Sweet Treats: Desserts & The Arts
Food is culture. It’s one of the most readily accessible, tangible expressions of identity that most of us experience. Understanding the food of a culture, a country, or a region is a crucial step in grasping the climate, religion, values, … More…
Activists Install Anish Kapoor Work On Offshore Oil Rig
Anish Kapoor, one of the most famous and influential living artists in the world today, has once again demonstrated the power of art in activism. While last week people used his sculpture Cloud Gate (also known as The Bean) to … More…
Painting Of The Week: Métro George V, Champs-Élysées by Edouard Cortés
The Arc de Triomphe was a particularly common subject for Edouard Cortés. The square where the arch sits, the Place de l’Étoile (now the Place Charles de Gaulle), is the convergence of twelve different avenues, including the Avenue de Friedland, … More…
Let The Man Out Of Chicago’s Bean
Anish Kapoor’s sculpture Cloud Gate, popularly known as The Bean, has been the subject of many satirical works and conspiracy theories ever since it was erected in Chicago’s Millennium Park in 2006. One theory, however, gained popularity this past week … More…
London’s National Gallery To Form Citizens’ Panel
The future of museum administration may lie in a bold move that London’s National Gallery made recently to form a citizens’ panel to allow the public a greater voice in the management of one of Britain’s greatest museums. With the … More…
Painting Of The Week: Oisème, Route de village by Eugène Boudin
Eugène Boudin, primarily known as a maritime painter, immortalized the growth of the seaside spots in Normandy from fishing villages to resort towns. His fascination with the coast, whether it’s the bustling port of Le Havre, ships navigating the waters … More…
Painting Of The Week: Léon Richet’s Marguerite
While nineteenth-century paintings of French peasants often show them amid their work against a pastoral background, that cannot exactly be said about Léon Richet’s Marguerite. This is a rather rare work for the artist, as he was considered more of … More…
Pearlman Foundation Donates Collection to American Museums
Several major American museums will be receiving generous donations from the Henry & Rose Pearlman Foundation. Henry Pearlman primarily made his money in the refrigeration business, but is mainly known for his incredible art collection, containing countless Impressionist and Post-Impressionist … More…
Confiscated 1MDB Art To Be Auctioned
The United States Department of Justice will be auctioning off several works of art confiscated as a result of the 1MDB scandal. Nearly a decade after the 1MDB scandal first broke, developments continue to emerge from one of the largest … More…
Painting Of The Week: Dietz Edzard’s Au Bois de Boulogne
Au Bois de Boulogne by Dietz Edzard shows a young lady in a vibrant yellow dress enjoying herself at one of the cafés in the Bois de Boulogne, one of Paris’s large parks. The Bois de Boulogne is a popular … More…
Amy Sherald Cancels Smithsonian Show Over Censorship
American portraitist Amy Sherald has canceled her upcoming exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery over censorship issues. Earlier this month, I visited the Whitney Museum of American Art to attend the first day of their Untitled (America) exhibition. However, … More…
Stolen Madonna Returned
Back in March, I wrote about how a woman in Britain refused to give up her Renaissance-era Madonna & Child painting, which investigators concluded had been stolen fifty years ago. However, the standoff has now come to an end, and … More…
Painting Of The Week: John Bentham-Dinsdale’s Chase Of The Brilliant
John Bentham-Dinsdale became one of the most renowned marine painters because of his extensive library on maritime history. This allowed him to recreate the great ships from the age of sail, as well as naval confrontations from centuries past. Rendering … More…
National Trust For France
France is considering the establishment of a new cultural organization, modeled after the National Trust in the United Kingdom. The National Trust is technically a private entity but receives substantial support from the British government. The monarch is the organization’s … More…
Sotheby’s New York Modern Discoveries
On Wednesday, July 16th, Sotheby’s New York hosted their Modern Discoveries online sale, featuring ninety works of art primarily by nineteenth- and twentieth-century European and North American artists. Normally, I would not pay any attention to this sort of auction. … More…
“I Could Do That”: Cattelan’s Banana & the Nature of Art
Recently, a museum visitor made headlines when they ate a $6 million work of art. The Comedian by Maurizio Cattelan is the official title of the piece of concept art most people simply know as “the thing of the banana … More…