We have an idea of life in Philadelphia during the early years of independence thanks, not to an American, but to the English artist William Birch.
Radical modernist and a shepherd at heart
An exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art offers an opportunity to appreciate the earthy, elemental spirit in the sculptures of Constantin Brancusi
This summer: art from the heart
This summer, three notable exhibitions around the country present wonderful selections of … call it what you will: folk art, self-taught art, craft, or just plain “art.”
The world of Bill Traylor
A sweeping retrospective at the Smithsonian examines the life and work of one of the most remarkable figures in American art
On Books: Rather Elegant Than Showy, the furniture of Isaac Vose
A monumental new study of the life and art of cabinetmaker Isaac Vose
Warp, weft, and the American West
An exhibition in Colonial Williamsburg traces the evolution of Navajo pictorial weavings
Curious Objects: Kevin Brown and His Qing-era Map of China
In this episode of Curious Objects, Benjamin Miller stops by the shop of his mentor Kevin Brown, founder of Geographicus Rare Antique Maps, to peruse a monumental Qing-era map of China and its environs.
Strange visions in Chicago
Under the shadow of the Depression, at the same time Chicago was developing its reputation as a gritty, neon-lit city of realists—from big-shouldered street toughs to Saul Bellow—a small circle of local artists was hard at work in the realm of dreams.
Caribbean twilight
The Jamaican artist John Dunkley invested colorful scenes of Caribbean life with a brooding sense of disquiet.
Revelatory prints of the Renaissance at LACMA
It is hard for us now to recapture the sense of miracles that surrounded the woodcut in the waning days of the fifteenth century. The idea that an image could be cheaply and infinitely replicated meant that henceforth, art, and even great art, formerly the exclusive domain of princes and wealthy merchants, might adorn the lives of common men.