Tag Archives: art

Why art is not progressive

Posted on June 9, 2016 by David Brussat

William Hazlitt, the British essayist and critic of the early 19th century, wrote “Why the Arts Are Not Progressive” for the Morning Chronicle, of London, in 1814. He argues that science is progressive but art is not: What is mechanical, … Continue reading →

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Shots of first full WaterFire

Posted on May 29, 2016 by David Brussat

Last night was the first full WaterFire of the season here in Providence. I generally visit rather late, when the crowds have drawn down and parking is easy, well, easier. The lead-off photo above, taken by WaterFire volunteer photographer Jim … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Books and Culture, Development, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, Photography, Preservation, Providence, Urbanism and planning, Video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Video of pencil sculpture

Posted on May 16, 2016 by David Brussat

A marvelous minute of video portrays a virtuoso hand at sculpting the lead out of a pencil. Click on “Art on the tip of a pencil” to view a minute of how Salavat Fidai gets the lead out. More can … Continue reading →

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Skandalkonzert vindicated?

Posted on April 13, 2016 by David Brussat

A post on the website Artlark, “Skandalkonzert: The Battle for Modernism,” describes a riot that had classical concertgoers in Vienna battling amongst themselves in the pits and with the musicians and the even the composers. Pieces by Schonberg, Weber and … Continue reading →

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Sadness etched in stone

Posted on March 26, 2016 by David Brussat

The sculptures linked here as “15 utterly incomparable sculptures of the past and present” may or may not be utterly incomparable but are unutterably beautiful, some perhaps more fervently so than others. Most or maybe all evoke sadness, melancholy or … Continue reading →

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Heinrich Kley book trailers!

Posted on February 12, 2016 by David Brussat

Here are two book trailers – first I’ve heard of a book trailer! – for The Lost Art of Heinrich Kley, a two-volume set devoted to the work of the German illustrator. The set, published by Lost Art Books, boasts … Continue reading →

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Fogarty building never liked

Posted on January 10, 2016 by David Brussat

Now that it seems as if the Fogarty Building will finally come down, the Brutalist government structure next to the Providence Journal Building downtown was treated to a love-fest in the Journal today. “Time’s Up” reads the headline of reporter … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Providence, Providence Journal, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Met, NYPL dodge ’40s bullet

Posted on September 11, 2015 by David Brussat

A surprising revelation in an interesting paragraph from Michael Gross’s history of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogues’ Gallery: [NYC parks commissioner and Met board member] Robert Moses’s first impression of the new director [Francis Henry Taylor, 1940-55] was changing. … Continue reading →

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Artful restraint in Hartford

Posted on September 1, 2015 by David Brussat

This New York Times headline – “A New Look for the Wadsworth Atheneum” – had my neck hairs leaping to attention when I saw it in Paul Ranogajek’s email to the TradArch list yesterday. (Hats off to him!) A “new … Continue reading →

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Figurative statue at Loyola

Posted on August 23, 2015 by David Brussat

Walter Arnold’s sculpture of Father Arnold Damen, S.J., has just been installed at Loyola University, in Chicago, and the sculptor reports that returning students are already taking selfies with it, which he considers a sign of a work’s success in … Continue reading →

Posted in Art and design, Books and Culture | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments