Museum Spotlight: Art in Paradise Chiang Mai
Planning a vacation to Chiang Mai, Thailand, anytime soon? You might want to after hearing about Art in Paradise Chiang Mai. Art in Paradise Chiang Mai is an illusion art museum that allows visitors to really interact with its art. Illusion art is, according to Art in Paradise’s website, the creation of the “illusion of […]
Art for the Fourth of July
In the spirit of the Fourth of July, I’ve decided to honor some of the greatest American paintings. Rather than create a dry, unfeeling catalog of works listed alphabetically (which would take forever, because there are actually a lot of really great American paintings), I’ve done something a bit different, inspired by this list on […]
Art Basel 2015 Highlights
What is Art Basel? Well, it’s the world’s most prominent contemporary art fair, and it’s loads of fun. Long-established as the one of the art world’s biggest events, this year’s Art Basel took place over June 16-19 and featured work in galleries from five continents and hundreds of the world’s most prolific contemporary […]
Kids’ Art Reads: “Chasing Vermeer”
Ever wondered how to share your love of art with kids? Besides what we do here at the Art Docent Program, that is. Perhaps you’ve wanted to get them more into reading, too. Well, good books about art aren’t just written for adults! The Chasing Vermeer series by Blue Balliett, although originally written for young readers, […]
Art in Disney– Mulan
We’ve established the fact that Disney definitely has some art historians employed in their animation department (see the entries for The Little Mermaid and Frozen if you doubt this fact). But what’s even more impressive is that Disney doesn’t just draw on Western art of the last 500 years in their films–their art historical knowledge […]
Manet for #fancyfriday
We haven’t gotten #fancy in a while, so today we’ve decided to bring it back with Edouard Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère! Manet, better known for his realist paintings, is experimenting with Impressionist trends and subject matter in this 1882 painting. And he’s adapting the style quite well. The clearly visible brushstrokes make up […]
Artist Spotlight: Alejandro Cesarco
Today’s featured artist is Alejandro Cesarco! Heads up: today’s article is a shameless plug for one of my favorite artists living and working in the art world today. Alejandro Cesarco’s Conceptually-influenced pieces bring attention to ideas of art historical codes, linguistics in a refreshingly witty, non-elitist manner. Alejandro Cesarco was born in 1975 in Montevideo, […]
Veronese Meets Monty Python
First, watch this Monty Python sketch. Because Monty Python, that’s why. Awesome, as usual. But did you know that this sketch was probably actually based on true events concerning the painter Paolo Veronese and his 1573 painting Feast in the House of Levi? Here’s what happened: Veronese was commissioned to paint a Last Supper to adorn the wall of […]
Henry Ossawa Tanner and Biblical Paintings
For much of the history of western art, what is considered a “good” painting was judged by how well a painting conveyed a visual narrative—that is, how well a painting told a story. From just before the Renaissance onwards, the implicit hierarchy for what would make a painting “good” was as follows—history paintings (paintings such […]
10 Caravaggio Paintings Better Than Any Reaction Image
You’ve probably heard of Caravaggio, the Italian Baroque painter whose particular style of painting spread throughout Europe like wildfire. But have you ever considered the fact that many of his paintings make excellent reaction images? In the spirit of countless Buzzfeed articles (including this Napoleon Dynamite-inspired compilation) in which classical art proves that it’s still […]