21st Century Calligraphy: Son Man-jin
Since my post on the first of June, I seem to be on a tear about updating tradition. Did you ever get the feeling when you’re working on your own art that there is nothing that hasn’t been ...
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Curator's Corner
Fancy Paint Box: Josiah Wedgwood
I always look for artistic beauty in everyday objects, and I have shown you many that really caught my eye. But this piece has got to be the high point of this concept. Actually, this Wedgwood piece a ...
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Curator's Corner
What's Old is New Again: Barbara Ess
One of my greatest treats is to show you art that is a little bit of a surprise, whether it be subject matter, style, period, whatever. It tickles my art history bone to be able to show you works of a ...
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Curator's Corner
SÅsaku Hanga: Keiko Minami
It never fails to amaze me how certain “facts” in the history of art are true no matter what culture we examine. Fact: up until the early 1900s, certain art forms, subject matter, and styl ...
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Curator's Corner
Tradition Meets Contemporary: Emmi Whitehorse
Art history geeks like me often like to ponder some of the conundrums of art history as pertaining to cross-cultural phenomena. The United States effectively quashed Native American cultures during th ...
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Curator's Corner
Another Vanishing Tradition? Nigerian Wax-resist Textiles
What do we in the West think of when the word “African art” is mentioned? masks? ancestor figures? In most African cultures, textile arts are considered THE finest of the fine arts. ...
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Curator's Corner
Japanese Art Nouveau Postcard
As long as I talked about Japanese art last week, I might as well stay in Japan after coming across this gem in our digital collection. Years ago someone talked about the earth being a global village. ...
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Curator's Corner
A Fabulous Carrying Box: Ogata Korin
I came across this gorgeous little item in our collection the other day, and, once again, I must emphasize how I detest the art form term “decorative arts” (though not quite as badly as I ...
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Curator's Corner
Picturesque Eldercare: John Nash
I present to you yet another example that disproves the conventional wisdom that “one can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” I had another one of my “eureka!” moments this w ...
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Curator's Corner
Celebrate Spring with Art: Fidelia Bridges
Now that spring is busting out all over (finally), I thought we’d celebrate it with this gorgeous little piece from the Brooklyn Museum. It’s one of my favorites in my little mental art mu ...
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