Follow @yaleARTbooks The photographer Dawoud Bey, born in 1953, is probably best known for his large-scale color photographs of marginalized groups in contemporary America, and his community-focused and collaborative approach to his art. A new exhibition and accompanying catalogue from the Art Institute of Chicago, Dawoud Bey: Harlem, U.S.A., gets to the root
As promised, we give you a fascinating guest post by John Baldessari Catalogue Raisonné editors Patrick Pardo and Robert Dean, on pioneering conceptual artist John Baldessari’s most infamous project: the systematic destruction of his formative work. Check out our previous post for a great video on the evolution of Baldessari’s career.
Were the ancient Olympic Games anything like the competitions we know today? Neil Faulkner’s A Visitor’s Guide to the Ancient Olympics transports us to the games of 388 B.C., providing a lively guided tour of the ancient Greek Olympics and bringing to life the sights and sounds (and smells) of the competition—which were
Follow @yaleARTbooks Painter Lucian Freud, grandson of Sigmund Freud, died on this day one year ago, and it is on this anniversary that we reflect on the English artist’s extraordinary legacy. Perhaps best-known for his nude portraits, Freud perfected his style of portraiture during a period in the history of
In January 1916, Gabriele D’Annunzio was flying a dangerous propaganda mission as a fighter pilot in the First World War when his plane was shot down by enemy fire. Suffering extreme pain from a detached retina in his right eye, the eminent Italian poet and political activist was forced to
After exploring her creative urges through journalism, sculpture, poetry, and theater, Berenice Abbott (1898–1991) found a home for her artistic talents in photography while working in Paris as a darkroom assistant to Man Ray. Abbott knew Ray from an earlier encounter in New York, and though at the beginning of
“I’m bored,” are dreaded words parents hear from the backseat on a road trip, but the problem may be inevitable. In Boredom: A Lively History Peter Toohey contextualizes boredom using various artistic and literary examples and ultimately theorizes that boredom may actually be a good thing and stimulate creativity. From
A Happy Bastille Day to one and all! France’s national holiday is a day for celebrating its people as a collective force to be reckoned with. Specifically, it remembers those who came together to storm the Bastille in Paris on July 14, 1789. More generally, however, it celebrates the forging
The renowned Finnish architect and designer Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) created several landmarks of modern design in America—the Finland Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair in 1939, the MIT’s Baker House dormitory completed in 1949, and the Mount Angel Abbey Library completed in 1947 in Oregon. Although Aalto’s career was,
There are two types of powerful books. There are those with weight, carried around for weeks, a physical labor of intellectual love. These end in catharsis, followed by a twinge of sadness. And then, there is the rare 80-page wonder that is Virginia Grise’s blu, a play that reads in