Art
The Astonishing Discovery of an Artist’s 9,200 Portraits of an Alternate Queer Self
The previously unknown Polaroids of April Dawn Alison were not just snatched from the jaws of oblivion, but are now in an esteemed museum collection.
Bridget Quinn
Art
Rubens’s Exciting, Upsetting, and Shockingly Current Paintings
Much of Rubens’s Baroque bravura feels timely in its grappling with violence, terror, power, sex, and coercion.
Books
A New Book Culls the Favorite Museum Pieces of World-Famous Artists
For It Speaks to Me, Jori Finkel asked 50 artists, from Marina Abramović to David Hockney, “to discuss a museum piece that intrigues or inspires them from their hometown.”
Books
Living in a Renaissance Palace, an Art Historian Uncovers an Amazing Past
When an unexpected opportunity arose to spend her year living in the famed Palazzo Rucellai, Allison Levy seized on it.
Art
Suzanne Lacy's Powerful Legacy of Feminist Collaboration
What struck me most in moving through the arc of Lacy’s career is what varied and thoughtful work she’s produced decade after decade, no doubt the result of her preference for collaboration.
Art
Spotlighting Lesbian Artists as Central Players in California’s Queer History
Lesbian contributions to gay life and liberation have long been overshadowed, including in the art world.
Books
A Book Assumes the Voice of Louise Bourgeois in Uncomfortable Ways
Jean Frémon began his book Now, Now, Louison while the artist, who was also a friend, was still alive.
Books
Knausgaard Finds a Soulmate in Edvard Munch
Knausgaard's monomaniacal excavation of the self and soul probably finds its closest counterpart in the work of Munch, his countryman.
Books
A Poet’s Heartfelt Biography of Cy Twombly
Joshua Rivkin, a poet himself, passionately admires Twombly’s art and feels compelled to understand the man who made it.
Art
Why Edvard Munch Began Painting Portraits of the Soul
An exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art illustrates how, over time, Munch moved away from observational painting toward something more symbolic and emotional.