Category Archives: art

PRICING PORTRAITS BY SIZE.

PRICING PORTRAITS BY SIZE. I posted here about how Rubens said that tapestries were priced by size while pictures were priced “according to their excellence, their subject, and number of figures.” When I made the post, I was amused by … Continue reading

Posted in art, Economics, History | Leave a comment

THE ROMANCE OF OPEN WINDOWS.

THE ROMANCE OF OPEN WINDOWS. We are accustomed to the use that Vermeer made of light pouring into a room from the a window at the side of the painting. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has an exhibit on the … Continue reading

Posted in art, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

THE ROMANCE OF EDGELANDS.

THE ROMANCE OF EDGELANDS. I have posted several times about the beauties that can be found in the industrial wastelands near our cities. I posted here about reviews of the book EDGELANDS by Paul Farley and Michael Symmons Roberts. But … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, art, History | Leave a comment

THE UNCANNY VALLEY.

THE UNCANNY VALLEY. I came across this article on how computer animation that is too realistic can creep people out. This is supposed to have adversely affected a recent Disney movie, “Mars Needs Moms.” I finally mentioned it to Annalisa, … Continue reading

Posted in art, Science | 1 Comment

COMPARING WORKS BY ARTISTS AND BY CHIMPANZEES.

COMPARING WORKS BY ARTISTS AND BY CHIMPANZEES. This article in Psychology Today describes an experiment by Angelina Hawley-Dolan and Ellen Winner of Boston College which tested whether students would prefer paintings by well-known abstract painters to paintings by monkeys, children … Continue reading

Posted in art, Science, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

LOOKING AT ONLY ONE OR TWO PAINTINGS IN A ROOM.

LOOKING AT ONLY ONE OR TWO PAINTINGS IN A ROOM. I say that I intend to look at the Google art project reproductions before going to museums in New York because I have long recognized my limitations in taking in … Continue reading

Posted in art, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

WEIGHING THE ARGUMENTS ON REPRODUCTIONS (COMMENT).

WEIGHING THE ARGUMENTS ON REPRODUCTIONS (COMMENT). I was going to weigh the arguments pro and con on reproductions, but Margo’s comment (here) expresses my thoughts better than I would have. Even for paintings that are accessible to me in the … Continue reading

Posted in art, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

A POSITIVE VOTE FOR REPRODUCTIONS—HENRY FORD.

A POSITIVE VOTE FOR REPRODUCTIONS—HENRY FORD. S.N. Behrman wrote a wonderful biography of Sir Joseph Duveen, the art dealer who sold the paintings to Frick and Mellon that form the basis of the collections in the Frick Museum and the … Continue reading

Posted in art, History, Literature | Leave a comment

A NEGATIVE VOTE ON THE GOOGLE ART PROJECT.

A NEGATIVE VOTE ON THE GOOGLE ART PROJECT. Sebastian Smee had an article at the Boston.com site which takes a negative view of the Google art project. Its headline is: “In the end, Google’s closeups intrude on the art experience.” … Continue reading

Posted in art, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

LOOKING AT ART THROUGH REPRODUCTIONS.

LOOKING AT ART THROUGH REPRODUCTIONS. I realize that even though I have lived near a number of museums, most of my experience of art has been through reproductions. There was a lot of comment that Sister Wendy’s insights into art … Continue reading

Posted in art, Uncategorized | Leave a comment