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Curator's Corner

Saturated Autumn Color: Meiji Period

Tuesday, November 4, 2014 | Karl Cole

I know I showed a Japanese artist’s work last week, but I got so excited when I came across this woodcut print that I just had to share it with you. It’s a perfect example of saturation&nb ...

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Curator's Corner

Layered Magnificence: Miyashita Zenji

Tuesday, October 28, 2014 | Karl Cole

I am eternally grateful for the ability to be “wowed” on a continual basis when I see works of art/artists I’ve never seen before! This may just be the art historian nerd in me, but ...

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Curator's Corner

A Luxury Item: Robert Horner

Monday, October 20, 2014 | Karl Cole

I don’t know about you, but when I write (a letter, or anything else), I like to spread my arms out on a table or drawing board. I guess I’m just not one for luxurious living. But this lit ...

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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 ...

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Curator's Corner

Another American Original: Orson Fowler

Monday, October 6, 2014 | Karl Cole

I’m always eager to show you examples of true American artistic originality! One such form in architecture is the octagonal house. During a period in architecture that was completely dominated b ...

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Curator's Corner

Cross-Cultural Connections: Gandharan Style

Monday, September 29, 2014 | Karl Cole

It’s amazing to me how connected the cultures of the world are. One can no longer separate east and west when we see the art of northern India/Pakistan during the early years of Buddhist art. Bu ...

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Curator's Corner

Drawing: Ruth Henshaw Bascom

Monday, September 15, 2014 | Karl Cole

I’m showing you Ruth Henshaw Bascom’s work as a celebration of the new show in the Davis Art Gallery, Drawing: The Art of Making Marks. Drawing was not really considered a “fine ...

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Curator's Corner

Spiritual Color: Sister Gertrude Morgan

Monday, September 8, 2014 | Karl Cole

The persistence of types of artworks through the centuries always fascinates me. While materials may vary, the artwork still serves the same purpose. Before air conditioning, I’m sure fans were ...

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Curator's Corner

An Epidemic Satirized in Art: Franz Dörbeck

Monday, August 25, 2014 | Karl Cole

With the current focus on the Ebola outbreak, let’s reflect on the many epidemics that caught the world’s attention in the 20th and 21st centuries: bird flu, SARS, swine flu, flesh-eating ...

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Curator's Corner

Design for Living with Flair: Christopher Dresser

Monday, August 11, 2014 | Karl Cole

William Morris (1834–1896, British) is not the only artist who can be associated with the Arts and Crafts Movement of the late 1800s. I uncovered this artist in our collection who, in many ways, ...

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Curator's Corner

A Roesen is Still a Roesen...

Monday, August 4, 2014 | Karl Cole

I’m a big fan of artists, especially American artists, who may not be household names like Homer, Peale, or Eakins, but who nonetheless had an impact on art during their careers. There is such a ...

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Curator's Corner

Head Vessels

Monday, July 21, 2014 | Karl Cole

Effigy (portrait, human head, or whole figure) ceramic art (usually male) has been featured in all sorts of wares since ancient times from throughout the world. In many instances it is associated prim ...

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Curator's Corner

Artists and Refugees: Lewis Hine

Monday, July 14, 2014 | Karl Cole

It often astounds me how little we learn from history (and by “we” I mean we human beings: any culture on this planet!). If you need reminding, I mention the massive immigrant/refugee cris ...

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Curator's Corner

Happy Fourth of July! Gilbert Stuart

Monday, July 7, 2014 | Karl Cole

I’m celebrating the 4th of July by showing you one of the many portraits Gilbert Stuart did of our first president, George Washington. I hate to be an overly sappy art historian, but one of my s ...

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Curator's Corner

Unsung Hero of American Modernist Art: Alfred Maurer

Monday, June 30, 2014 | Karl Cole

I have long been a big fan/advocate for the importance of the earliest American artists who sought to buck the European-inspired academic system of history painting and realism. This “bucking&rd ...

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Curator's Corner

Unsung Heroes: Dorothea Lange

Monday, June 23, 2014 | Karl Cole

There are many ways to be a hero. I by no means denigrate our men and women in the armed services, who have given their all recently in two wars (one of which should never have happened). But, there a ...

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