Birds in Art

Early artists document an avian world that has some members that are now in decline Artists love birds. Leonardo studied their flight, Picasso used the dove as a symbol of […]

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Whaler’s Delight

Back in the days of Moby-Dick, men on whaling ships spent their downtime carving objects from whale bone and dreaming of pie. What other explanation could there be for the […]

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This Art Form Still Inspires Style Today

Ever since the mid-19th century, when ukiyo-e prints took Paris by storm, Westerners have been enchanted with this Japanese art form. Katsushika Hokusai’s The Great Wave Off Kanagawa is now […]

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A Tale of Two Houses

Lambert Castle and the Botto Residence tell opposite sides of a story In 1892, a Paterson, New Jersey millionaire named Catholina Lambert set out to build the mansion of his […]

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Grand Dunand

The eternal elegance of Jean Dunand’s Art Deco designs In 1912, decorative artist Jean Dunand and Japanese lacquer master Seizo Sugawara struck a deal. Sugawara had asked Dunand’s assistance in […]

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Simply Steampunk

The Morris Museum exhibits nostalgia for a long-lost future For all the light shining on it, the art world still has hidden layers. Poke beneath the surface and you uncover […]

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Making Their Marks

Young artists drawn to handmade notations Art has lots of buzzwords. Here’s a new one, at least to me: “mark making.” What does it mean? In the loosest sense, it’s […]

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Beautiful Byobu

Japanese screens combine art and craft in one exquisite object At the Winter Show in January, Erik Thomsen Gallery of New York City exhibited a six-panel Japanese folding screen painted […]

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A Woman’s Work-Table Is Never Done

These multifunctional side tables have endured for generations The progress of any nation in morals, civilization, and refinement is in proportion to the elevated or degraded position in which woman […]

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