From the December 2019/January 2020 Issue
Birds in Art
Early artists document an avian world that has some members that are now in decline Artists love birds. Leonardo studied their flight, Picasso used the dove as a symbol of […]
From the October/November 2019 Issue
Whaler’s Delight
Back in the days of Moby-Dick, men on whaling ships spent their downtime carving objects from whale bone and dreaming of pie. What other explanation could there be for the […]
From the October/November 2019 Issue
This Art Form Still Inspires Style Today
Ever since the mid-19th century, when ukiyo-e prints took Paris by storm, Westerners have been enchanted with this Japanese art form. Katsushika Hokusai’s The Great Wave Off Kanagawa is now […]
From the August/September 2019 Issue
A Tale of Two Houses
Lambert Castle and the Botto Residence tell opposite sides of a story In 1892, a Paterson, New Jersey millionaire named Catholina Lambert set out to build the mansion of his […]
From the June/July 2019 Issue
Grand Dunand
The eternal elegance of Jean Dunand’s Art Deco designs In 1912, decorative artist Jean Dunand and Japanese lacquer master Seizo Sugawara struck a deal. Sugawara had asked Dunand’s assistance in […]
From the June/July 2019 Issue
Simply Steampunk
The Morris Museum exhibits nostalgia for a long-lost future For all the light shining on it, the art world still has hidden layers. Poke beneath the surface and you uncover […]
From the April/May 2019 Issue
Making Their Marks
Young artists drawn to handmade notations Art has lots of buzzwords. Here’s a new one, at least to me: “mark making.” What does it mean? In the loosest sense, it’s […]
From the April/May 2019 Issue
Beautiful Byobu
Japanese screens combine art and craft in one exquisite object At the Winter Show in January, Erik Thomsen Gallery of New York City exhibited a six-panel Japanese folding screen painted […]
From the February/March 2019 Issue
A Woman’s Work-Table Is Never Done
These multifunctional side tables have endured for generations The progress of any nation in morals, civilization, and refinement is in proportion to the elevated or degraded position in which woman […]