A few weeks ago, while exploring the Hudson Valley like every other Brooklynite who would rather go upstate than visit Manhattan, I came across a stash of vintage Thanksgiving postcards at a bookshop in Saugerties that made me chuckle and smile. These rather elegant, if sometimes disturbing (um, is that a fork and knife sticking out a living turkey?) images were all created roughly from 1900 to 1920 and often incorporate gold foil and other holiday details. While all of these cards are bathed in the reigning myths of the era about the holiday — which was historically taught as some type of kumbaya of Puritans and the Wampanoag in lieu of its genocidal reality — we can look back and laugh at prevailing attitudes and how many of these same misconceptions of peace-loving settlers remain.
Enjoy these paper relics of yesteryear. We hope you enjoy the holiday whether you’re celebrating Thanksgiving or Unthanksgiving or just chilling on your day off.
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The Best of 2021: Our Top 10 United States Art Shows
Our favorite US shows of 2021, brought to you by the writers and editors of Hyperallergic.
The Unknown Work of Rakuko Naito
Naito’s Op-inspired abstractions might have been an oblique way of dealing with feelings of displacement after moving to the United States.
BIENALSUR…Echoes: A World Between the Analogue and the Virtual
BIENALSUR, the International Biennial of Contemporary Art of the South, has returned to Saudi Arabia for an exhibition presenting more than 20 international artists, including Filwa Nazer, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, and Tony Oursler.
The Neglected Afterlife of the Great Georges Braque
Braque’s paintings speak of self-containment, of a quietly impassioned, ongoing dedication to the task at hand.
The Liminal Space of Identity for Residents of US Territories
In Amber Robles-Gordon’s artwork, the borders between states matter less than the overlapping territories of self, the never-ending negotiation of identity.
What Do Pots Want?* Building a Bigger Field of Craft Studies Together
Warren Wilson’s low-residency MA in Critical Craft Studies produces researchers who turn the mic in a new direction.
Pete Schulte’s Magical Abstract Drawings
Schulte seems at once focused and restless, determined and open.
Massive Archive of Work by Photographer James Van Der Zee Lands at Two NYC Museums
The archive kicks off an initiative by the Met Museum and the Studio Museum to conserve and digitize his works, and research the context of his photographs, his singular photographic techniques, and his life.
The NYUAD Art Gallery Shows Rare Collection of Work From 1960s Iran, Turkey, and India
On view in Abu Dhabi until February 5, 2022, the paintings and sculptures in Modernisms shed new light on artists like Parviz Tanavoli, Fahrelnissa Zeid, and M.F. Husain.
25 Years Later, Nez Perce Tribe Is Repaid for Buying Back Its Own Artifacts
In 1996, Nez Perce Tribe members had to fundraise hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay the Ohio History Connection to secure artifacts that were rightfully theirs.
This Astrophotographer’s Strikingly Detailed Image of the Sun Is Going Viral
Andrew McCarthy used a modified telescope to take over 150,000 images of the sun, combining them to create the stunningly crisp photo.
Best of 2021: Our Top 10 New York City Art Shows
The city brought shows to life that will be talked about for years to come.