Category: visual

Peter Paul Rubens’s 1617 drawing titled Man in Korean Costume (now in the Getty’s collection) may not be well-known in the US, but in South Korea two books have been inspired by the sketch: a 1993 historical novel that became a bestseller and a 2004 work of history by a Jesuit scholar.

“Known as Pluto’s Gate – Ploutonion in Greek, Plutonium in Latin – the cave was celebrated as the portal to the underworld in Greco-Roman mythology and tradition. Historic sources located the site in the ancient Phrygian city of Hierapolis, now called Pamukkale, and described the opening as filled with lethal mephitic vapors.”

“One thing you can do in Philadelphia is stand before the Gates of Hell. I am not talking about the Badlands of North Philly. I am talking about the Rodin Museum.”

“Instead of fighting the building, we have embraced it and accepted its eccentricities,” said the museum’s director of collections. “This was built as a national museum, not just an art museum, and we want the public to get a sense of history, seeing the paintings, furniture and applied arts that were all conceived around the same time.”

When the staff was cataloguing all of Albert C. Barnes’s art collection shortly after his death in 1951, an ancient Greek earthenware vessel shattered; it and everything else in its display case were removed from view. Restorers are finally able to work on the piece, and the ensemble should be back in place this summer.

Wayne “Reynolds, the bold and polarizing philanthropist vying for the chairmanship of the Corcoran Gallery of Art board — which isn’t technically up for grabs — held a gathering on Friday for himself and 300 guests to discuss his vision for the gallery and the related Corcoran College of Art and Design.”

“The beloved linchpin of my viewing life is playing a diminished role in the life of art. And I fear that my knowledge of art–and along with it the self-knowledge that comes from looking at art–is shrinking.”

“Boyle calls Venice ‘the ultimate discomfort’ for an artist. Not only are you expected to produce a lot of high-quality work in a relatively short time, the 325,000 or so visitors to the Biennale guarantee an ‘unprecedented level of scrutiny and public judgment.'”

“Its relative obscurity today is unfortunate, because this monument is one of the greatest works of commemorative art this country has produced. More than a monument, it is a symbol both of Washington’s aspirations as a city at the dawn of the 20th century and of the nation’s increasing prominence at that same moment.”