I entered college with a year of Latin, three years of French, and writing skills that earned me a National Council of Teachers of English scholarship. What to take instead…
Elijah Boardman (1760-1823) In 1790, when Elijah was thirty years old, John Ramage painted his two-inch high portrait on ivory. From it, you'd probably recognize Elijah if you met him on…
In college, I had a poster of Autumn Landscape on my wall. It's much better on a computer screen, which provides some of the glow that the back-lighting does at the…
On my one and only, very brief visit to Rome, I didn't have time to visit the Borghese. Here's why I mind. Cardinal Scipione Borghese (1577-1633) and the Borghese Collection…
The Metropolitan Museum of Art keeps all the works in this post in the American Wing, on the west side of the second floor (Gallery 706). Among the unforgettable images…
This essay is adapted from Chapter 36 of Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide. I’ve kept cross-references to other chapters in the book. Sculptor: Jeronimo Suñol. Pedestal: Napoleon Le Brun.…
This essay is adapted from Chapter 35 of Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide. I’ve kept cross-references to other chapters in the book. Sculptor: Gaetano Russo. Dedicated: 1892. Medium and size:…
Available as a printable PDF and as a video. In the past few months, sculptures in Charlottesville, Baltimore, New York, and elsewhere have been lightning rods for love and for hate…
I've often wished I could skip the first watching of an opera, and go straight to the second. Opera is a multi-media spectacle, but I'm a word-oriented person. On my…
This essay is adapted from Chapter 28 of Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide. I’ve kept cross-references to other chapters in the book. Sculptor: Paul Manship. Dedicated: 1934. Medium and size:…