Jacob Wrey Mould did remarkable decorative work in Central Park, at Bethesda Terrace and elsewhere. You can also see his hand in the oldest section of the Metropolitan Museum. These…
Back in the 1870s, German archeologists began extensive excavations at Pergamon, an ancient Greek city whose ruins lie in modern Turkey, near the Aegean Sea. The museum built to house the…
If I had a list of ten favorite portraits, this would be on it, and near the top. First of all, the subject looks intelligent and dignified; but that's 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…
Through May 1, 2016, the Metropolitan Museum has on display Artistic Furniture of the Gilded Age, a selection of luxury furniture from the late 19th century. There isn't much gilding: silver was the…
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…