The show is essentially a love story, arranged both chronologically and thematically, and unfolds almost like a serial novel. A precursor to Proust, say, in paint.
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Bridget Quinn
Bridget Quinn is a writer, art historian, and critic living in the Bay Area. Her most recent book is Portrait of a Woman: Art, Rivalry & Revolution in the Life of Adèlaïde Labille-Guiard. You can find her on her website.
Inmates Annotate an Archive of Prison Photos With Their Own Stories
The results are arresting, as the writers, who are also men in prison, make anonymous images their own, speaking out of their own experiences, bringing insights and empathy that no outside critic or art historian could.
The Astonishing Discovery of an Artist’s 9,200 Portraits of an Alternate Queer Self
The previously unknown Polaroids of April Dawn Alison were not just snatched from the jaws of oblivion, but are now in an esteemed museum collection.
Rubens’s Exciting, Upsetting, and Shockingly Current Paintings
Much of Rubens’s Baroque bravura feels timely in its grappling with violence, terror, power, sex, and coercion.
A New Book Culls the Favorite Museum Pieces of World-Famous Artists
For It Speaks to Me, Jori Finkel asked 50 artists, from Marina Abramović to David Hockney, “to discuss a museum piece that intrigues or inspires them from their hometown.”
Living in a Renaissance Palace, an Art Historian Uncovers an Amazing Past
When an unexpected opportunity arose to spend her year living in the famed Palazzo Rucellai, Allison Levy seized on it.
Suzanne Lacy’s Powerful Legacy of Feminist Collaboration
What struck me most in moving through the arc of Lacy’s career is what varied and thoughtful work she’s produced decade after decade, no doubt the result of her preference for collaboration.
Spotlighting Lesbian Artists as Central Players in California’s Queer History
Lesbian contributions to gay life and liberation have long been overshadowed, including in the art world.
A Book Assumes the Voice of Louise Bourgeois in Uncomfortable Ways
Jean Frémon began his book Now, Now, Louison while the artist, who was also a friend, was still alive.
Knausgaard Finds a Soulmate in Edvard Munch
Knausgaard’s monomaniacal excavation of the self and soul probably finds its closest counterpart in the work of Munch, his countryman.
A Poet’s Heartfelt Biography of Cy Twombly
Joshua Rivkin, a poet himself, passionately admires Twombly’s art and feels compelled to understand the man who made it.
Why Edvard Munch Began Painting Portraits of the Soul
An exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art illustrates how, over time, Munch moved away from observational painting toward something more symbolic and emotional.