Category Archives: Just a Second

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

Rembrandt van Rijn, two impressions of Jacob’s Ladder, 1655, etching and drypoint, 4⅝” x 3⅛”, Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Rembrandt van Rijn, two impressions of Jacob’s Ladder, 1655, etching and drypoint, 4⅝” x 3⅛”, Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

What is a Burr?

In printmaking, a burr is made of the metal that remains on a printing plate after it has been displaced in the process of carving an image. This often happens when using drypoint as a printmaking technique. When creating a … Continue reading

Aeolic column Aeolic capital, Archaeological Museum of Mytilene in Mytilene, Lesvos, Greece

Just a Second: Aeolic Order

The Aeolic order is a style of ancient Greek architecture thought to be the prototype of the Ionic order. The Aeolic style, which appears in the 6th century BCE, probably originated with the Phoenicians because there are similarities between the Aeolic column capitals and … Continue reading

Alexander Calder, Mobile, 1941, 60 x 152 3/8in., Painted aluminum, steel, steel rod, and wire, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Photo courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Alexander Calder, Mobile, 1941, 60 x 152 3/8in., Painted aluminum, steel, steel rod, and wire, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Photo courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Just a Second: Kinetic Art

Kinetic art is art that moves, and therefore optimally it engages a viewer. One of the early artists to make kinetic art was Alexander Calder, who created mobiles that were so carefully balanced that the slightest movement of air created by an approaching viewer … Continue reading

Hieronymus Bosch, Arrest of Christ and Christ Carrying the Cross from the Exterior of the Triptych of The Temptation of St. Anthony, 1505-1506, oil on panel, Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Artwork in the Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons. Hieronymus Bosch, Arrest of Christ and Christ Carrying the Cross from the Exterior of the Triptych of The Temptation of St. Anthony, 1505-1506, oil on panel, Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Artwork in the Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Just a Second: Grisaille

French for the word gray, grisaille is the technique of painting in a muted monochrome palette. As would be expected, this technique often was used for the underpainting of a work of art; however, in the 15th century artists painted many exteriors of … Continue reading

Yayoi Kusama, Floor Show, 1965/2013, Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, photo by Christian Ramiro González Verón via Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic License. Yayoi Kusama, Floor Show, 1965/2013, Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, photo by Christian Ramiro González Verón via Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic License.

Happy Birthday Yayoi Kusama

Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama turns 87 today. Known for her irreverent and experimental work, Kusama probably is most famous for her Infinity Rooms in which she explores her obsessions with particular patterns and forms by setting them in a mirrored … Continue reading

Abraham Bloemaert, The Adoration of the Shepherds, 1612, 113" x 90.2", The Louvre Museum, Paris, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons. Abraham Bloemaert, The Adoration of the Shepherds, 1612, 113

Happy Birthday Abraham Bloemaert

Abraham Bloemaert (Dec. 25, 1564 – Jan. 27, 1651), the Dutch painter and printmaker living in Utrecht, was born on Christmas Day. A devout Catholic living in the Netherlands, Bloemaert had a thriving business creating religious works of art for the few Catholic churches … Continue reading

Shiviti Amulet; Taddana, Morocco; 19th Century, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, Berkley, CA, Photo via Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License Shiviti Amulet; Taddana, Morocco; 19th Century, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, Berkley, CA, Photo via Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License

Just a Second: Shiviti

A shiviti is a representation of a candlestick that is used for the meditation of God’s name in the Jewish religion. A shiviti displays the name of God above the Temple seven-branch candelabrum. Shiviti is the first word in the Hebrew … Continue reading