Books
The Geometric Aesthetics of Piet Mondrian's Studios
Dutch artist Piet Mondrian lived a nomadic life, caught between the two World Wars, and he transformed each new studio and home into a reflection of his current practice.
Review
Art
How Artists Portrayed Prostitution in 19th-Century Paris
PARIS — Perhaps out of a kindred permissive, libertine spirit, prostitution — both chic demi-mondaine and lascivious, pierreuse street-walker style — played a central role in the nascent development of modern painting.
Art
Illuminating the History of West African Portrait Photography
Discussions of West African portrait photography tend to gravitate towards the 1960s and 1970s, the era of such well-known artists as Seydou Keïta, Malick Sidibé, and Samuel Fosso.
Art
Diaper Cakes, Rotten Candy Vases, and the Artistry of Upcycling Detritus
HAMTRAMCK, Mich. — One can detect a sense of barely contained glee underlying Dylan Spaksky's effort to include everyone in his fun.
Art
An Oblivious but Ambitious Artistic Intervention in White
LONDON — white, Edmund de Waal’s intervention at the Royal Academy (RA) library, is a wonder.
Art
An Arrow-Shooting Goddess from a Time When Clocks Were Entertainment
From the 16th to 19th century, clockmaking in Europe saw increasingly elaborate marriages of interior mechanics and exterior design.
Art
Negotiating Copyright and Copy-wrong in Architecture
There is no shortage of literature on copying in architecture.
Art
In Middle America, a Survey of Art from Latin America
DETROIT — The central piece, and the one that immediately draws the eye when entering the main gallery of United States of Latin America at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, is a full wall mural by Minerva Cuevas entitled “America.”
Art
At a Hanoi Prison Museum, a History Too Painful to Aestheticize
HANOI, Vietnam — The “Hanoi Hilton” is the sarcastic nickname bestowed by US prisoners of war on the Hoa Lo prison in Hanoi, formerly North Vietnam.
Art
The Genre That Wasn’t There: A Wide-Ranging Examination of Postwar Ceramics
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Leave it to a former professional studio potter to organize a wide-ranging exhibition of postwar ceramics that’s relatively free of hangups about form and function.
Art
A Strange Family Drama, Starring Found Object Sculptures
WASHINGTON, DC — The Black Box film series at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden isn’t where you'd expect to find a gaggle of teenage boys.
Art
A Photographic Portrait of Black Culture Around the Globe
CHICAGO — Deana Lawson’s photographs thwart easy notions of symmetry.