Author Archives: Sally Whitman Coleman, PhD

Sally Whitman Coleman has been teaching art history for more than 15 years, at University of Texas at Austin, Baylor University and Southwestern University. She is a specialist in Renaissance art and was the recipient of a Fulbright grant to conduct research in Belgium. She earned her doctorate at the University of Texas at Austin and her undergraduate degree at Skidmore College.
Photo by Sally Coleman

Banksyland in Austin: When Curators Don’t Curate and Organizers Don’t Tell the Truth

Banksyland, a twenty-two-city international touring exhibition of work by the British artist Banksy just closed in Austin. Don’t worry if you missed it.  Banksyland was a fine opportunity to see many of the artist’s authenticated prints, a few authenticated and many … Continue reading

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios, Feb. 25, 2021 © 2022 . All rights reserved.

NFTs: The 21st-Century Urinals

More than 100 years ago, Marcel Duchamp started an artistic revolution when he signed a urinal with “R. Mutt 1917,” gave it the title Fountain, and entered it in an exhibition of the Society of Independent Artist in New York. It … Continue reading

Georgia O’Keeffe, Apple Family – 2, 1920, Oil on canvas, 8’ x 10”, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, NM, Photo courtesy of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum Georgia O’Keeffe, Apple Family – 2, 1920, Oil on canvas, 8’ x 10”, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, NM, Photo courtesy of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum

Georgia O’Keeffe: An American Original

We are accustomed to seeing works of art by Georgia O’Keeffe in prominent American museums, but there is a lot to be said for visiting the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, NM and experiencing her art on its own. … Continue reading

Beeple, Everydays – The First 5000 Days (2013), NFT © 2021 . All rights reserved.

Yes, Digital Art Just Sold for $69.3 million

It is hard to believe, but it’s true: a NFT (non-fungible token) digital artwork by Beeple entitled, Everydays – The First 5000 Days sold at Christie’s yesterday for $69.3 million. It is a collage of all of the artwork Beeple created for … Continue reading

Jean-Léon Gérôme, Pygmalion and Galatea, 1890, Oil on canvas, 35” x 27” Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY © 2021 . All rights reserved.

A Charming Love Story

Here’s a nice love story for Valentine’s Day – it comes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, a poem written in the 8th century in Rome that is based on a story from Greek mythology.  Pygmalion was a sculptor who fell in love with his statue … Continue reading

Sandro Botticelli, Portrait of a Young Man Holding a Roundel, c. 1480, oil on panel, photo by Sotheby’s. © 2021 . All rights reserved.

Let’s All Crush on Sandro Botticelli

Sandro Botticelli’s Portrait of a Young Man Holding a Roundel from c. 1480, sold at Sotheby’s this past Thursday, January 28th with a hammer price of $80 ($92.2 million with the buyer’s premium). For a good article about the auction, including information about … Continue reading

Deborah Roberts, Unbothered, 2017, Mixed media on paper, 30” x 22”, Image by Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, CA. © 2021 . All rights reserved.

Make the Time: Deborah Roberts at The Contemporary Austin

My New Year’s resolution is to post regularly on The Art Minute, and I can find no better subject to write about than the upcoming exhibition of work by the very smart, funny, and brilliantly talented Deborah Roberts that will open … Continue reading

Edward Hopper, Office in a Small City, 1953, oil on canvas. 28” x 40”, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Edward Hopper, Office in a Small City, 1953, oil on canvas. 28” x 40”, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

My COVID-19 Playlist

Because of the concerted effort made by museums and galleries to remain connected to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic, there now is what seems like an avalanche of terrific content available on the internet. Generally speaking, major museums and … Continue reading

Alexander Calder, Untitled Mobile, 1963, Painted metal and wire, 29” x 57” x 24”, Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s Auction House. Alexander Calder, Untitled Mobile, 1963, Painted metal and wire, 29” x 57” x 24”, Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s Auction House.

Just a Second: Kinetic Art

Kinetic art is art that moves.  Probably the best-known artist who created kinetic art was Alexander Calder (1896-1976), who made mobiles – large and small – that moved with the slightest breeze. Calder made these sculptures by suspending abstracted organic shapes … Continue reading