post on Tuesday, Gentle Reader, but I was (happily) prevented from doing so by the arrival of my new niece. Everyone is doing well, so hopefully we can get back into the usual swing of things at this point. And to that end, one of the interesting things about studying art, and keeping up with what’s going … Read More Art News Roundup: Astrocat Edition
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We’re back to normal for a couple of more weeks, Gentle Reader, before radio silence temporarily resumes during the Christmas holidays due to my impending travels. In case you missed it, my latest for The Federalist was published yesterday, in which I reviewed a new exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. “Private Lives, Public Spaces” examines the advent of home … Read More Art News Roundup: Traveling About Edition
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Readers will recall the rather stunning news I reported on a month ago, that “The Mocking of Christ”, an extremely rare panel painting by the proto-Renaissance Florentine painter Cimabue (c. 1240-1302) had been found hanging in the kitchen of a somewhat humble apartment in France. The small picture, which was once part of a larger altarpiece, was auctioned in suburban Paris this past Sunday, … Read More What Price, Cimabue?
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On these virtual pages I often share news and views with you about art, from exhibitions and sales to new discoveries and concepts. Yet even though I sometimes touch on aspects of a work’s provenance, i.e., the ownership history of a piece, it’s an area that I’d like to explore at greater length. So, I’m interested in learning whether you’d be interesting in coming … Read More Botticelli Backstory: Exploring A Picture’s Provenance
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If you’ve not seen the story already – and it both pleases and amuses me greatly that a number of my readers immediately contacted me about it when the story broke – an extremely rare painting by one of the most important figures in art history was recently discovered hanging in a French kitchen. Cimabue (c. 1240-1302) was a Florentine artist who could be … Read More Art News Roundup: Kitchen Cimabue Edition
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Earlier this week, I shared some thoughts about a significant New York Times investigation into the alleged failures of French authorities to adequately address public health and safety concerns during and in the aftermath of the devastating fire at the Cathedral-Basilica of Notre Dame de Paris. Yet despite the negative stories arising from that tragedy, there are also positive tales to tell. Among them is … Read More Art News Roundup: By the Numbers Edition
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My latest for The Federalist is out today, reviewing the new exhibition “Verrocchio: Sculptor and Painter of Renaissance Florence”, which opens at the National Gallery of Art here in the Nation’s Capital this coming Sunday. I had the privilege of attending the press preview of the show on Tuesday, and want to encourage those of my readers who find themselves in DC during the … Read More Art News Roundup: Viewing Verrocchio Edition
