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Month: December 2016

  • resting

    This blog is resting until the new year. 

  • Dec. 17: Dylann Roof’s selfie

    DYLANN ROOF’S SELFIE Dylann Roof, convicted last Thursday in the murder of nine black parishioners who welcomed him to a prayer service at a Charleston, S.C., church in June, 2015, “. . . confessed—calmly, clinically, occasionally chortling—to killing nine people who he acknowledged could not have been more innocent.” (New York Times, 12/10/16)     This blog is…

  • Dec. 10: Kensett early and late

    KENSETT EARLY AND LATE It’s hard to believe that the same artist, John Frederick Kensett (1816-1872), painted two such different pieces. “Mount Washington” is a conventional “view” organized on a series of obliques (diagonals receding into space) beginning simultaneously at the lower right and left, shooting to the middle right, then swooping gently back and…

  • Dec. 3: Arno’s “Cabaret”

    ARNO’S “CABARET” The striking thing about the cartoons of Peter Arno (1904-1968) is their combination of bold formal decision with emotional complexity. His situations are vivid, his characters varied, closely observed, and full of attitude. His pieces are so dramatic because his characters have a pressing stake in the action he depicts. “Cabaret” is a prime example.…