Author: A Scholarly Skater
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Exhibition Review – Charles James: Beyond Fashion at the Met
A review of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute’s 2014 exhibit of gowns by Charles James.
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The Fascinating World of Medieval Graffiti
In 2014, I was briefly fascinated with the recent discovery of medieval graffiti in English churches. Read a lengthy article on the topic I originally wrote as a guest post for a no-longer-existing blog.
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B.A Shapiro’s “The Art Forger: A Novel” – a personal reaction
My reaction to B.A. Shapiro’s The Art Forger, a novel about a fictional young art forger and the real-life Isabella Stewart Gardner heist of 1990.
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Where in the world is this place? Not where you might think.
The house pictured above might look like an English manor house or a French chateau, but it is actually a country estate near where I live in the United States. I went to visit this turn-of-the-century Beaux Arts mansion one day this past week. The home is now privately-owned and no longer decorated according to the…
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William Shakespeare’s Dictionary (or not?)
My boss just brought this news item from last month to my attention. It seems that two book dealers in New York City have stumbled upon what they believe may be William Shakespeare’s dictionary, complete with annotations and markings by the Bard himself. If that is true, it would be very exciting indeed! I would…
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Leonardo’s Lost Princess
Some thoughts on Leonardo’s Lost Princess, a book about a drawing controversially attributed to Leonardo da Vinci.
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Book Review: Figure Skating and the Arts, Eight Centuries of Sport and Inspiration
When my new boss found out that I’m a figure skater, the first thing he said was “I have a book you really need to see.” That book is Figure Skating and the Arts, Eight Centuries of Sport and Inspiration. After locating it amidst the vast inventory of books we work with, he gave it to…
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The Art Deco Murals of Hildreth Meière
I briefly read about Art Deco designer Hildreth Meière last time I did work on Art Deco. I remember thinking it was cool and unusual that a female artist was responsible for some of the decoration in many of New York’s most significant Art Deco monuments, but I had no idea how cool she really was until I…
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An Unusual Take on Gargoyles
I recently finished reading Thomas Cahill’s How the Irish Saved Civilization, The Untold Story of Ireland’s Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe. My prior training in medieval art history had addressed the importance of the medieval Irish and Scottish monastic establishment on Western European cultural history, so the…
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A Guide to Medieval Irish Art
Most people are familiar with Irish art through the famous Book of Kells and through Celtic Revival motifs popular today. In this article, you’ll learn about medieval Irish artistic motifs, the types of art most likely to survive from the period, key historical context (including why Irish and Celtic aren’t synonyms), and more.
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Art O’Murnaghan and the Book of Resurrection
As I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned several times before, I am a big fan of medieval illuminated manuscripts. I’ve always found it a bit sad that the tradition has very little place in the modern world, which is why I was quite intrigued to read about this manuscript in a book about Celtic art. I’ve…
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Meet Swedish Portraitist Anders Zorn
Isabella Stewart Gardner by Anders Zorn, 1894. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston. Next up in what is becoming a recurring series of featured artists is Anders Zorn. Zorn is very interesting, and not just because his name is so much fun to say. This Swedish artist was a favorite of the great early-twentieth century American…
