Even for those who frequent art museums, the daily routines of museum guards can be enigmatic. In uniform in the corner of galleries, guards are responsible for the difficult task of keeping priceless artworks safe from hoards of curious onlookers. In his celebrated 2023 memoir All the Beauty in the World, author Patrick Bringley shares insights about art and life from the perspective of a museum guard. The result is a text that makes readers reconsider the art workers who safeguard cultural treasures and provides a new appreciation for how to look closely at works of art. A former guard at Th ..read more

Rembrandt van Rijn (1606 - 1669), is known in popular memory for his emotionally charged portraits as well as for paintings of historical, mythological, and religious subjects, which exemplify the heights of Baroque drama and narrative. He was also a consummate draftsman and skilled printmaker. At the Worcester Art Museum through February 19, an impressive survey of the artist’s etchings shows off Rembrant’s talents and offers audiences an opportunity to learn about the thrilling qualities of printmaking as an artform. Rembrandt: Etchings from the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen features some se ..read more

Massachusetts-based artist Chris Hill focuses on creating impressively scaled acrylic paintings of the natural world. Leveraging vivid detail to explore the connections between plants and pollinators against the backdrop of a country where industrial farming is the norm, he makes important observations in his work. Chris was previously featured in one of my virtual exhibitions, and recently I took part in a conversation with him to explore his work and process. Chris Hill, Before the Spotted Lanternfly, 2022, acrylic on canvas, 60” x 48” (Image courtesy of the artist) Can you talk a bit about ..read more

Photography, grief, and memory are linked. Joan Didion, in her autobiographical chronicle The Year of Magical Thinking shares the advice that in order to get over the death of a family member one must “let them become the photograph on the table”. For photographer and mixed media artist Douglas Breault, his art practice often centers on the elegiac, and beyond that on the mournful quality of memory that can embed itself in the photographic image. A solo exhibition of Breault’s photo-based work at Stonehill College’s Carole Calo Gallery allows viewers to experience the artist’s immersive use of ..read more

The market for fine art is ever-evolving and while most news about the gallery field focuses on blue chip outposts in major cosmopolitan centers the vast majority of working artists operate within their own regional communities dotted around the United States. The average artist will never see their work acquired by a museum, will not receive an institutional retrospective, and likely will struggle to find robust gallery representation. At the same time, the demands on retail gallery owners in smaller cities are constantly increasing. Rents, and the other myriad expenses associated with small ..read more

As that time of year nears when many arts organizations host shows and sales of small artworks, it is interesting and timely to consider the historical tastes for little pieces of art. While the impending holiday season might bring exhibitions of smaller sized works to venues across the country, collectors have prized small art for centuries and the trends in modestly sized artworks have shaped art history more generally as well. Highlights from the history of art can serve as inspiration for contemporary patrons to add intimately scaled artworks to their collections. Unknown maker, Right Hal ..read more

Numerous prominent arts organizations in the United States trace their roots to the turn of the century, a moment of turbulent excitement on the nation’s cultural scene. Connecticut’s New Britain Museum of American Art is one such institution. Founded in 1903, it is considered to be the first museum dedicated exclusively to the acquisition of American art. In its galleries, a wide ranging collection tells a broad story of art made in and about the United States. While the museum has holdings that span from the Colonial period to Contemporary, some of the most compelling areas of its collection ..read more

Impressionism remains one of the most revered movements in Western art history. The soft focus paintings of Monet continue to hold sway with contemporary audiences sheerly through their unbridled beauty. The divergent influences and aftereffects of the Impressionist movement are less well-known by audiences but are no less worthy of exploration. In a current exhibition at the Worcester Art Museum, some of the complex realities of this art historical moment are explored, resulting in new insights that go beyond a popular aesthetic. The entrance to the exhibition is a wall-spanning tribute to t ..read more

In the early 2000’s the British singer Kate Nash had a song which began “Simply knowing you exist ain’t good enough for me.” The same can be said for art. It simply is not enough to know an artwork is out there somewhere. Art must be seen close up to be fully appreciated. In a world sodden with digital media, the quest to view art in person is a virtue, but developing virtual connoisseurship skills is a necessity and learning to love art we have not yet seen is  something to aspire to. In the new Netflix series This Is a Robbery, the infamous theft of artworks at the Isabella Stewart Gard ..read more

It is easy to misread sculpture as a static medium, or as one dedicated to inward-looking stillness. Great art, though, can upend such preconceived notions of its genre. One of the best regarded Baroque sculptures, Bernini’s David, for instance, is known for its remarkable torsion. Building up in the subject’s taut body, the drama inherent in tension and expected release is the key to this great work. In Down to Earth, a career-spanning survey of work by twentieth century sculptor Robert Rohm (1934-2013) another artist’s relationship with notions of tension, balance, and even motion is explore ..read more