David Ebony— The first Maya archeological site I ever visited was Uxmal, on an extended tour of the Yucatán in Mexico in the early 1980s. Exploring the sprawling ruins of ornate buildings covered with refined carvings of figures, animals and glyphs, made over 1000 years ago, proved something of a
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me A book of global street photography. On the second day of Christmas, I gave to my true love A book about O’Keeffe and Arthur Dove. On the third day of Christmas, I gave
David Young Kim– Along with the presidents’ names, and birds and flowers of the fifty states (or at least some of them), schoolchildren in classrooms around the United States once recited a rhyme about the so-called “Discovery of America:” “In the year fourteen hundred ninety-two / Columbus sailed the ocean
Vittoria Di Palma– When I was living in London in the early 2000s, I went to an exhibit at the British Library. I don’t remember much about the show, nor exactly how I got my hands on one of the folders intended for members of the press, but I do
Ivy Sanders Schneider – When you encounter some of Wassily Kandinsky’s early works, it can be hard to remember that this artist – who began his career with bright, folk-art inspired, post-impressionist landscapes – would become one of the first true abstract painters. Although his early style was quite illustrative,
Today’s inspiring edition of From the Designer’s Desk is a project-specific exposition by Jean Wilcox, award-winning designer and principal of Wilcox Design. Jean Wilcox– I walk by a used bookstore every day on my way to work, and I cannot help but scan the window to see if there might
Belgian artist Berlinde De Bruyckere is a contemporary sculptor of enormous renown. Her striking, disquieting, mixed-media pieces are composed of wax, horse hair, wool, wood, and paint, among other substances. Her forms are reminiscent of bones and flesh, broken tree limbs and tattered rags. There is a beauty to the pieces,
“The art or work-pleasure, as one ought to call it…sprung up almost spontaneously, it seems, from a kind of instinct amongst people, no longer driven desperately to painful and terrible over-work, to do the best they could with the work in hand – to make it excellent of its kind;
While we’re on the topic of photography, we’d like to draw your attention to yet another standout photography title on our fall list. Paul Strand: Master of Modern Photography edited by Peter Barberie with Amanda N. Bock accompanies a celebrated exhibition currently on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Quilts are, at their core, functional items, but they nonetheless occupy a special place in art history. Since the 16th century, beginning in India and the Mediterranean and spreading across the world, quilts have acted as creative outlets and record keepers for those outside the world of traditional high art. Quilts can be made by anyone with access