Tag Archives: Museums & Galleries

Black Hebrew Prophets (Gothic)

Posted on May 8, 2025 by zjb

David, Moses, Noah, Abraham (ca.1408–10) are painted darkly with tempera on wood and gold ground. By Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni), each has their own identifying emblem. At the newly installed European galleries, the Metropolitan Museum of Art tells us … Continue reading →

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Poppies (Michal Rovner)

Posted on October 7, 2024 by zjb

For October 7, I am posting electronic copies of these images from Michal Rovner’s Pragim series. They were shown at Pace Gallery last year, from which I am freely cribbing. Rovner works with prints, video, and installations. Her work combines … Continue reading →

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Red Sunset on the Dnieper (Dnipro) (1905-8)

Posted on August 3, 2022 by zjb

In solidarity, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has put up in “Gallery 800” this painting by Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindzhi. “This scene shows a sunset over the river Dnieper, which originates west of Moscow and runs south into the Black Sea. … Continue reading →

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Light Object Held in Place (Helen Pashgian)

Posted on December 23, 2021 by zjb

I especially liked the two large lenses at the recent show by Helen Pashgian, an early member of the 1960s Light and Space Movement. Instead of the more diffuse light effect in the Light Art of Turrell and others, the … Continue reading →

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(Art Puppets & Middle East History) Cabaret Crusades (Wael Shawky)

Posted on February 17, 2020 by zjb

Puppets from Wael Shawky’s three-part video series Cabaret Crusades are here on view at the Met Breuer. I’m wondering about the relation between visual art and history (it could just as well be about religion and history) in a body … Continue reading →

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(Abstraction) Extreme Illusionism and Detailed Rendering (Vija Celmins)

Posted on February 16, 2020 by zjb

Getting back to work about my impressions about some exhibitions that have since come and gone, this one being Vija Celmins: To Fix the Image in Memory. Vija Celmins  (pronounced VEE-ya SELL-mins) is one of those artists, women, whose career … Continue reading →

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(Rome Pieces) On the Wall & De-Material (Richard Tuttle)

Posted on January 18, 2020 by zjb

About these images, one could create a spiritual allegory about the appearance of the presence of a god in the world. The Rome Pieces by Ricard Tuttle are discrete little things. The humble mark made of graphite lines and cut … Continue reading →

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OOF (Ed Ruscha) (New MoMA)

Posted on December 1, 2019 by zjb

Ed Ruscha, OOF, 1962 (reworked 1963); oil on canvas “The single word, its guttural monosyllabic pronunciation, that’s what I was passionate about,” Ruscha has said of his early work. “Loud words, like slam, smash, honk.” The comic-book quality of these … Continue reading →

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(Lachrymose Diaspora) Coins Jewels & Things Lost & Found (Colmar Treasure)

Posted on November 25, 2019 by zjb

With all due respect, the paltriness of the so-called Colmar Treasure, now on view at the Cloisters, is a lachrymose little testament. On loan from the Musée de Cluny in Paris, the “treasure” refers to the remains of valuables (coins, … Continue reading →

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Holocaust Objects Are Small (Auschwitz at the Museum of Jewish Heritage)

Posted on August 13, 2019 by zjb

Probably because it was close by and in New York City, I went to see “Auschwitz: Not Long Ago, Not Far Away,” the big exhibition now on view at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, and then I went again. There … Continue reading →

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