

STARE… IT IS THE WAY TO EDUCATE YOUR EYE, AND MORE. STARE, PRY, LISTEN, EAVESDROP. DIE KNOWING SOMETHING. YOU ARE NOT HERE LONG.
– WALKER EVANS
Let’s stir up the mulch of inspiration — the sparking, loamy source of the creative process. At times, my mulch-stirring will have direct bearing on what I’m writing, and at others, none at all. Or, more likely, I just haven’t yet found the connection. Let me know what inspires you . . .


“Wonder” at the Renwick Gallery
I’ve been wondering about the newly reopened Renwick Gallery here in Washington, DC. Long a cherished space, I was eager to see what the two year-long renovation of this Smithsonian museum—heretofore devoted to craft and decorative arts—had…

An Absinthe Drinker, Two Tahitian Girls, and a Frog …
…walk into a bar. Oops, never mind. That’s another blog for another time.
Seriously, though, if you walk into the Phillips Collection here in DC you’ll meet them all – and more. Gaugin to Picasso: Masterworks from Switzerland, now…

Art in the Round: The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Yesterday I took a fresh look at this vibrant museum on Washington’s National Mall. The third floor galleries have reopened after renovation, and, in celebration of the museum’s 40th anniversary, an installation—At the Hub of Things: New…

The Most Famous Impressionist You’ve Never Heard of
Gustave Caillebotte? The name doesn’t spring to mind if you’re asked to rattle off a few well-known Impressionist artists. Yet he was a master of all they sought to do—to paint light, employ unusual perspectives, and render life as…

John Singer Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends
Imagine you’ve been invited to a gathering hosted by the famous American expatriate painter John Singer Sargent (1856-1925). Here you meet his teacher, his patrons and their children, as well as his close friends—painters, writers, actresses,…