On November 8th, 1929, ten days after the Black Tuesday stock market crash, New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) opened its doors to the public.
The idea of establishing an institution devoted to the collection and display of contemporary art was controversial. Artists feared that creativity would become institutionalized. If paintings and sculptures were taken out of the living environment, the museum would merely serve as a mausoleum or dumping ground.
As modernists defined art in terms of continuous movement and change (innovation was the new permanency), the idea of a “museum of modern art” seemed an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms. It needed clarification. [Read more…] about A Modern Art Historian’s Hanoverian Inspiration
Beginning with George Washington, it has been a custom for the President of the United States to have an official portrait sculpted or painted during his time in office.
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, at Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, was founded in 1859 by inventor and industrialist Peter Cooper, a progressive member of New York’s Board of Aldermen.
The year was 1911, a new decade had just started. In spite of sharp social divisions and mass immigration, New York was bustling. The scientific revolution was making an impact, radically altering the nineteenth century vision of the world.
A significant aspect of the 1920s in London was the proliferation of unlicensed clubs that operated on the fringe of criminality. Lawmakers were determined to crack down on out-of-hours drinking, but youngsters beat them by organising all-night bottle parties.
Say caricature, think politics – ever since the age of James Gillray and the British mockery of Napoleon, caricaturists have made a career out of political commentary. To this day, their work appears on the editorial pages of newspapers or magazines.
The June 2020 episode of “Crossroads of Rockland History,” explored the life and work of Mary Mowbray-Clarke. As a young woman, Nyack’s Mary Mowbray-Clarke (née Horgan) met and mingled with some of the most influential artists and intellectuals of the day.
The Albany Institute of History & Art has announced the launch of a new 3D digital tour of their Hudson River School exhibition.