Who’d have expected that the world’s best collection of stained glass by Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933) would be within an hour of Disney World? Aside from gorgeous glass, the Morse Museum has…
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This occasional series of blog posts will highlight the most important of the outdoor sculptures in New York City and provide some historical and art-historical context. To read other blog…
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November 10, 2021
By James Goodwin Batterson, General William Jenkins Worth Monument, 1857.
This occasional series of blog posts will highlight the most important of the outdoor sculptures in New York City and provide some historical and art-historical context. To read other blog…
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November 2, 2021
Verrocchio, Putto with Dolphin, ca. 1465-1480. Plaster cast at the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum, Springfield, Massachusetts.
The Gilded Age mansions of the late nineteenth century were the homes of entrepreneurs who earned their wealth by advancing science, technology, and industry. Those same wealthy entrepreneurs established many…
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October 26, 2021
Henry Frederick Metzler, Atlas Clock, ca. 1853. Tiffany's, Fifth Avenue facade.
The occasional series of blog posts that starts this week will highlight the most important of the outdoor sculptures in New York City and provide some historical and art-historical context.…
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October 19, 2021
Erastus Salisbury Field, Historical Monument of the American Republic, 1867-1888. Michele and Donald D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield Museums, Springfield, MA.
In my weekly email of Sunday Recommendations, I promise "art-related suggestions meant to inspire, to provoke wonder or thought, or simply to amaze by sheer beauty." The Historical Monument of…
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On The Breakers and other Gilded Age mansions, see last week's post. Alice Vanderbilt's bedroom Even though this room is decorated in the Louis XVI style, it's much more restful…
Many Gilded Age mansions have fabulous gardens that remained open during most of the Corona-virus pandemic, even if the mansions were locked up. Since 2020, I've visited Ventfort, Naumkeag, and…
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September 28, 2021
Conservatory in Central Park, 1902. Image: Annual Report of the Board of Commissioners of Central Park, 1902.
If you've read any of my books on Alexander Hamilton, you know I'm a fanatic about primary sources. So when I started to research Central Park, one of my first…
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September 21, 2021
Casino in Central Park, 1863. Annual Report of the Board of Commissioners for Central Park, 1864.
If you've read any of my books on Alexander Hamilton, you know I'm a fanatic about primary sources. So when I started to research Central Park, one of my first…
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