The Shelf-Life of Evil

The Appraisers Association of America is releasing a new edition of its handbook Appraising Art next spring. I was asked to contribute a chapter on appraising the art of the American West. Since finishing my chapter, I’ve been thinking about how different my...

Another Kind of Art

The Supreme Court just came out with a ruling that caught the attention of the art world as well as the general press.  It involved the appropriation by Andy Warhol of a photo that had been taken by photographer Lynn Goldsmith of the pop star Prince, and it dealt with...

The Votes Are In

I was on a business swing through the Midwest recently and visited the Art Institute of Chicago to view Salvador Dali: The Image Disappears, the first exhibition at the museum to be devoted to the work of the artist most associated in the public mind with...

Wallpaper

Roberta and I were in Paris recently and took the opportunity to visit the Musée National de l’Orangerie des Tuileries for the first time.  Built by Napoleon III in 1852 to house his citrus trees during winter, the building, commonly called just l’Orangerie,...

Hogging the Spotlight

Ever heard of Babe Ruth?  Sure you have.  How about his teammate Lou Gehrig?  Probably.  What about their contemporaries Tris Speaker or Walter “Big Train” Johnson?  Maybe not, although both of the latter were among the greatest baseball players of the 1920’s and were...

It’s Alive!

My wife has a friend in his 80’s who told her that at his age any gathering of peers begins with what he calls “the organ recital.”  My liver’s been acting up, one person says.  My knee is killing me, adds another.  In like fashion, for the last several...