29 Dec 2020
The Hanging of Myra Hindley
The Moors Murders resonate in British minds of the post-war generation. Myra Hindley killed 5 children with her boyfriend and sexually assaulted four of them. Myra’s mug shot and the horrific crime is burnt into the memory of many. So by 1995 wh
18 May 2015
Still-lifes by Peale and Core [from the Archives]
Names are important in art. The American master Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) had three sons who became painters: Rembrandt, Raphaelle [sic] and Titian. His fourth son was Rubens. Raphaelle is thought to be America’s first still-life painter
26 Jan 2015 | 2 Comments
Male Artist on Female Figures
Facebook comments can be revealing. Alan Feltus is a contemporary artist whose work I have written about before. He just posted photos on his FB page of 3 paintings done while he was a resident Fellow at the American Academy in Rome in the early
05 Jul 2014 | 1 Comments
Why art’s meaning repeats
There is never any new content in art [see definition below].1 Art’s meaning is true. Truth is constant. Thus, it must always be true. And it must always have been true, at least since the development of mankind. So, if art expresses fundament
21 May 2013
Plays on the Mind
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Richard Foreman, an experimental playwright for more than four decades "has presided over heady spectacles that mingle the conventions of theater with ... stroboscopic stage sets designed as embodim
02 Feb 2013 | 15 Comments
Roy Lichtenstein’s Plagiarism
Plagiarize! Plagiarize! Let no-one else's work evade your eyes! Remember why the good Lord made your eyes, So don't shade your eyes, But plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize.....
Tom Lehrer's comical lyrics from the 1950's were pierced
24 Nov 2012
Creativity in Science and the Arts
Today we tend to think that creative people find employment in the arts while those whose minds are capable of rigorous logic are more suited to science. It is, of course, entirely wrong as many may sense without knowing exactly why. The average
23 Jun 2012
Cindy Sherman: Inside and Out
Cindy Sherman stands in an odd position in my pantheon of art. Her portraits, critics repeatedly tell us, are self-portraits but at the same time are not about her. That is my dilemma. The very characteristic that would make Sherman’s work
11 Apr 2012 | 2 Comments
Words on Words and Songs on Sound
My beat is art history and I’ve spent15 years reading nothing but non-fiction loosely or closely related to art. My knowledge of contemporary literature is tenuous at best; my familiarity with music worse but I have a belief ba
27 Feb 2012
Degas on Reflection and the Great Masters
At the entry to a small, mildly interesting exhibition of Rembrandt’s engravings and their influence on Degas, the Metropolitan Museum has highlighted the following quote:
“What I do is the result of reflectio
05 Dec 2011
Urinary Colors
Perhaps Andres Serrano’s Piss Christ, a photo of a crucifix in a bottle of his own urine, is not so unusual after all. I’ve just learnt that the red dyes used for high-status textiles in the Middle Ages (ecclesiastical, regal etc.)&n
04 Nov 2011
Maurizio Cattelan at the Guggenheim
The Maurizio Cattelan exhibition opening today at the Guggenheim New York (on till Jan 22nd, 2012) is entitled All because it is meant to be a complete retrospective of the Italian artist’s career. In fact, aged 51, he has formally announc
18 Jul 2011
Show me the Money!
If you are in New York, do visit Hans-Peter Feldman’s winning installation for the annual Hugo Boss Guggenheim prize. The prize is $100,000 so Feldman took the exact amount in dollar bills and pinned all 100,000 of them to the walls and co
30 May 2011
Metamorphic Form
Craig Tracy, a painter and former illustrator, creates arresting images (left) and then shows us how he did it (right). Few art historians realize that great masters, far more creative obviously than Tracy (no offense intended), often use the sa
29 May 2011
Gormley on Art
Contemporary art is not my specialty. I do, however, keep my eyes open and I can't help getting the sense that many prominent artists today practice every painter paints himself in one way or another. The British sculptor, Anthony
14 Jan 2011
What do Contemporary Artists Know?
Why do so many contemporary artists place themselves at the center of their work? Think about it. Yasamusa Morimura paints himself into his copies after old masterpieces; he’s not the only one to do so either. Cindy Sherman has photographe
05 Oct 2010
Painting Himself
I'm always on the look-out for contemporary artists who fit the mold and many do. Cindy Sherman, for instance, has made a career out of photographing herself as other people. Then along comes Liu Bolin. As you can see from the image above, h
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