How Renaissance Artisans Turned Live Animals into Silver
Lifecasting was the renaissance art of making sculptures using molds taken from real-life plants and animals.
Why John Baldessari Burned His Own Art
The artist's "Cremation Project" of 1970 marked a liberation from the tradition of painting and a step toward a more encompassing vision.
Wait, Why Are the Parthenon Marbles in London?
Lord Elgin went beyond his original mandate, amassing a vast store of treasures, one scholar notes.
The Lumpy Pearls That Enchanted the Medicis
There’s a specific term for these irregular pearls: “baroque,” from the Portuguese barroco.
Alfred Stieglitz’s Art Journal
"The best one can say of American art criticism is that its CLEVERNESS OFTEN CONCEALS ITS LACK OF PENETRATION," Alfred Stieglitz wrote.
The Afterlife of Royal Hair
Whether worn as a lovelock or set in elaborate jewelry, the clipped-off hair of Kings and Queens outlived the monarchs themselves.
Persuasive Cartography: An Interview with Map Collector PJ Mode
A collection of rare maps explores their power as visual messengers.
When Posters Went Psychedelic
Posters were originally a method of advertising and promotion, but in the 1960s, a new crop of psychedelic signs became emblematic of the counterculture.
Subscription Art for the 19th-Century Set
How the American Art-Union brought fine art to the people, via a subscription service, in the 1840s.