Books
How Painter-Architects Brought Built Spaces to Life
Architectural drawings were limited to mostly monochrome in Europe until color appeared in the 17th century.
Lauren Moya Ford
Art
The Secretive, Ritual Objects of Masonic Groups
Though masonic fraternal groups have existed for centuries, their rites and methods have long been shrouded in secrecy.
Books
A Teenager’s Dreamy Art Deco Bedroom From 1929
A new book reconstructs a unique teen bedroom from 1929 and resurrects Joseph Urban’s far-reaching but now-forgotten influence on modern American design.
Art
Another Look at Hinko Smrekar, Slovenia's Rebel Caricaturist
Though little-known outside of his native country, Smrekar left a strong imprint on his nation’s art world and political thought.
Books
Florine Stettheimer, Highly Original Artist, Gets Her First Comprehensive Biography
Barbara Bloemink’s thorough, engaging book is the first comprehensive biography and full reading of Stettheimer’s paintings, and gives the artist the attention she has long deserved.
Art
Mauricio Lasansky’s “Nazi Drawings” Confront the Unthinkable Evil
Lasansky’s series drew massive crowds when it toured major museums between 1967 and 1970.
Art
Digital Exhibition Examines the Darker Side of Bananas
The banana's dominance and ubiquity has had serious and far-reaching implications for the region, engendering exploitative labor systems, climate change, and migration.
Books
How Venetian Glass Seduced American Artists a Century Ago
A lavishly illustrated, fascinating book explores the resurgence of Venetian glass and the ways it influenced American ideas about taste and beauty.
Art
How the Face of Rio de Janeiro Radically Changed Over Five Centuries
A new digital atlas, imagineRio, reveals how the city’s urban evolution has unfolded from its 16th century roots to the present day.
Art
Stitched Scenes of Everyday Life in LA’s Boyle Heights
Erick Medel’s labor-intensive pieces pay tribute to the labor being done around him.
Art
An Intimate Look at the Landscape of the South Texas Borderlands
Though the area has been at the center of recent border wall debates, its complexity and diversity have been politicized and oversimplified for centuries.
Books
A History of Utopian Nudist Clubs in Buttoned-up Britain
In the mid-1900s, nudists in Britain believed they could improve national health and remedy buttoned-up social norms and rigid class divisions.