Richard Schmid, though a well known and well respected contemporary American painter, is perhaps better known as an instructor, through his widely read book and, more recently, series of instructional videos.
His web site doesn’t do much to change this, in that the images of his work, though presented well enough, are frustratingly small. At least [...]

I’ve long been a fan and advocate of European comics, a field in which I think some of the most exciting work in the comics medium is being done.
Japanese comics (”manga”) have made significant inroads into the U.S. market, becoming something of an obsession in some circles, but European comics have been slow to [...]

Last Tuesday , Mr. M-mv and I took the Misses to the Art Institute . Originally, our art instructor had planned to guide the class through the museum, but last-minute scheduling snafus led to the cancellation of the class trip, so we were on our own (which, as you may have already realized, was just fine with this curmudgeonly hermit). I believe this was our first "big" field trip sans Boy-boy (a fine college man of nineteen, who still answers to his sisters' affectionate nickname what a guy!). That coupled with the realization Hey! These are young women we're taking on this adventure, not little girls! colored the day a little " Greyed Rainbow " (if you know what I mean). At the museum As those of you who, like us, have been visiting the Art Institute throughout its reinvention know, the gallery renovations and construction of the new wing mean continued small disappointments ( e.g., no Chagall windows, no Pollock , no Monk ). As members , though, we can't help but be excited about the (re)opening celebration next May. This visit, we lingered in the American galleries, which have been supplemented with works from the Terra Foundation . (Related entry here .) We also spent time among the European tapestries . Who knew how thoroughly they would capture Mr. M-mv's imagination?  read more »

Those who have been reading Lines and Colors for a while will know that I have a particular fondness for many of the late 19th, early 20th Century painters referred to as “American Impressionists”. (I put the phrase in quotes because I doubt the painters ever referred to themselves in those terms.)
The Phillips Collection is [...]

Long time readers of Lines and Colors will know that I have a particular fondness for painters at the edges of French Impressionism, both in terms of precursors to the Impressionist style and a range of other painters who were influenced by that style but took it in somewhat different directions, most notably the painters who are labeled “American Impressionists”. Over the weekend I had the opportunity to take in a new exhibition at The Newark Museum in New Jersey that showcases works in all three categories.  read more »

Another quick magazine mention. Anna Richards Brewster, an under-sung American painter who I profiled recently, is featured in a 10-page article in the October, 2008 Issue of American Art Review.
For $6 (U.S.), you get a nice overview of her work and 20 images. The article bears the same title as the current traveling exhibit, and [...]

6:00 PM Hollywood Chinese , by Arthur Dong (2008, 90 min.). From the first Chinese American film produced in 1916, to Ang Lees Brokeback Mountain almost a century later, this documentary brings together a fascinating portrait of actors, directors, writers, and iconic images to show how the Chinese have been imagined in movies, and how filmmakers have and continue to navigate an industry that was often ignorant about race, but at times, paradoxically receptive. Location: Remis Auditorium Tickets: MFA members, seniors, students $8; General admission $10. Click here for details (c) 2008 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

7:00 PM - 8:30 PM In the early twentieth century, the elegant Art Nouveau style transformed the architecture and decorative arts of many European cities. Broaden your knowledge of this seductive style, currently on view in the exhibition "Imperishable Beauty: Art Nouveau Jewelry." Four-session course: Thursdays Oct 16Nov 6 Session 1, October 16: Art Nouveau in National and International Contexts with Leila Kinney, independent scholar Explore Art Nouveau's beginnings at the Paris Worlds Fair of 1900, and the style's distinctive characteristics in major European and American cities, including Paris, Brussels, Vienna, and Chicago. View the movement's multiple sources of inspiration from nature, exoticism, modern technology, and a reorientation of historical styles.  read more »

As I mentioned in my previous article on Dean Cornwell, he was a second generation inheritor of the traditions of the Brandywine School of American illustration, having studied with Harvey Dunn, a student of Howard Pyle.
Cornwell’s other major influence was painter and muralist Frank Brangwyn, with whom he studied when he turned his career toward [...]

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM From John Singleton Copleys grand portrait, whose sitters were later so impoverished by the Revolutionary War that they could no longer afford the painting, to the Whistler masterpiece once owned by a notorious gambler, many of the MFA's American paintings have interesting histories. Join Janet L. Comey, curatorial assistant in American Paintings, for a curatorial gallery talk that looks at six American paintings, including the first painting to enter the MFA's collection, and discuss their previous owners, the circumstances of their commissions, and discoveries about their pasts. Location: Sharf Information Center Tickets: Free with Museum admission. Click here for details Related Collection: Art of the Americas (c) 2006 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston