Cincinnati fail
When I graduated high school, I didn't have the moral courage to go to New York, which is what I wanted to do. Instead, a friend and I applied to the Cincinnati Art Academy. She…
Category: Art history
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.…
YouTube art instruction
If you are looking for art instruction videos, YouTube is loaded with them. That's the good news--videos for every taste and interest. The bad news is that the quality is--to put it charitably--spotty. You get…
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…
Amusement park series
I visited Lake Erie's preeminent amusement park, Cedar Point, five times this summer. I am using the thousands of photos that I took from these visits as reference material for my new series--Amusement Parks. I…
Next YouTube video, Jacob van Ruisdael
I enjoyed preparing my last video so much, I am charged-up to do another. In my last video about Jan van Goyen, I mentioned his fellow Dutch Golden Ager, van Ruisdael. I've got a lot…