Édouard Manet, Olympia, 1863, oil on canvas, 51.4” x 74.8”, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, Photo by Gautier Poupeau, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
In 1865, at the Salon in Paris, the official exhibition space for the art academy, there were many, many paintings of nude women, so why did this one by Édouard Manet cause such an uproar? The public hated this painting! … Continue reading
Head of a Persian Guard from Persepolis, Iran, c. 486-465 CE, limestone, 21.26" x 24.41" x 4.72", Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
Bas-relief (noun) A sculpture in which the figures project only slightly from the background. A Persian bas-relief dating from the first century CE, that looks very similar to the one shown above, is among the most recent art heists. The … Continue reading
Gerrit Rietveld, Schröder House, Utrecht, Holland, 1924, Photo by HB, Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution License.
In 1917, Gerrit Rietveld joined Piet Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg to form De Stijl, a utopian art movement. For these artists, the goal of art was perfect balance and harmony and the means was abstraction. They wanted to create … Continue reading
Giotto di Bondone, Crucifixion, 1305-6, fresco, Arena Chapel, Padua, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
Whenever I teach the Introduction to the Visual Arts (or Art History 101), I always begin by making one point very clear: art does not exist in a vacuum. We can always learn something about the artist or the culture … Continue reading
Ansel Adams, Monolith, The Face of Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California c. 1927, gelatin silver photograph, 8” x 6”, Photo by Cea, Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution License.
Ansel Adams’ remarkably clear and detailed photographs of the majestic American landscape are immediately recognizable to most people. Part of their power derives from their precision, which contributes to the awe-inspiring character and beauty of his work. The precision also … Continue reading
Limbourg Brothers, "The Procession of the Flagellants" from the Belles Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry, c. 1405-1408/9, ink, tempera, and gold leaf on vellum, 9⅜" x 6⅝”, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
Book of Hours (noun) A book used for private prayer, popular from the tenth through the sixteenth century in Europe, that has devotions to the Virgin Mary that are performed at specific hours of the day. These books were bestsellers … Continue reading
Mark Rothko, No. 46 (Black, Ochre, Red Over Red), 1957, oil on canvas, 8’ 3¼” x 6’ 9¾”, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Photo by rocor Flickr.
Very few works of art grab viewers on a gut level the way Mark Rothko’s paintings do. There isn’t anything quite like the experience of standing in front of a Rothko painting and feeling just what the artist intended you … Continue reading
Photo from the "Art of Video Games" exhibition at the Smithsonian, Photo by blakespot, Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution License.
Are video game graphics “art” in any sense of the word? Yes, indeed they are, and it’s high time someone put together an exhibition dedicated to the subject. Last week, the Smithsonian American Art Museum proudly opened its doors to … Continue reading
The Dome of the Rock, 688 and later, Jerusalem, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
The focus of the Haram al-Sharif, or the Temple Mount, a religious sanctuary in Old Jerusalem that is sacred to Jews, Muslims, and Christians, is the Dome of the Rock. Built from 688-691 BCE by Caliph Abd al-Malik, it is … Continue reading
Joseph Cornell, Taglioni's Jewel Casket, 1940, wood box with velvet, glass cubes, blue glass, and glass jewlry, ¾” x 11⅞” x 8¼”, Museum of Modern Art, New York, Photo by istolethetv - Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution license.
Assemblage (noun) A work of art, either two-dimensional or three-dimensional, created with found objects. Joseph Cornell made assemblage sculptures that normally were boxes in which he arranged photographs and bric-à-brac to create new ideas with them. His Taglioni’s Jewel Casket … Continue reading
Frans Hals, Officers of the St. George Civic Guard of Haarlem, 1627, oil on canvas, 70½” x 101½”, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
It’s spring break in Texas and thousands of university students will flock to places like South Padre Island and Ft. Lauderdale with a keg in the back of the car and a keen appetite for a good time, but these … Continue reading
Thomas Hart Benton, The Ballad of the Jealous Lover of Lone Green Valley, 1934, oil and tempera on canvas, 41.3
Regionalism (noun) A school of American artists who focused upon specific regions of the United States in an effort to celebrate ordinary Americans and their regional culture. In his painting The Ballad of the Jealous Lover of Lone Green Valley, … Continue reading