Family Portrait
Portraits of distant relatives survive a married couple’s home reorganization, the subjects’ friendship in life an inspiration for the future.
The Monster Within
Psychiatrist and art critic Deborah Kostianovsky explains why she can’t turn away from a portrait that terrifies her.
Snow in the Concert Hall
Composers John Cage and R. Murray Schafer sculpt sound into moments that evade on-demand consumption. What can we learn from sound that will not be harnessed?
Greenhouse in the Desert
“If you revisit the things that once interested you, you can return to that period of your life. It’s part of time’s relativity—how its span depends on the way you spend it—something the pandemic has made visible. Lockdown turns a day into an elevator ride, a walk to the store into months, the house still with dust on your return.”
Graphite Insomnia
“A deep black square can be an object or an opening. Sometimes you can get a surface so deep, rich, and black that it begins to contain an immense amount of space and light. Your perception begins to equivocate, reading it as both object and void.”
Walls Covered in Basquiat
“What might be if he lived? What does it mean that his image is defined and further commoditized without his consent, by the same gatekeepers who contributed to the turbulence in his short life? And under these circumstances: who is art for?”
The Lewis Chessmen, Deer Antler, and a French Bulldog
“What could I make with antler?” I recalled the Lewis Chessmen and figured I could attempt to carve a set myself, although I’ve never worked with antler as a medium before. I had no pretensions that it would be even close to the famed Lewis set. In the end, the design was mine, a unique variant of classic.
An Itch for Things Remote
From ‘Moby Dick’ to Frank Stella, a writer looks to art of the sea for inspiration.
Grass Grew on the Sidewalks
The dream of visiting Harper Lee’s world leads to reconnecting with a grandmother.
Georgia O’Keeffe in New Mexico
Lessons from a master in living with beauty: Georgia O’Keeffe’s home beckons for a 15-hour drive across the American Southwest.
The Craft That Serves the Art
A chance Google search leads to a nearly 600-mile drive to see the details in Lilian Broca’s mosaics.
Seventeen Ways of Looking at the Mona Lisa
We asked writers and artists to show us what the ‘Mona Lisa’ means in today’s selfie-seeking, Kardashianized world.
You Have Changed Me Forever
The role of a lifetime plunges an actor into one of the deadliest chapters of American history.
To Bobby, With Love
The last single person among her friends, a young woman recognizes herself in Stephen Sondheim’s ‘Company’.
There Was This Clock
A musician chases Time through art history.
On Not Being Silent
A journalist’s priorities change after an encounter with the work of the feminist poet Audre Lorde.
Final Touch
Remembering Mirella Bentivoglio, who left a legacy of art and personal conversations.
What If Our Ideal Is Shot With Rust?
A poet wanders cultural Paris before and after a terror attack.
Stepping, In Time
Gestures for manual labor become a dance and inspire reflection on optimization and ease.
Heaven and Hell in Venice
Overwhelmed by history, a traveler connects to the present via Hieronymus Bosch.
