19th Century Art

The American abstract painter Paul Jenkins pulled streams of color through his canvases in a quest to depict the ever-changing nature of reality. By Rebecca Allan Paul Jenkins (1923–2012) liberated the materials of his art in such a way that oil, watercolor, and acrylic paints and canvases became mutable elements for the expression of his…

A once-in-a-generation retrospective at the Art Institute of Chicago invites us to contemplate  the reasons for Cézanne’s profound and ongoing influence. By Rebecca Allan In Stephen Sondheim’s musical Sunday in the Park with George, the character of Dot, an artist’s model, sings to the painter Georges Seurat, “Give us more to see!” Dot’s understanding of…

The martial aesthetic of the samurai is the theme of a new museum opening this month in Berlin. By John Dorfman In a utilitarian age, it is hard for us to imagine that the accoutrements of war could be beautiful. But for the Japanese in the age of feudalism, arms and armor were the subject…

Helen Lundeberg’s painting grew from a unique blend of intense intellectuality and California cool. By John Dorfman Running alongside the foaming rapids of avant-garde art in the 20th century is another stream, quieter, often in the shadows, but steadily flowing nonetheless. In that current can be found movements such as Precisionism, the New Objectivity, Metaphysical…

Pattern-Seeking Nancy Callan’s glass art is all about exploration, discovery, and collaborating with the material. By John Dorfman Nancy Callan has caught on fire. Not metaphorically—literally. When she’s working on her pieces in the hotshop, assistants have to hold wooden paddles to shield her arms and torso from the heat, and on more than one…

An unusual exhibition foregrounds the Renaissance and Baroque art of painting on surfaces of semi-precious stone, marble, or slate. By Rebecca Allan Anyone who has hiked a mountain or combed a beach to seek out unusual stones can appreciate our shared affinity for the special qualities of rocks—their age, origin, resilience, coloration, textures, and shapes….

Milton Avery created a unique blend of figuration, abstraction, and color wizardry that influenced generations of artists who came after him. By John Dorfman Milton Avery (1885–1965) was a man of few words. He would go whole days without saying anything, until his wife, the painter Sally Michel Avery, would finally get him to speak….

Sean Scully’s painting takes geometric abstraction into a realm that is both emotional and philosophical. By Rebecca Allan Painting is a mercurial discipline. Creating a work of art from the combination and manipulation of pigments, liquid binders, and tools manipulated by the hand to metaphorically convey an idea, memory or a place is a slippery…

In Florence, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see Donatello’s greatest works together reveals the power and influence of the Renaissance sculptor’s innovations. By John Dorfman Donatello may well be one of the most radical artists of all time. Virtually single-handedly, he reinvented sculpture in the early 15th century, making it a thoroughly three-dimensional, vital art form….