Where’s The Getty In Poussin Purchase? Not There

“In announcing its newest acquisition, Nicolas Poussin’s ‘Sacrament of Ordination (Christ Presenting the Keys to Saint Peter),’ circa 1636-40, Fort Worth’s Kimbell Art Museum said in a press release, ‘The painting is from Poussin’s famous first set of the ‘Seven Sacraments,’ which has been universally acclaimed, virtually since its creation, as a landmark in the history of art.’

And I found myself saying, ‘I wonder why the Getty didn’t buy it?'”

Talking About 9/11 Art, And How It Shaped Memory And Debate

“As befits an event with a truly traumatic status, 9/11 has proved difficult to approach in an uncontroversial way. No work of ‘9/11 Art,’ in fact, seems complete without some commentary on how it fails or does disservice to the true nature of the tragedy — though, of course, this true nature varies depending on who is doing the commentary.”

If Trauma’s A Natural Part Of The Human Condition, How Can We Help Each Other?

“I step toward the topic of trauma intermittently; then, I step away. And even as resilient survivors and professionals know that not every survivor of trauma develops prolonged problems, and that not everything we commonly call “stress” is, in fact, trauma, to pretend that natural disasters, mass violence, accidents and other traumatic experiences, such as sexual assault, don’t take a toll on coping is, at least, unkind and – at worst – perilous.”