Category Archives: art

DOES EVOLUTION LEAD US TO LOVE LANDSCAPES?

Posted on January 18, 2009 by Philip

DOES EVOLUTION LEAD US TO LOVE LANDSCAPES? Jonah Lehrer reviews Dennis Dutton’s new book, THE ART INSTINCT, which argues that our instinct for art and desire for beauty are the result of the evolutionary process. Lehrer describes how Dutton takes … Continue reading →

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THE DEATH OF LANDSCAPE?

Posted on January 17, 2009 by Philip

THE DEATH OF LANDSCAPE? Jackie Wullschlager wrote in this article in the Financial Times that “Landscape in 20th and 21st century art is less than unfashionable – it has dropped off the radar screen. Why?” She notes that in a … Continue reading →

Posted in art, History, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

PRICING ART BY SIZE AND THE NUMBER OF FIGURES.

Posted on August 12, 2008 by Philip

PRICING ART BY SIZE AND THE NUMBER OF FIGURES. Rubens on the pricing of art: “‘One evaluates pictures differently from tapestries. The latter are purchased by measure, while the former are valued according to their excellence, their subject, and number … Continue reading →

Posted in art, Economics | 1 Comment

EPHEMERAL ART—SCREEVERS AND DUST.

Posted on August 12, 2008 by Philip

EPHEMERAL ART—SCREEVERS AND DUST. With cameras everywhere, ephemeral art is not so ephemeral any more. Chalk on sidewalk in rainy England might seem as ephemeral as you can get (I posted on a talented screever here.) But perhaps drawings in … Continue reading →

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HOW WE PERCEIVE.

Posted on July 22, 2008 by Philip

HOW WE PERCEIVE. The experiment I posted on yesterday involving photographs of bicycles provides support for what Atul Guwande calls in this New Yorker article “the account of perception that’s starting to emerge.” He calls it the “brain’s best guess” … Continue reading →

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TYLER COWENS SUMMARIZES THE CONTEMPORARY ART MARKET.

Posted on July 15, 2008 by Philip

TYLER COWENS SUMMARIZES THE CONTEMPORARY ART MARKET. In this review of THE $12 MILLION STUFFED SHARK: THE CURIOUS ECONOMICS OF CONTEMPORARY ART by Don Thompson, Tyler Cowens gives a wonderful summary of the economic function that the contemporary art market … Continue reading →

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PAINT DRIES IN LOTS OF PLACES.

Posted on March 12, 2008 by Philip

PAINT DRIES IN LOTS OF PLACES. Professor Mahadevan, whom I posted on yesterday, sees paint drying everywhere. He sees mountains as wrinkles on the earth. He sees the islands of Japan as formed by molten lava collapsing with a perimeter … Continue reading →

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WATCHING PAINT DRY—DOES IT CRACK OR DOES IT WRINKLE?

Posted on March 11, 2008 by Philip

WATCHING PAINT DRY—DOES IT CRACK OR DOES IT WRINKLE? Perhaps because, as a baseball fan, I am predisposed to take an interest in paint drying, I loved this article by Jonathan Shaw about the applied mathematician Lakshminarayanan Mahadevan. When paint … Continue reading →

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STANDUP, PUSH-PIN AND ART–THE MORE THE MERRIER.

Posted on November 26, 2007 by Philip

STANDUP, PUSH-PIN AND ART–THE MORE THE MERRIER. How do I feel about Ron Rosenbaum’s article that I posted on yesterday, which argues against Jerry Seinfeld’s kind of standup comedy? I guess it should be clear that I take a somewhat … Continue reading →

Posted in art, Literature, Theater | 2 Comments

THE COLORS OF GREEK AND ROMAN STATUES.

Posted on November 2, 2007 by Philip

THE COLORS OF GREEK AND ROMAN STATUES. This article in the November-December Harvard Magazine has wonderful pictures of color reconstructions of ancient Greek and Roman statues. The colors are based on scientific analysis of traces of paint left on the … Continue reading →

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