I wonder how long I waited there, as the clouds slowly moved in and obscured the sky, first dropping scattered raindrops and then eventually pelting the world with hail. I had gotten so used to the briny smell of the sea that I was surprised to notice it that morning. Sloshing and crashing against the … Continue reading Cynthia W. Iliff, Untitled (Men Playing Cards), 1942
Art History
Wouter Johannes van Troostwijk, The Raampoort in Amsterdam, 1809
After a night of half sleep in damp straw, I sneak out of the falling-down barn into the thick, white air. My feet are still wet and cold. My back still aches. But I barely feel these discomforts anymore. They are no more than nagging. What I can't ignore—what flashes bright and insistently at the … Continue reading Wouter Johannes van Troostwijk, The Raampoort in Amsterdam, 1809
Dorothea Lange, End of an Era: Funeral Cortege in a Small Valley Town, California, 1938
Uncle Bob was the last of the elder generation to go. It started when my great-aunt Louisa passed two years ago. A steady stream of the older generation falling away: Uncle Larry and Aunt Kay died within days of each other in their home, too weak to tolerate the flu, the doc said. My mother … Continue reading Dorothea Lange, End of an Era: Funeral Cortege in a Small Valley Town, California, 1938
Agnes Martin, Flower in the Wind, 1963
What is it about the desert that makes me feel so at peace? Maybe it is its subtle, sun-faded colors. Its boundlessness. The fact that it is at once monotonous and variegated. The way the rows upon rows of sagebrush slide out into the horizon, greens and silvers fading into silvers and tans. There are … Continue reading Agnes Martin, Flower in the Wind, 1963
The Last Tavern at the City Gates
In retrospect, I'm pretty sure the whole reason I majored in art history was because I saw art as a portal into other worlds. I loved looking at incredible images that evoked mood and told about the history of art and so on and so forth. But I always felt (and still do) that a … Continue reading The Last Tavern at the City Gates
Palimpsest
In one of my graduate classes, Research Techniques in Renaissance Studies, I studied the history of scholarship and manuscripts. One of the things I found most interesting was the palimpsest. Since books were made from expensive parchment (animal skin), corrections were not easy to make. Images couldn't simply be erased with a rubber eraser, nor … Continue reading Palimpsest
The Beauty and Brutality of Interaction: Art Far from Home
It is very trendy for art historians to talk about “cultural interaction” and the hybrid works created during a given period of interaction. My research focuses on the interaction between Muscovy (Russia) and northern Italy during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, so I’m definitely a part of this trend. Most scholars of early modern art … Continue reading The Beauty and Brutality of Interaction: Art Far from Home
Welcome!
I am--still, in 2015--amazed at the number of online resources available for lovers of art, history, art history, archaeology, exhibitions, and on and on. In fact, I seem to stumble upon a new resource every week. With that in mind, I have decided to use this blog to collect my findings in one place. Hopefully, … Continue reading Welcome!
Ellen A. Hurst 