M. Elizabeth Price, AKA Mary Elizabeth Price, was a prominent American painter in the early twentieth century. And yet I hadn't heard of her, nor do I remember ever seeing her work until I stumbled upon her Flower Border II (undated) quite by accident on the internet a few weeks ago. The work struck me … Continue reading M. Elizabeth Price
Let me start by saying that I adore museums. For me they are spiritual and meditative places. I don't mean that to sound corny. I'm not shivering with awe when I step into a museum; it's just that they help to take me outside of myself and my everyday problems. At the same time, they … Continue reading Sometimes you need to de-museum your art.
In my fourteen plus years of training as an art historian I somehow never learned about the wonderful Horace Pippin. And then last week I stumbled across one of his paintings online: "The Getaway, The Fox (The get-a-way)" from 1939. Pippin's biography is fascinating. He was born near Philadelphia and educated in segregated schools in … Continue reading Mr. Pippin
Yesterday I had the delightful experience of seeing a painting for the first time and being absolutely sucked into the painting. If you don't already know him, let me introduce you to native Seattle artist Jeremy Mangan. I discovered Mangan's work at the Tacoma Art Museum, which is one of my favorite museums in the … Continue reading Jeremy Mangan’s Desert Island
Here's the thing. I am not, nor have I ever been, particularly cool. If you've read any of my blog posts, you have no doubt picked up on the fact that I am sentimental. I appreciate life's simple beauties. Without sarcasm or cynicism. Though I am a bit of a pessimist, I'm not jaded; my … Continue reading Sunny Days & Lonely Times
In yesterday's satirical post, I referenced Linda Nochlin's acclaimed 1971 essay, "Why Have There Been no Great Women Artsts?" In honor of National Women's Day, I reread it and got to thinking about women artists and the many, many artists who have been left out. I am not striking today, though I support those women … Continue reading What Women?
It turns out I have an "ancestor" who was a painter of some renown. In fact, she is considered "one of the greatest painters of the Old West." I discovered this by chance. My father recently moved to Seattle from Maryland and has unearthed a lot of stuff that had been stuck away in the … Continue reading Mysterious Marjorie
I've been silent the last month or so, because--though I've had lots of arts-related thoughts bubbling away in my head--I've had little time to convert those thoughts into words. Today's thoughts require very few written words, so I thought it would be worth the brief interruption in my work day. When I read about the … Continue reading Shipwrecked
I recently read somewhere that teens spend something like “almost all of their time” on the Internet. For all of the obvious reasons, this disturbs me. Which is not to say that I have figured out how to keep the Internet at a healthy distance myself. Far from it. I’m guilty of overexposing myself to … Continue reading White Noise
For no reason at all--except that I was researching him for some work recently--I want to brighten your day with a little Alphonse Mucha. If you know him, you probably love him. (I haven't met anyone who has told me they hate Mucha, but that doesn't mean you're not out there.) If you don't know … Continue reading What’s lacking from your Tuesday? Mucha, that’s what!
Ellen A. Hurst 