Images: Edward Hopper
I had heard of Edward Hopper before, but it wasn’t until a summer or two after high school, when I … Continue Reading Images: Edward Hopper
To Criticize the Critic
I once heard an hour on the radio devoted to talking about two classical composers. Between the host, the guest … Continue Reading To Criticize the Critic
“The Uluburun Shipwreck” (poem)
The Uluburun Shipwreck Download Audio The cedar ship sank off the coast of Turkeywith pottery from Cyprus and jewelryfrom Egypt … Continue Reading “The Uluburun Shipwreck” (poem)
Images: Gustave Courbet
Take a look through some of the best paintings of Gustave Courbet (1819-1877). Is the general claim true, that in … Continue Reading Images: Gustave Courbet
Images: Caspar David Friedrich
Three weeks ago I’d barely heard of the painter Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840). Awhile ago I had noted down that … Continue Reading Images: Caspar David Friedrich
Fame is a Vampire
I pass a sign outside of a business every now and then, and staring out at me beneath a bad … Continue Reading Fame is a Vampire
Images: Jean-François Millet
There is Only the Trying: Some Thoughts on Fame & Failure
1. When Derek Jeter retired from baseball in the fall of 2014, those who followed his last season heard the … Continue Reading There is Only the Trying: Some Thoughts on Fame & Failure
Unfinished Michelangelo (poem)
Unfinished Michelangelo The impossible bodies of apostles, messiahs and slaves, statues that couldn’t have stood had he finished them, faces … Continue Reading Unfinished Michelangelo (poem)
Images: Picasso Mostly in Pencil
At least for my money, Cubism is pretty boring compared to these portraits, taken from John Richardson’s biographies of Picasso. … Continue Reading Images: Picasso Mostly in Pencil
If you enjoy what you read here every day…
I’ve never made this request before, but if you enjoy reading what I post here at Human Pages, please consider … Continue Reading If you enjoy what you read here every day…
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
First Person: Harry Kessler in Florence (1896)
I’ve always had the sneaking suspicion that the Italian Renaissance is, aside from a few names, pretty boring compared to … Continue Reading First Person: Harry Kessler in Florence (1896)
Picasso’s Blue Sympathies
Picasso’s Blue Period–or basically anything he did before Cubism–has always struck me as more powerful than anything he did later, … Continue Reading Picasso’s Blue Sympathies
The Past is Not Dead: There is Only Continuity
from Peter Ackroyd, at the end of his first volume of the history of England: Other forms of continuity are … Continue Reading The Past is Not Dead: There is Only Continuity
History is An Accident
from Peter Ackroyd, at the end of his first volume on the history of England: When we look over the … Continue Reading History is An Accident
