A look at three paintings from the cusp of the 20th century that make a powerful argument for beauty.
David Carrier
David Carrier’s most recent books are Art Writing Online: The State of the Art World and Philosophical Skepticism as the Subject of Art: Maria Bussmann’s Drawings. His book In Caravaggio’s Shadow: Naples as a Work of Art is forthcoming.
Posted inArt
The Rarities and Oddities of a Vanished World
It’s fair to say that images of sporting have a relatively marginal place in our art world.
Posted inBooks
The Mega-Dealers Who Ate the Art World
It’s abundantly clear that the present system is unsustainable.
Posted inBooks
Is George Herriman the Greatest American Visual Artist?
Out of seemingly meager materials, Herriman created a complete world, a place where nothing ever changes and where his characters never develop, yet his sense of humor is almost infallible.
Posted inArt
The Trouble with Renoir’s Nudes
Renoir: The Body, The Senses makes some attempts, vain in my opinion, to present Renoir as a politically progressive artist, even a closet feminist.
Posted inArt
Reconciling Secular Art in Sacred Spaces
Surprises and puzzles in Venice and Vienna, from Sean Scully to Tintoretto.
Posted inArt
Luc Tuymans’s Moral Distance
Tuymans is a figurative painter who doubts whether visual representations can ever be truthful.
Posted inArt
Navigating the Overload at the Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale’s official exhibition, May You Live In Interesting Times, presents art that speaks to the present, not in the direct fashion of journalism, but in ways that can challenge existing habits of thought.
Posted inArt
Confronting Art Critics With Their Own Portraits
Luca Del Baldo paints portraits of art critics and historians — often people he has never met — and then requests their response to complete the work.
Posted inArt
Excavating Mark Rothko’s Theatrical Foundations
The paintings Rothko made before 1948 are considered minor, but an exhibition in Vienna claims that they are essential to understanding the artist’s mature works.
Posted inArt
Remembering Lawrence Carroll, an American Artist in Europe
I never met anyone more optimistic about art or his place in its history.
Posted inArt
A Japanese Classic, Dimly Illuminated
The visual images interpreting The Tale of Genji, the world’s first novel, which was written by a woman, are presented as beautiful objects devoid of context.
