Posted in Art, Art History, Painting, Sacred Art, Things to Read on Apr 24th, 2011
ShareTHE RESURRECTION, from Matthias Grünwald’s Isenheim altarpiece, is the single most striking image of the event on which Christianity is founded. It dramatizes the center of the Christian mystery—and, correspondingly, the mystery of man. Neil MacGregor—art historian, director of the British Museum, and man of faith—responds to drama of the painting in his Seeing Salvation. [...]
Posted in Art, Art History, Painting, Sacred Art on Apr 22nd, 2011
ShareBy Christopher S. Johnson
AS IT HAS DONE WITH SO MUCH ELSE, contemporary art has largely jettisoned the Christian themes and imagery that defined the Western tradition for centuries. (Those much publicized maestros of toilet media excepted, to be sure.) It came as a mild shock then, on the cusp of Holy Week, to stumble upon [...]
Posted in Art, Art History, Culture Cues, Sacred Art on Apr 19th, 2011
SharePALM SUNDAY COMMEMORATES JESUS’ ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM and marks the beginning of Passion Week. It observes the triumphal prelude—so misleading—to bloody days ahead, a time of betrayal, torture, and death. While portrayals of crucifixions continued well into the 20th century, Palm Sunday has largely been ignored by all but a few contemporary artists. Jacob Lawrence [...]
Posted in Art, Art History, Art Writing, Artistic Pretension, Sacred Art on Feb 20th, 2011
ShareHOW TO BEGIN? Objects of Devotion and Desire: Medieval Relic to Contemporary Art does not make it easy. I could take the high road and start this way: “Memory of the sacred lingers even among secular moderns who proclaim themselves celebrants of a totally profane world.” Or I could be up front about the unbearable [...]
Posted in Sacred Art, Things to Read on Jan 19th, 2011
ShareSTRAIGHTAWAY, MY APOLOGIES FOR BEING IN ARREARS. A few readers emailed to scold me for letting things lapse. Nothing is worse than a blog with no blogging going on, as I’ve been told. Irresponsible, someone chided. Boring, was another complaint. All true. Have patience. Things will continue shortly. Life has a way of . . [...]
Posted in Art, Art History, Art and Politics, Museum Culture, Sacred Art on Dec 1st, 2010
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THREE FAITHS: JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, ISLAM is two things at once. To the eye, it is a stunning exhibition of historic manuscripts, incunabula and printed texts of great rarity and beauty. On that level, it is nothing short of breathtaking. This is an uncommon opportunity to greet antiquities of incomparable scholarly and aesthetic value.
Unhappily, the [...]
Posted in Culture Cues, Museum Culture, Sacred Art on Nov 14th, 2010
ShareMODERNITY OFFERS SECULARISTS TWO SEDUCTIVE HEDGES: aestheticism and Buddhism. New York’s Rubin Museum yokes them together in a pictorial fantasia on the New Age-y theme of universal spirituality. No divisive truth claims mar the view from the $100 million monument to Multi-Plan founder Donald Rubin’s own purchasing power and those acquisitive cravings that Buddhist doctrine [...]