Gem of the Month: ShirÅ Kasamatsu
Ukiyo-e was a woodblock print aesthetic that was popular from the late 1600s to the mid 1800s. The genre developed a visual vocabulary that documented the entertainments of Japanese urban centers, par ...
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Curator's Corner
AAPI Heritage Month 2023: Walasse Ting
One of the great things about America is the fact that, since colonial times, awesome artists from all over the world have come here and made amazing contributions to American art history. As time has ...
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Curator's Corner
Romance Awareness Month: Egypt, Rene Magritte, Mughal Period
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 ...
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Curator's Corner
Cool Off with Cool Colors: Asano Takeji
July can be moderately hot in Massachusetts, but I understand some regions of the world are having the hottest July ever recorded (probably due to climate change). So, if it’s hot by you, just s ...
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Curator's Corner
Let It Snow in Ukiyo-e Prints
We have had several snowfalls in the past couple of weeks. On Presidents’ Day I found myself staring at a snow-laden tree across the street and thinking, that looks like a Japanese woodcut of a ...
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Curator's Corner
Put on Your SPF 100 Sunblock: Alex Katz
Alex Katz’s birthday is today, the 24th of July. Happy Birthday to this extraordinary artist! I’ve come to be a great admirer of his work, and find it unfortunate that he is sometimes ...
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Curator's Corner
Sumidagawa in July: Japanese Woodcuts
The actual festival of Sumidagawa (“Sumida River”) occurs in Tokyo in the last week of August, but there are fireworks in Tokyo from May through August, starting with the Opening of the Su ...
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Curator's Corner
World Watercolor Month
July is World Watercolor Month. I’m always happy to celebrate a medium in which I am really not terribly good. I have a feeling it’s because I’m an impatient Virgo who can’t st ...
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Curator's Corner
A Look at Rainy May Days in Shin Hanga and Sosaku Hanga Prints
Most of May’s weather has been pretty cold and rainy so far, so I thought I’d look at art (which I do every day anyway) to take my mind off of it. Of course, a title including “May R ...
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Curator's Corner
The Anonymous Artist: J.T. Bowen
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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