Robert Smith
Robert Smith was an American artist who died in 1985. When I knew him, he already was an elderly man. He lived with his teenage son in Kettering, Ohio in…
How Art Became Irrelevant
Michael J. Lewis‘ long piece in Commentary titled, How Art Became Irrelevant, is a tour de force of cultural analysis. In his well-written and long article (did I mention it…
Museum Etiquette
For me, standing in front of a painting is like listening to a concert or attending a play. I try to meet the artist on his terms and I open…
Back home
We’re back home from a week-long vacation. Like all vacations, it was simultaneously relaxing and exhausting. I plan several posts about our virus-shadowed adventure through the south. Among other things,…
J. L. David’s Cupid and Psyche
Jacques-Louis David is one of my favorite artists. David’s reputation was cemented for me the first time I visited the Louvre. David made a career revitalizing well-known stories and allegories. From…
Mary Cassatt and the Feminine Ideal in 19th-Century Paris
Claude Monet maintained (I’m paraphrasing) that caricature was the soul of art. Not a surprising statement coming from a master caricaturist. I agree with Monet wholeheartedly. The exhibition at the…
Review: The Art of Slowing Down in a Museum
In her recent New York Times article, The Art of Slowing Down in a Museum, Stephanie Rosenbloom admonishes us to slow down when we visit museums. 20 minutes, she says, in front…
Thumbs-up: Neel, Thumbs-up (also): Pearlstein
By happenstance or cunning plan, The Cleveland Museum of Art has two large paintings hanging next to each other by artists of whom I am fond– Alice Neel and Philip…