Feathers, Fashion, and Protecting Birds

There is a long history of feathers in fashion, as they add color, texture, and flair to bodices, shoulders, or hems. It’s hard to imagine them on everyday clothing, but for costumes or for expressing wild creative visions they’re extremely eye-catching and appealing. The dress above was designed by Yves Saint Laurent for dancer Zizi…

5 Museum Shows to See in NYC this Summer

Here are five museum shows in New York that I’m really looking forward to this summer, in no particular order: Age of Empires: Chinese Art of the Qin and Han Dynasties (221 B.C. – A.D. 220) currently on view at the Met Museum (through July 16) This show features over 160 objects from 32 museums and archaeological…

Scher Collection of Portrait Medals Opens at the Frick Today

The Frick Collection has just received the largest gift in its history: a collection of portrait medals from the Renaissance onwards given by Stephen K. Scher and Janie Woo Scher. To celebrate this donation, a selection of 100 of these medals will be on view today through September 12, 2017. The exhibition is organized by Aimee Ng, associate…

CLOSING SOON: Paris Refashioned, 1957-1968 at the FIT Museum

April 15 is the last day to see the standout show “Paris Refashioned, 1957-1968” curated by Colleen Hill at the Museum at FIT (closed Sundays and Mondays; admission is free). It’s a fascinating look at how the birth of ready-to-wear in France changed the fashion industry in ways that are still being felt today. As the market for…

Met Museum Makes Trove of Images Available to Public

Thomas P. Campbell, director of the Met, announced yesterday that the museum will make images of public-domain artworks in its collection available for free and unrestricted use. This is a real boon to bloggers, journalists, artists, and Internet users in general. Called Open Access, this policy uses the Creative Commons Zero designation and makes over 375,000…

Louvre Abu Dhabi Has Commissioned an Installation from Jenny Holzer

I reported recently for Le Journal des Arts that conceptual artist Jenny Holzer is completing an installation commissioned by the Louvre Abu Dhabi, according to her gallery Cheim & Read. The Abu Dhabi museum is scheduled to open in December 2015. The Paris Louvre is currently hosting an exhibition called “Birth of a Museum” (up through…

What Does a Cost-Benefit Analysis of Art Look Like?

In the New York Times yesterday, economist Robert H. Frank attempts to apply a cost-benefit analysis to one of the most iconic works in the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts, The Wedding Dance by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. He thinks it would be great idea to sell it. But this approach is wrong —…

City as Canvas, the Portrait of an Era

Seeing “City as Canvas” at the Museum of the City of New York, which opened yesterday and is up through August 24, was an unexpectedly rewarding, and even moving, experience. Not so much because of the quality of the art, some of which I was disappointed by, but because the show is so clearly a…

Do We Need “Art as Therapy”?

Alain de Botton has written a book titled “Art as Therapy” and now, along with art historian John Armstrong, will write new captions for 150 works in Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum that will be on view from April 25 to September 7, according to the Art Newspaper. The museum says that the captions are intended to “confront…