A vanished world
The title of this post is taken from the title of a book of photographs by Roman Vishniac, of Jewish life in Eastern Europe in the 1930s. Here is the story of how the photos were taken: …[B]etween 1934 and … Continue reading →
Category Archives: Painting, sculpture, photography
They shoot horses, don’t they?
With a camera, taking photos at the border. And those photos got the horses fired because, as Jim Treacher writes, “The Biden administration cares more about how things look than how things are.” Actually, they don’t care about either, but … Continue reading →
The real “Pygmalion”? – Jane Burden Morris
[NOTE: I noticed that last night commenter “Zaphod” brought up Jane Morris towards the end of the open thread (see this as well as this). I thought I’d respond by putting up a link to an ealier post of mine … Continue reading →
Cave paintings as prehistoric flip art
I find this wondrous: Reconstructions of the original grease lamps produce a circle of light about 10 feet in diameter, which is not much larger than many images in the cave. Geneste believes that early artists used this small area … Continue reading →
Idealized photos, idealized paintings
Do photographs tell the truth? Not really, and even old photographs were often touched up. Here’s a description, with illustrations. I have cued it up to show what I consider the most interesting part: Speaking of which, I have a … Continue reading →
What is Hunter Biden’s art really worth?
This article is entitled “Pulitzer-Winning Art Critic Reveals What Hunter Biden’s Paintings Are Really Worth”: Last month, we reported that Hunter Biden’s first solo art show was coming soon and that his paintings were expected to sell for between $75,000 … Continue reading →
How to pose in photos
On the lighter side. But practical, too. I find this video quite fascinating, although I think most people might find the instructions confusing. Easier for dancers or ex-dancers, though, who are used to doing this with one part of their … Continue reading →
Now it’s Andrew Sullivan’s turn…
…to say buh-bye: “I am trying hard to create in this magazine a civil, respectful, intellectually honest space for political debate,” Haskell [the New York editor] said. “I believe there is a way to write from a conservative* perspective about … Continue reading →
To the left, history is fiction they can rewrite at will
What’s the war on statues about? It’s a case of “venting,” of course, in the emotional sense. But it’s much much more than that. The pulling down and/or defacing of statues is not some emotional spur-of-the-moment impulse, although I suppose … Continue reading →
More on monument destruction: no historical assist allowed
I just published this long post on how the current riots and statue-toppling represents a war on Western Civilization. I want to add something here, on a related topic. John Hinderaker of Powerline has written a piece today on much … Continue reading →
The war on Western Civ: why destroy statues of Ulysses S. Grant or Francis Scott Key?
Commenter “AesopFan” calls attention to this: Grant did briefly own one slave he freed years before the war; but as a general he smashed the Confederacy, and as president he crushed the Klan. He presided over the ratification of the … Continue reading →
Coleman Hughes: our moral confusion
I agree with Coleman Hughes that the images we see on videos such as George Floyd’s death tap into older images in a way that arouses emotion rather than logic: An article written by Hughes can be found here. Hughes … Continue reading →