Books
This Is Not a Review of a Biography of Magritte
In the graphic novel Magritte: This is Not a Biography, characters from the Surrealist artist's paintings come to life.
Review
Art
How the Cosmos Has Inspired a Photographer's Vision
Thomas Ruff's photographs question history, art making, and the medium itself.
Books
Chris Ware's Annotated Visual History of His Comics Career
In Chris Ware's latest book, Monograph, he confronts his past self through various ephemera and remembrances.
Art
Daguerreotypes of the California Gold Rush
Coinciding with the early years of photography, the California Gold Rush left a lasting mark on image making.
Art
A Collaborative Photobook by Richard Avedon and James Baldwin
Avedon and Baldwin's 1964 photobook, with a new introduction by Hilton Als, resonates profoundly today.
Art
How Asian-American Artists Made a Mark on Abstract Expressionism
Asian-American artists engaged deeply and creatively with Abstract Expressionism, counter to historical views of the movement as a New York monolith.
Art
Gauguin's Decorative and Graphic Art, Beyond His Paintings of Paradise
Paul Gauguin's decorative works, sculpture, wood carvings, and graphic artworks highlight his stimulating color harmonies and rich compositions, even as some of the subject matter sits uncomfortably with today's standards.
Books
Is There a Right Way to Look at Art?
Is looking at a work of art for up to fifteen minutes with no context the best way to appreciate and understand it?
Art
Celebrating Outstanding Glass Artists Who Happen to Be Women
Fired Up: Contemporary Glass by Women Artists at the Toledo Museum of Art is an outstanding show, but there is little to convince me that “female glass art” occupies a necessarily separate category than “glass art.”
Art
A Family Portrait in Ash
The artist uses his relatives' funerary ashes, bone fragments, and old photos to explore a complex family history.
Art
Finding Birds Among the Ruins of an Historical Archive
In Petrit Halilaj’s current exhibition at the New Museum the artist again explores matters of excavation as a means to explore issues of nationality.
Art
Realizing Paul Klee’s Influence on American Abstraction
A sense of irrepressible exuberance that makes Klee’s work singular in the history of modern art infuses two current exhibitions of his work in Switzerland.