Images: Picasso Mostly in Pencil
Taken from John Richardson’s biographies of Picasso. Click on each to enlarge:
Images: Manet’s Muse, Victorine Meurent
The French painter and model Victorine Meurent (1844-1927) appears in some of the most famous of Édouard Manet’s paintings. Click … Continue Reading Images: Manet’s Muse, Victorine Meurent
Images: Rembrandt’s Self-Portraits
The number of Rembrandt’s self-portraits alone far outnumber the entire output of many artists. Here is only a fraction of … Continue Reading Images: Rembrandt’s Self-Portraits
Images: The Earliest Stone Buddhas
Among the earliest sculptures of the Buddha, from Heinrich Zimmer’s Art of Indian Asia. Click on each to enlarge:
Burned as a Witch in Ireland in 1895
From Frazer’s Golden Bough: In March 1895 a peasant named Michael Cleary, residing at Ballyvadlea, a remote and lonely district … Continue Reading Burned as a Witch in Ireland in 1895
The Great Myths #55: An Island is Cut Away & the Prose Edda Begins (Norse)
Read the other Great Myths here The Prose Edda, one of the greatest sources for Norse mythology, begins with … Continue Reading The Great Myths #55: An Island is Cut Away & the Prose Edda Begins (Norse)
20th Century Poetry #5: Edward Thomas
One way to understand where poetry is now is to see where it was a hundred years ago. Every Saturday … Continue Reading 20th Century Poetry #5: Edward Thomas
Sleepwalking into World War One
From Christopher Clark’s The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914: Do we really need to make the case … Continue Reading Sleepwalking into World War One
Images: Watch Picasso’s “Guernica” Emerge
Scroll through this selection of preliminary studies & photos of the canvas as it was worked on & completed. Pretty … Continue Reading Images: Watch Picasso’s “Guernica” Emerge
The Great Myths #54: A Native American Orpheus (Tachi Yokut)
Read the other Great Myths here As the compiler of this myth notes: “The Orpheus myth is also popular among … Continue Reading The Great Myths #54: A Native American Orpheus (Tachi Yokut)
Marc Chagall Struck by Lightning
The artist Marc Chagall, meeting his wife Bella Rosenfeld in 1909; they were together for the next 35 years: … Continue Reading Marc Chagall Struck by Lightning
Bruce Springsteen on “Nebraska,” & When the Demo is the Album
Two passages from Bruce Springsteen talking about his 1982 album Nebraska. You can hear the entire album here: Nebraska began … Continue Reading Bruce Springsteen on “Nebraska,” & When the Demo is the Album
The Great Myths #53: Thor Goes Fishing for the Serpent that Surrounds the World (Norse)
Read the other Great Myths here Long ago the slaughter-gods were eating their hunting-prey in the mood for a drink, … Continue Reading The Great Myths #53: Thor Goes Fishing for the Serpent that Surrounds the World (Norse)
20th Century Poetry #4: Laurence Binyon
One way to understand where poetry is now is to see where it was a hundred years ago. Every … Continue Reading 20th Century Poetry #4: Laurence Binyon
The Hooded Lady of Brassempouy
from Randall White’s Prehistoric Art: The best known of the statuettes from Brassempouy is the 25,000 year-old “dame à la … Continue Reading The Hooded Lady of Brassempouy
Philip Roth Mourns the Behemoth of Pop Culture
from a 2006 interview: “… television began in 1948, really, and Popular Culture just grew and grew and grew and … Continue Reading Philip Roth Mourns the Behemoth of Pop Culture
William Blake Chooses Eternity
A wonderful paragraph from Peter Ackroyd’s biography of William Blake, where he shows how the poet slowly came to accept … Continue Reading William Blake Chooses Eternity
“It is so hard to die”: An Account of Depression from 1809
One of the most heartbreaking stories I know relates the last day in the life of Meriwether Lewis (of Lewis … Continue Reading “It is so hard to die”: An Account of Depression from 1809
Joseph Campbell’s Hero Sets Out
A piece of the beginning and end of The Hero with a Thousand Faces: Whether we listen with aloof amusement … Continue Reading Joseph Campbell’s Hero Sets Out
The Great Myths #52: Ríg Gives Advice (Norse)
Read the other Great Myths here Here is Andy Orchard’s translation of the Rígsthula, where the culture hero Ríg wanders … Continue Reading The Great Myths #52: Ríg Gives Advice (Norse)
20th Century Poetry #3: W. H. Davies
One way to understand where poetry is now is to see where it was a hundred years ago. Every Saturday … Continue Reading 20th Century Poetry #3: W. H. Davies
How Picking Fleas Led to the Evolution of Language
From Steven Mithen’s Prehistory of the Mind: The anthropologist Robin Dunbar looked at the size of the brain of H. habilis … Continue Reading How Picking Fleas Led to the Evolution of Language
The Earliest Human Communities
From Steven Mithen’s The Prehistory of the Mind: There is good circumstantial evidence that H. habilis [2.1 to 1.5 million years … Continue Reading The Earliest Human Communities
We Were All Animals Once: The Beginning of Anthropomorphic Thinking
from Steven Mithen’s The Prehistory of the Mind: This propensity to think of the natural world in social terms is … Continue Reading We Were All Animals Once: The Beginning of Anthropomorphic Thinking
Vermeer in Bosnia
If anyone asks you about the Why of art, especially in the face of atrocity or just its apparent impracticality—for … Continue Reading Vermeer in Bosnia
On Beethoven’s Deathbed
Here are two passages from Beethoven’s life. The first finds him on his deathbed, and is recorded in the memoirs … Continue Reading On Beethoven’s Deathbed
Understanding Religious Fundamentalism
I am always thrilled to reread these two passages by Erik Hornung, and to find in them just about the … Continue Reading Understanding Religious Fundamentalism
20th Century Poetry #2: A. E. Housman
One way to understand where poetry is now is to see where it was a hundred years ago. Every Saturday … Continue Reading 20th Century Poetry #2: A. E. Housman
Humanity’s Earliest Rituals
Three passages on prehistoric religion from the book Becoming Human: One of the pervasive themes of [this book] is … Continue Reading Humanity’s Earliest Rituals
Harold Bloom Discovers That What Writers Work Hardest On Isn’t What Readers Remember Most
from Bloom’s 1991 interview with The Paris Review: You know, I’ve learned something over the years, picking up copies of … Continue Reading Harold Bloom Discovers That What Writers Work Hardest On Isn’t What Readers Remember Most
The Archaeology & Mythology of Caves
The archaeologist Jean Clottes writes that, besides the more famous paintings in the ice-age caves of France and Spain, it … Continue Reading The Archaeology & Mythology of Caves
