Author: A Scholarly Skater
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Art That Inspires Me: Still Life Painting
Back in the days of the artistic academies, still life was considered the least prestigious of the painting genres, but it’s one of my personal favorites.
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Art That Inspires Me: Japanese Buddhist Deity
This installment of Art That Inspires Me features a Japanese Buddhist statue that appeared on a poster sent to me by the Yale University Art Gallery.
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Lyndhurst at Christmastime
Over the weekend, I visited Lyndhurst, a 19th-century Gothic Revival mansion in Tarrytown, NY, to take the delightful Christmas tour.
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Why Museums Don’t Display All the Art They Own? (and Related Questions)
Somebody recently asked me why most museums display only a small portion of their collections. Here are my answers to that and some related questions.
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How to Enjoy an Art Museum When You Didn’t Study Art
For anyone who’s ever felt frustrated or unsure in an art museum, here are a few strategies to make museum visits more enjoyable and fulfilling.
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A Matter of Perspective
When Leonardo da Vinci painted his famous The Last Supper fresco, he used some cool tricks to make the painting seem to be part of the room itself.
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The Mystery of the Disappearing Velasquez (maybe)
The Vanishing Velasquez tells the wild but true story of a man who believed that he owned a lost Velasquez masterpiece. It’s still an unsolved mystery.
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The Minoan Bull Leaping Fresco
In the ancient city of Knossos, archaeologists found many beautiful frescos. One of them depicts something strange – a trio of people vaulting over a bull.
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Art That Inspires Me: El Anatsui
El Anatsui is a Nigerian artist who creates beautiful, tapestry-like artworks out of trashed materials like bottle caps and scrap metal.
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Art That Inspires Me: Thomas Cole
To talk about why I love Thomas Cole’s work, I’ll focus on A Snow Squall (1825), one particular painting that I recently saw for the first time.
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Art That Inspires Me: Faiyum Mummy Portraits
In Roman Egypt, many beautiful mummy portraits were made in and around the area of Faiyum. They were attached to mummy wrappings to cover the mummy’s head.
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A Magical Day at the New York Historical Society’s Harry Potter: A History of Magic
Harry Potter: A History of Magic is an exhibition that puts the Harry Potter series in its historical and artistic context.
