Opinion
Why Depressing Art Is Good for You
From Ilya Repin to Charlie Kaufman, artists who explore the darkest human impulses can give us hope and inspire us to be better.
Tim Brinkhof
Tim Brinkhof is a journalist and film critic based in Amsterdam. He studied early Netherlandish painting at NYU and has written for Esquire, High Times and History Today.
Art
The Complicated Legacy of Camilo Egas
The Ecuadorian painter, a leading figure of Latin America’s Indigenismo art movement, has been both praised and scorned for his representation of Indigenous peoples.
Art
Visiting Peru’s Terrorism Museum on the Eve of a Constitutional Crisis
Peruvian history is a contentious subject, and the authorities in charge of writing its first drafts should not be taken at their word.
Art
The Past, Present, and Future of Kosovo Collide at Manifesta 14
Many exhibits at the biennial seem to be about Kosovans setting things right and regaining a sense of control over their lives and livelihoods.
News
How the Hermitage Amsterdam Finally Broke Free From Mother Russia
The Dutch institution had long tried to distance itself from Putin’s Russia, but after the invasion of Ukraine, distance was no longer enough.
Art
A Rare Look at a Korean Portraiture Tradition
An exhibition at the Asian Art Museum is only the latest step in a long journey to chart the development of Korean identity through art.
Art
When Disney Declared War on Deutschland
Walt Disney built his media empire animating fairy tales; he did not start making films set in a Nazi-occupied Europe by choice.
Opinion
What We Lose if the Amsterdam Hermitage Closes for Good
Thanks to the pandemic, the museum may be on the verge of shutting its doors just when Europe needs its Russian ambassador more than ever.
History
How a Dutch Painting Dominates the Way We See a 17th-Century Lynching
Jan de Baen's “The Corpses of the De Witt Brothers” has become the dominant visual representation of the brothers’ lynching, but whether it deserves this honor is debatable.