Caught cold in San Antonio
Whether it was the two flights to San Antonio, the graduation ceremony in the cold rain, or the two flights home, somewhere I caught a brutal cold. Ten days of coughing, sore throat, and runny…
Category: aesthetics
Art lovers–bah!
I am not an art lover. I have no patience for those who wax elegant about art. Those who speak reverently on art as the new religion set my teeth on edge. For me, art…
Tissot etchings at Cleveland
I think James Tissot (1836–1902) is a much better artist than I once believed. I had lumped him with Sargent and other late-19th-century artists who I consider superficial and fashionable. He's much better than Sargent.…
Do not be an art appreciator
When I hear someone say, "I appreciate art," I cringe. The speaker means, "I understand that this boring subject is somehow important to you," or, "I see how much effort you put into this pointless…
Turn toward realism?
Realism is becoming popular once again in painting studios. This development is welcome but it's also sobering. Looking at the growing number of realists demonstrates how much has been lost. Much of it is Impressionism-adjacent…
Good art books: David to Delacroix, The Rise of Romantic Mythology
Dorothy Johnson has written several books related to David and the Neoclassicists. David to Delacroix: The Rise of Romantic Mythology is probably her best work. I think about this little book a lot. Even though…
Death of history painting
At the end of the eighteenth century, art flowed along several currents. History painting, the primary current, was in its heyday and remained the undisputed champion until 'history' intruded into contemporary events with the French…
Castles in the air
I knew a writer who wanted to transition from the technical documents that he wrote to pay his bills to fiction. His vision inspired a whole universe; not one novel but a series. He spent…