Double Vision: “Seeing Double” at the Yale Center for British Art

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then John Scarlett Davis must have been the sincerest flatterer in all of England in 1829. In the exhibition Seeing Double: Portraits, Copies and Exhibitions in 1820s London, the Yale Center for British Art solves the “puzzle” of Davis’s painting The Interior of the British Institution Gallery (shown), which caused a stir in the London art scene of 1829 in ostensibly recreating an exhibition of Old Masters hosted in 1829 by the British Institution, a London-based art organization run by collectors and connoisseurs. “Ostensibly” becomes the key word in examining Davis’ painting, as the Yale Center’s research shows just what kind of liberties Davis took in his recreation and to what ends he took those liberties. Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Double Vision."

[Image: John Scarlett Davis, The Interior of the British Institution Gallery, 1829. Oil on canvas. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection.]

[Many thanks to the Yale Center for British Art for providing me with press materials for Seeing Double: Portraits, Copies and Exhibitions in 1820s London, which runs through September 19, 2010.]

Moving Forward: New Wave Museum Marketing

“It’s time we Met,” reads several posters in the latest marketing campaign of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. A recent piece by Peter Aspden titled “Met on the Move” in the Financial Times queried the Met’s director Thomas P. Campbell (shown) as to what new directions the museum will be taking in bringing the museum to the public for the ever-shrinking entertainment dollar in our still-shrinking economy. As the Met goes, so goes most American museums, so listening to this canary in the coal mine can give us an early indication of just what kind of siren song museums hope to sing to lure patrons through their doors. Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Moving Forward."

The Healing Arts: Addiction and Art

Half a million people die annually in the United States from substance abuse or addiction, which represents 1 in 5 deaths overall. One-half trillion dollars are lost annually in the battle against abuse and addiction. Faced with those numbers, medical science recognizes that science itself may not be enough and turns to the humanities. “Science gives us the tools, but art gives the inspiration and the drive to make a difference in reducing addiction and helping people achieve recovery,” says the introduction to Addiction and Art from Johns Hopkins University Press. “What is more important—the tools or the drive? They are inseparable.” Marrying two disciplines that often stand in opposition, Addiction and Art unites science and art in the name of bringing the scourge of addiction to an end. Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "The Healing Arts."

[Many thanks to Johns Hopkins University Press for providing me with a review copy of Addiction and Art, edited by Patricia B. Santora, Margaret L. Dowell, and Jack E. Henningfield.]

French Connection: French Painting at the National Gallery of Art

Ever since Lafayette, some connection between America and France, however tenuous, has existed. One of the strongest bonds between the two countries is the American love of French art. When we think of French art today, we instantly imagine the Impressionists. Our National Gallery of Art, in Washington, DC, however, houses one of the finest collections of 15^th to 18^th century French art in the world, thanks in part to the benefactors who saw something of America in those French artworks. French Paintings of the Fifteenth through the Eighteenth Century documents the rich and varied collection of artworks and shows how this French connection tells us as much about American history as it does about French history. Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "French Connection."

[Many thanks to Princeton University Press for providing me with a review copy of French Paintings of the Fifteenth through the Eighteenth Century.]

By the Numbers: The Census in Public Art

Thanks to years of conservative pushback, the United States Census looks like a huge waste of time and taxpayer money to many Americans. Even worse, many Americans misconceive the census as the government’s insidious way of metaphorically looking through their keyhole to spy into their private lives. A commercial shown during the last Superbowl broadcast tried to redeem the census as ironic and cool, while other more wonky advertisements stressed the benefits to the community that come from participation in the census, which helps the government decide what bucks go where. Anita Glesta’s The Census Project (shown) tries to humanize the faceless government census bureau through large-scale public art that is both thoughtful and whimsical at the same time. Don’t fear the census, The Census Project wants to say, because the census is you, the census is Americans. Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "By the Numbers."

Census project from Anita Glesta on Vimeo.

[Many thanks to Susan Grant Lewin Associates for providing me with the press materials for Anita Glesta’s The Census Project.]