Art
Rare Film Footage of Artist Henry Ossawa Tanner in 1930s Paris
Tanner avoided the cameras for much of his life, but a new documentary on Black American creatives who moved to France finds candid home movie footage of him.
Karen Chernick
Art
Writing the Untold Stories of Polish Women Artists
Polish art historian Marika Kuźmicz has begun a project to research the biographies of overlooked female artists, locate their archives, and make the information and images available in a free online database.
Interview
Hank Willis Thomas on Black Survival Guide and Creative Civic Action
Thomas and fellow artist Ebony Brown talk about interdependence and How to Live Through a Police Riot, an archival handbook that inspired his 2018 series.
Interview
Wendy Red Star Is Teaching Children About the Crow Nation With Her Art
“You don’t have to make things easy for them,” says Red Star about her new exhibition for children at MASS MoCA.
Art
The Under-told Story of Paul Jennings, an Enslaved Man Who Helped Save George Washington’s Portrait
During the War of 1812, British troops intended to ransack the American capital. The First Lady took credit for saving White House valuables, but, as Jennings wrote in his memoir, this was “totally false.”
Art
The Fascinating Story Behind a Missing Portrait by Arshile Gorky
The portrait is a window into the life and work of the painter and gallerist Anna Walinska, who gave Gorky his first solo exhibition in New York.
Art
The Baroque Artist Who Captured the World in Her Still Lifes
Giovanna Garzoni’s tablescape was a map of the world, and she wanted to chart every detail.
Books
An Ebay Purchase That Revealed the Everyday Lives of French Surrealists
Reading between the lines of contact information for friends, graphologists, psychoanalysts, and plumbers, Brigitte Benkemoun’s Finding Dora Maar reveals a map of a bygone France.
Art
A Mouthwatering Museum Tour for Vegans
Museumgoers of the vegan variety don’t heap ham, cheese, and eggs onto their plates — and some don’t want to see the stuff when they're strolling through the Prado Museum, either.
Art
A Rare Look at a Little-Known, Intrepid Woman Painter of Open Air Landscapes
Sarazin de Belmont was a rare talent: a self-funded artist and a woman who broke the courtly codes to travel unchaperoned for several years as she created open-air landscapes on the Italian peninsula and the French Pyrenees.
Books
A Tantalizing, If Flawed Reinterpretation of Picasso’s “Demoiselles d’Avignon”
In her new book, Suzanne Preston Blier seduces the reader with a reinterpretation of the painting, based on sources she claims no Picasso scholars have addressed before.
Art
The Story of Charles Ethan Porter, an African American Still-Life Painter
Porter’s struggle, and the ensuing invisibility of his work, are as much a part of his story as his masterful paintings that dignify humble everyday objects.