Homage to Judy Chicago’s “The Dinner Party”

In my most recent class – Art Theory Overdrive – I present a variety of thought-provoking artworks that are meant to challenge the participants’ ability to analyze a work of art from as many perspectives as possible. This four-week class tackled a different subject matter each week and focused on comparing and contrasting two artists […]

Van Gogh’s Bedroom in Arles

I have never hidden the fact that I am a huge NERD. In fact, I am rather proud of my nerd status and have often celebrated it here on the blog. Well, I’m about to take my nerdy proclivities to a whole new level with this post. Are you ready? Today is Art Day is […]

“The Illuminator” by Brenda Rickman Vantrease

I like to consider myself an avid reader. While my preferred genres are Sci-Fi and Fantasy, I also read a lot of books for my art historical research and for The Wandering Art Historian book club. For a whole host of reasons, not all books I read make the final book club cut and yet, […]

“Made You Look: A True Story About Fake Art”

As the popularity of the True Crime genre continues to hold its spell over documentarians and podcasters, it can be a challenge to wade through the vast cornucopia of options. They can’t all be good, right? That said, I am happy to recommend a documentary that is exceptional in its storytelling and compelling in its […]

A Closer Look at Famous Paintings – Part 2

Please visit The Wandering Art Historian YouTube channel to watch my newest web series – A Closer Look at Famous Paintings, Part 2! Every Tuesday in May, a new video was published examining a few of my favorite paintings. In Part 2 of this series, I focused on paintings that are discussed in my online […]

“The Hearing Trumpet” by Leonora Carrington

Leonora Carrington was not only a prolific artist, but also a talented writer who applied her Surrealist principles to both her paintings and her writings. The Hearing Trumpet, first published in 1974, was rereleased in January of this year and it is an unreal romp through a world only Carrington could have dreamed up… get […]

THIS IS A ROBBERY

This is a Robbery: The World’s Biggest Art Heist is a four-part true crime documentary currently streaming on Netflix. Writing a review or recommendation for this series is a bit challenging because I don’t want to give anything away and there are definitely surprises in store for anyone who watches. I would wager that most […]

My Covid Classic – #17

The Wandering Art Historian book club is chugging right along through 2021! April’s book club pick was The Forest Lover by Susan Vreeland and wow… what a story! I first became acquainted with the work of Emily Carr two years ago when contemporary artist, Jessica Campbell, referenced her in some new work at the MCA […]

Madonna & the Art of Tamara de Lempicka

In my class From Muse to Master: Celebrating Women Artists vol. 2 we discuss the portraits of artist Tamara de Lempicka. Nicknamed “The Baroness with the Brush,” de Lempicka painted the young, liberated women of Europe in the flapper years of the 1920’s. Drawing on neoclassical female nudes for inspiration, de Lempicka crafted her own […]

Laurie Simmons Homage

You may recall from past blog posts that I sometimes attempt to create artwork in the same style or following similar methods as well-known artists. I often find that this plays an incredibly helpful role in understanding their methods and techniques when I am researching them from an art historical standpoint. Previously, I have emulated […]