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 […]

Betye Saar & Art That Disrupts

Betye Saar is a living legend. Born in 1926, Saar has been challenging, not only art enthusiasts and dedicated museum goers, but the art world at large with her profound commentary on race in the United States. Utilizing a found object format, Saar’s assemblages pay homage to the art historical tradition that precedes them. Duchamp’s […]

“WandaVision” & Leonora Carrington

The life story of Leonora Carrington is so fascinating that I am dumbfounded as to why it hasn’t been made into a film or multi-episode limited series. As a film it screams “Oscar bait” and as a limited series it would fit perfectly into the current trend of glamorous, yet provocatively emotional prestige television. That […]

From Muse to Master: Celebrating Women Artists vol. 2

Hopefully it is apparent that my goal for 2021 has been to focus on creating NEW art historical content across a variety of platforms in order to reach as many people as possible. The year 2020 taught me that people still want to learn about ART despite the “new normal” of living with a global […]

“The Last Nude” by Ellis Avery

The Last Nude by Ellis Avery flips the script on the traditional (and misogynistic) notion of the relationship between an artist and their muse. In some ways, it plays into the seemingly patriarchal trope of the famous artist passionately and erotically obsessed with a beautiful young woman in need of some perceived rescuing, whether physically […]

My Covid Classics – #9

The Wandering Art Historian book club met for the last time in 2020 on Friday, October 30th and we discussed an amazing book by Elise Hooper titled Learning to See. Telling the story of American photographer, Dorothea Lange, Hooper sheds light not only on Lange’s personal life, but also on the myriad of issues faced […]

My Covid Classics – #8

The Wandering Art Historian book club met last week to discuss Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper by Harriet Scott Chessman. This slim tome packs a mighty emotional punch that seems to resonate even more profoundly in 2020, despite the story being set in 1878. Told from the perspective of Mary Cassatt’s sister and frequent […]

Ruth Asawa Stamps

If you are in need of stamps or want to support the USPS, consider purchasing the Ruth Asawa Forever Stamps and learn a bit of American history, women’s history & ART history while you’re at it! Asawa was a Japanese American artist and educator that the U.S. government placed in an internment camp – on […]