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Art, Enchantment, Museum and a Three year old...
Pro and I with Van Gogh's Portrait of a Peasant(Norton Simon Museum)The ongoing debate concerning museums and how to engage viewers reminds me of a Punch cartoon depicting a Victorian working-class...
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Edward Hopper Drawings at the Whitney and Engagement in Museums with Technology
Self-Portrait, 1945Going to museums to view art is a lot of work these days involving a bevy of options that are available to anyone with the right tools and a minimal understanding of social media....
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Life is the Art of the Possible...
"Joy comes to those bold enough to seek it." - Hasan NiyaziIt has been two weeks since the day we lost Hasan Niyazi of 3PP and the silence is deafening...When I refer to "we" I mean a huge community of...
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Chora: the Church of the Holy Savior Outside the City Walls
The Anastasis, Church of the St. Savior in Chora, Parekklesion, 1316-21Chora MuseumThe image of the Hagia Sophia always looms commanding and magnificent when one thinks of Istanbul but there is one...
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Ottoman Princess Mihrimah Sultan
Cameria, Daughter of the Emperor Soliman, After Cristofano dell' Altissimo, 16th century(?)(Pera Museum)The Ottomans have always been a source of fascination, even for citizens of the Turkish Republic,...
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Image of the "El Turco" in Quattrocento Italy
Pinturicchio, St Catherine's Disputation, 1492-94(Sala dei Santi of the Borgia Apartments, Vatican)"I am not Italian, I am not an art historian, a student or even an academic and I am not even...
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From Marble to Flesh: The Biography of Michelangelo's David
The possibilities for a work of art to charm and fascinate lovers of art seem to be infinite. When the said work of art is Michelangelo's world renowned David, everyone is ready to be enraptured. But...
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Turquerie, Orientalism and Coffee
Carle Van Loo, Sultane (Mme de Pompadour portrayed as a Turkish lady), 1747(Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris)Today is International Coffee Day, a day for the celebration and enjoyment of the sine qua...
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How does what we see in museums affect our view of art history?
George Dawe, Portrait of a dignitary in Turkish Costume,ca. 1825 (formerly titled, Sidki Efendi, Turkish Ambassador to the court of St. James) (San Diego Museum of Art)There are certain defining...
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Why Art History - The Treasures of Constantinople
Pope Francis is on a three-day visit to Turkey where he is spending Saturday and Sunday in Istanbul as a guest of Patriarch Bartholomew. I thought this would be a good occasion to recall another Papal...
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Cybele, the Mother of the Gods
Goddess Figurine, Catalhoyuk, 5750 B.C.E.(Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, Ankara)Since it's mother'day today I thought it would be a great opportunity to take a look at the ancestors of what we have...
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Art, Engagement and the Renaissance
I have always loved art history, for the stories a work of art can tell us of its time, place and the people who lived at that particular point in history. Although I note the formal elements of a...
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The History of Constantine the Great through the Eyes of a 17th century...
Peter Paul Rubens, The Marriage of Constantine and Fausta, The History of Constantine the Great tapestry series, 1623-25 (Philadelphia Museum of Art) Photo: Philadelphia Museum of Art...
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Ars Longa, Vita Brevis, Occasio Praeceps...
This post was inspired by the exhibit Life is Short, Art Long: The Art of Healing in Byzantium at Pera Museum in Istanbul in 2015.Hippocrates holding open the page that displays the first lines of his...
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Art and Magnificence - A Perfect Way to Start the New Year... Andrea del...
As we enter a new year and are in the throes of collectively trying to make a fresh start, I felt a need to reevaluate the impetus for the existence of this blog. I want to tell you about a great...
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#MadameCezanne was at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Madame Cézanne Sewing, ca. 1877(Nationalmuseum, Stockholm) We are in the middle of a record breaking blizzard on the East Coast, and while we are enveloped in the tranquility of mountains of snow, I...
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Hürrem: the Woman who Stole the Heart of Süleyman the Magnificent
Rosa, Consort of Suleiman, Emperor of the Turks, ca. 1600-70, French School(The Royal Collection) Today is Valentines Day, a day we tend to associate with love and lovers. From Marc Antony and...
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Elisabeth Louise Vigee-LeBrun - a Female Academician
Vigée Le Brun, Self-Portrait, 1790(Gallerie degli Uffizi)Art history is full of great male artists while we hear very little of the successful women who managed the almost impossible feat of carving...
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Contemplating Death from Ancient Rome to the Present: Momento Mori and...
Carstian Luyckx, Allegory of Charles I of England and Henrietta of France in a Vanitas Still Life, 17th century(Birmingham Museum of Art)Recently discovered Skeleton Mosaic in Hatay, Roman(Hatay...
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How preserving cultural heritage sites can help to combat ignorance and fight...
Did you know that one of the oldest sites of human settlement in the Americas, from 15,000 years ago, Cactus Hill, is in Virginia?The world these days seems to be in a state of constant chaos, with...
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The Opposite of War is Creation
Chora Museum, IstanbulIt's hard to believe that it was only one week ago, that my husband and I were sitting in our New York apartment, discussing our preparations for our New Year's Eve meal. I...
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Kerry James Marshall Exhibition Could be the Perfect Response to Trump's America
Kerry James Marshall, Vignette, 2003Defares Collection("Kerry James Marshall: Mastry"Exhibition at The Met Breuer)Today is Inauguration Day in America when a man who ran his presidential campaign on a...
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Let's Celebrate Spring and Rebirth with the Impressionists
Claude Monet, Jeanne-Marguerite Lecadre in the Garden, 1866(Hermitage Museum, St. Peterburg)After months of freezing cold and rain of biblical proportions, spring seems to have arrived. Looking out the...
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Mexico 1900 -1950: Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Jóse Clemente Orozco, and the...
We were in Dallas last weekend where I had the pleasure of seeing the blockbuster exhibition, "Mexico 1900 -1950: Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Jóse Clemente Orozco, and the Avant-Garde" at the Dallas...
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From Colonial America to MAGA the Subtle "Art" of Upholding White Supremacy
All photos are by the author unless specified, Painted in Mexico 1700-1790: Pinxit Mexici, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkWhile art museums are clamoring for more attention and visitors, the Met...
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