Tag: American
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Santa Claus according to Thomas Nast (December 2nd)
The image of Santa Claus is pretty much omnipresent in the month of December, but how many people actually know where it comes from? Santa has his origins in numerous characters from the myths, legends, and stories of many different cultures; Saint Nicholas is his best-known but not only antecedent. As such, Santa Claus takes many diverse forms and personalities…
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Grotesques of the Old Philadelphia Fire Department Headquarters
A fire house is one of the last places I would expect to see gargoyles, or even not-quite-three-dimensional grotesque carvings, but a set of six firefighter grotesques can be found on the old Race Street Firehouse in Philadelphia. These droll little figures wear old-fashioned fire hats and carry hoses. I believe that the numbers on the hats refer to…
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of the University of Chicago
I’ve talked about the University of Chicago’s gargoyles before, in a post about collegiate gargoyles. However, I really had no idea at the time how prominent a role these gargoyles play in the school’s culture. Not only is the university’s IT system nicknamed “gargoyle”, but the University of Chicago gargoyle also has his own blog, and the…
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Gargoyle and Grotesques: Biltmore Estate, North Carolina
An introduction to the grotesques at Biltmore Estate, a huge private home in Ashville, North Carolina, USA.
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of Eastern State Penitentiary, Pennsylvania
I probably should have saved this one for closer to Halloween, but I just couldn’t wait because it’s almost too good to be true. This very threatening-looking, shackled gargoyle can be found on the exterior of the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I’m not sure if the gargoyle is functional or not, but it…
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of the Washington National Cathedral
The National Cathedral in Washington D.C. is a rare and wonderful example of twentieth-century architectural design including gargoyles and grotesques with all the cleverness and authenticity of their very best medieval ancestors. For this, we have to thank the creativity and skill of the craftsmen who carved them in much the same way they would…
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Why I’m a fan of preservation and “Preservation” magazine
In one of the first philanthropic acts of my grown-up life, I recently joined the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a non-profit organization that provides funding and support for the protection and restoration of historical landmarks throughout the United States. As a membership benefit, I just received my first issue (Winter 2015) of Preservation magazine in the…
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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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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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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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Snow in New York, the Contemporary Version
Since my post about Guy C. Wiggins, I have started discovering snowy New York cityscapes by other painters. Here are two contemporary artists who share Wiggins’s love of New York in the wintertime: Mark Daly (b. 1956) describes himself is an American Impressionist. He primarily paints landscapes set throughout the country and sometimes overseas as…
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Snow falls softly on the city: the paintings of Guy C. Wiggins
In late 2020, Questroyal Fine Art, one of the best galleries for American paintings, asked me to write a guest post for its blog. I chose to talk about the gallery’s recent acquisition – a New York City snow scene called Winter at 57th St and 5th Avenue by Guy C. Wiggins. I love Wiggins’s…
