"Paul Revere's Ride" is set on the night of the Battle of Lexington and Concord, April 1775. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote it in 1860 or 1861, just as the Civil War…
Have you stopped to think about the way "My Shot" builds on the opening number of Hamilton: An American Musical? It sets him up as a young hero eager to change the…
This is not a selfie by a 14-year-old: it's a portrait paid for by the boy's parents and executed by a painter renowned for his ability to render details. So…
Monet and other Impressionists who worked in France beginning in the 1860s were famous for their obsession with depicting transient effects of light. In my opinion, the Luminists obsessed over light in…
I've been an atheist for decades, so it took some poking and prodding and peeling of my psyche to figure out why I like this piece so much: it's clearly…
When I think of 19th-century industry, I think of Vanderbilt's railroads ... And Holley's steel mills ... And Thomas Price's lab. According to the MMA's site, the subject of this…
When the Organ Rehearsal was exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1885, a dealer offered to purchase it on condition that Lerolle cut it in half, discarding the part "where there is…
A couple weeks ago, while zipping through the Metropolitan Museum's galleries taking photos of favorites, I spotted this 9-inch bronze in a glass case in the American Wing galleries. What's this painter…
Here's another handful of portraits I find irresistible. (See also my post on portraits of women at the National Gallery.) Bellini, Portrait of a Condottiere (Giovanni Emo) My favorite Bellini is…
The Art Renewal Center sponsors an annual competition for contemporary realistic art. Since the winning paintings don't usually go on tour, I was delighted to see that for a short time, the…