Modern African-American art gets the spotlight

“In Conversation: Modern African American Art” comes to the Peabody Essex Museum just as interest in art by black Americans is — belatedly — bubbling to the surface in New England’s art museums. Prompted by the opening of its Art of the Americas Wing, the Museum of Fine Arts, in particular, has spent several years …

A Show of African American Artists Resonates in Racially Divided Detroit

by Sarah Rose Sharp on January 7, 2016 DETROIT — Can an exhibition be informed by the place it visits? 30 Americans, a survey of works by African American artists in the Rubell Family Collection, which debuted in Miami, and has since visited places including the Milwaukee Art Museum, stands on its own as a remarkable assortment of contemporary …

Friends of African and African American Art Celebrate 50 Years At DIA

DETROIT, MI – Where were you during the summer of 1962? ‘…The Friends of African and African Art (originally-African Art Gallery Committee) formed a committee to acquire art to establish a new gallery dedicated to the traditional art of Africa. This is one of the oldest auxiliary groups at the DIA. Its mission is to …

‘Blackboard Wars’ Season Finale: Art Saves Homeless Teen Allen Lefort’s Life (VIDEO)

By OWN Life in New Orleans is rough. Eighteen-year-old John McDonogh High School student Allen Lefort ended up homeless after a series of struggles — his father’s overdose and his brother’s death among them. In this clip from the season finale of “Blackboard Wars,” Lefort, after a suicide attempt and an intervention from school principal …

Queen Portrait Defaced: Westminster Abbey Painting By Ralph Heimans Has Been Vandalized

A portrait of Queen Elizabeth II was defaced with spray paint Thursday at London’s Westminster Abbey, and police arrested a man at the church on suspicion of vandalism. Fathers 4 Justice, a protest group that campaigns on behalf of fathers denied contact with their children, said the arrested man was a member. It said he …

Gustave Courbet Birthday: Rebellious French Painter Turns 194

In honor of Gustave Courbet’s birthday, we are revisiting a post originally published last year honoring the artist’s life and work. We can think of few artists who embody the spirit of unbridled liberty and personal conviction better than Gustave Courbet. The rugged, bohemian painter would turn 194 if he were miraculously still with us …

Willi Sitte Dead: East German Artist Dies At 92

Willi Sitte, one of East Germany’s most eminent artists and a key representative of Communism’s preferred socialist realism painting style, has died at 92. The head of the Willi Sitte Foundation, Hans-Hubert Werner, told German news agency dpa that Sitte died on Saturday morning after a long illness. Sitte’s paintings depicted factory workers or farmers …

Huge Street Art Murals Transform City Of Lodz In Poland

The city of Lodz in Poland is promoting the work of street artists from around the world as a way of creating a cultural re-invigoration of this city whose population is three quarters of a million. Begun in 2009, the Urban Forms Gallery has installed more than 20 large square paintings on elevations in the …

AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTIST ALLAN ROHANE CRITE WORKS DISCOVERED IN STORAGE UNIT

A story right out of reality television has unfolded for a young couple from western Massachusetts.  Last year the couple acquired the contents of an abandoned storage locker at a Boston auction.  Little did they realize at the time that the locker contained a selection of works by Allan Rohan Crite, dubbed in 2002 as  …

Diego Velazquez Birthday: Famed Spanish Artist Turns 414

Today we would like to celebrate the birthday of famed portrait artist and friend of Spanish royalty Diego Velazquez. The painter, who The Metropolitan Museum of Artonce described as “the most admired — perhaps the greatest — European painter who ever lived,” would turn 414 years old today if he were miraculously still alive. Velazquez was …

Nahum Tschacbasov Retrospective: Exhibit Of Avant-Garde Artist Goes On View For Russian Heritage Month

The canvases of Russian-born artist Nahum Tschacbasov are filled with familiar themes — quasi-religious imagery, romantic landscapes, not-so-subtle references to being an artist. With brushstrokes reminiscent of Peter Doig and ghostly figures that echo Picasso’s, the paintings evoke a pleasant feeling of deja-vu. Most art admirers are probably unaware of the Tschacbasov’s prominence in the …

Tala Madani’s Painted World Of Middle Aged Men

Imagine a world populated only by middle aged men, left to fumble through their daily activities with a heavy dose of masculinity and self-seriousness that so often plagues the male set. This is the scenario posited by Iranian-American artist Tala Madani, whose satirical paintings excel at seriously poking fun. We agree with Roberta Smith when …

Erotic Embroidery: Artist Alaina Varrone Creates Tantalizing Needleworks That Are Certainly NSFW

Artist Alaina Varrone turns the wholesome craft of embroidery into a tantalizing medium for erotica in her colorful NSFW needleworks. From blush-worthy nudity to eyebrow-raising sexual acts, the threaded imagery is certainly not your average chain-stitch design. Varrone is a classically trained visual artist who dabbled in needlecraft before entering college. But, as she stated in an …

‘At-Risk’ Teens Produce Interesting Artwork As Teacher Aims To Reduce Graffiti

It appears that this California teacher has truly reached his students. In an effort to avoid doling out detentions for graffiting at the alternative high school where he teaches, Reddit user RedPenVandal allows his students to draw at their desks. The doodles, which he posted in an album on Reddit, are both beautiful and inspiring. In a Reddit …