Speed of Life

by Gregg Chadwick Cypresses  Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, Zundert 1853–1890 Auvers-sur-Oise)  June 1889 Oil on canvas 36 3/4 x 29 1/8 in. (93.4 x 74 cm) Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York “To give an idea of Provence it’s vital to do a few more canvases of cypresses and mountains. … It took me all the time to observe the character of the pines, cypresses, &c. In the pure air here, the lines which don’t change and which one finds again at every step.” Vincent Van Gogh to Theo Van Gogh ,  Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Saturday, 4 January 1890  836 “Van Gogh’s Cypresses” is the perfect exhibition for this moment in time. In our pixel soaked, AI drenched, climate change endangered world we are in need of a sojourn to physical reality and a soulful engagement with the natural world. This exhibition at the Met in New York brings together Van Gogh's paintings, drawings, and illustrated letters that engage the theme of cypress trees. Many of the artworks are fragile and light se...

From the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Join Stephanie Herdrich, Associate Curator of American Painting and Sculpture, and Sylvia Yount, Lawrence A. Fleischman Curator in Charge—both of the American Wing—for a virtual tour of "Winslow Homer: Crosscurrents." This ambitious survey reconsiders Homer’s work through the lens of conflict, a theme that crosses his prolific career. A persistent fascination with struggle permeates his art—from emblematic images of the Civil War and Reconstruction that examine the effects of the conflict on the landscape, soldiers, and formerly enslaved to dramatic scenes of rescue and hunting as well as monumental seascapes and dazzling tropical works painted throughout the Atlantic world. The centerpiece of the exhibition is Homer’s iconic "The Gulf Stream" (The Met), a painting that reveals his lifelong engagement with charged subjects of race and the environment. Featuring 88 oils and watercolors, "Crosscurrents" represents the lar...

 Love the latest holiday card from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Happy Holidays to all. 

by Gregg Chadwick Intimately viewing the drawings of Michelangelo helps pull the veil of fame off of this towering figure. In spite of the title of the exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, to give humanity back to artistic gods is no easy feat. The Met has done it twice in fourteen years. First was the 2003 exhibition of  Leonardo da Vinci's  drawings and now those of Michelangelo in 2017. Both exhibits have given a sense of hope and human possibility back to viewers in times of struggle and uncertainty. In its exhibition,  Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer  the Metropolitan Museum has created a temporary museum dedicated to the life, times, and art of Michelangelo. It includes 133 drawings and poems created by Michelangelo that link the artworks to ongoing projects by the artist and his workshop. One of Michelangelo's earliest paintings is included and a small group of his sculptures in marble fill out the show. Also included are dr...

Rembrandt van Rijn Aristotle With The Bust of Homer 56 1/2" x 53 3/4" oil on canvas 1653 Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York   With the sad news that Metropolitan Museum of Art curator Walter Liedtke was killed in this week's horrible rail crash in New York, posting his powerfully narrated web episode of 82nd & 5th: "The Choice", for me, helps keep this wonderful man's passion for Rembrandt alive. Below is the  Metropolitan Museum of Art's label text for  Aristotle With The Bust of Homer : Aristotle (384–322 B.C.) rests his hand reflectively on a bust of Homer, the blind epic poet of the Iliad and the Odyssey. A medallion representing Alexander the Great, whom Aristotle tutored, hangs from the heavy gold chain. The philosopher contemplates material rewards as opposed to spiritual values, with the play of light and shadow on his features suggesting the motions of his mind. Painted for the great Sicilian collector Antonio Ruffo, t...