Kids’ Art Reads: The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place
You’d probably expect that the author of From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler would be able to write more than one stellar book featuring works of art at its center. And that’s true of E.L. Konigsburg. While From the Mixed-Up Files is a classic, it’s only one of Konigsburg’s novels in which art figures prominently. […]
Audubon’s “Birds of America” Illustrations are Now Online
As the world becomes progressively more digital, we here at the Art Docent Program have been covering more and more stories about art going digital. Collections at places like the Met are now available online, and Google Maps even has a tool that can take you right inside some museums. The Audubon Society’s updated website […]
You Can Add to this Library of Sketchbooks
The phrase “The Sketchbook Library” sounds like a book title (specifically, the next big Elizabeth Kostova [or, if you imagined hard, possibly Dan Brown] novel. Honestly, it doesn’t matter–either one of those would make for an awesome read.) But for once in life, real life may have beaten the authors to the idea. The Brooklyn […]
Art & Language Bloom in “Botanical Shakespeare”
Seems like your college theatre professor was right–there’s a reason Shakespeare in the park is so popular. Aside from the Bard’s seemingly-universal popularity and the attraction of free summer events, there’s another reason: Shakespeare seems to work best in the green spaces, outdoors, where so many of his most famous scenes are set. It’s exactly […]
Art Pops Up in Courtney Wilson McCarthy’s Pop-Up Books
If you’re looking for the perfect way to expose (or indoctrinate) your kids to art history, Courtney Watson McCarthy may have just made your life a whole lot easier. The paper engineer and graphic designer, aside from having the coolest-sounding job ever, recently published the latest in her series of art-centered pop-up books, Hokusai Pop-Ups. Published […]
Eat Like the Artists: The New “Artists’ and Writers’ Cookbook”
Does a cactus omelette sound appealing to you? What if it was a dish billed “for morning, noon, or night?” And–if you’re still not sold–what if it was Ed Ruscha’s personal recipe? Ed Ruscha’s cactus omelette, amid a host of other culinary concoctions, is featured in the new Artists’ and Writers’ Cookbook. Compiled by Natalie […]
Art Reads–“The Swan Thieves”
A mystery that starts with the slashing of a painting at The National Gallery of Art weaves its way through its characters’ personal histories and through the heart of French Impressionism itself in Elizabeth Kostova’s novel The Swan Thieves. Elizabeth Kostova is probably best known for her 2005 novel The Historian (another great read, though […]
Art Reads–“Headlong”
If you’re as much an Anglophile as you are an art history lover, then Michael Frayn’s novel Headlong is definitely for you. I’d recommend cracking it open on a foggy day with a steaming cup of PG Tips (or whatever your choice tea is–we don’t discriminate) by your side. Just be careful when you take […]
Rio Olympics: JR’s Athletes are Larger Than Life
The Olympics are always a good time for the world to celebrate art. This year’s Summer Games have allowed the world to see what Brazilian artists are capable of–from Tarsila do Amaral’s iconic painting Abaporu returning to Brazil for the duration of the Games to the Opening Ceremonies, there’s been plenty of art to soak in. […]
Art Reads: Musée des Beaux Arts
Today we’re going to take a look at the art that inspired one of my favorite poems, “Musée des Beaux Arts” by W. H. Auden! Composed in 1938 after Auden’s trip to the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels (hence the title), the text of the poem reads: About suffering they were never wrong, The […]