A visual history of Zoroastrianism—allegedly humanity’s oldest monotheistic religion—materializes only to the most determined eyes. Buried under millennia of crucifixes, stars of David, and crescent moons, symbols of this four-thousand-year-old faith have been overshadowed and repurposed as cultural and political motifs; yet like its worshippers, Zoroastrian art has not vanished, but rather learned silently to adapt and influence.
Art News
From anti-semites to abusers, this list is full of truly disheartening facts about artists who made some of the most beautiful work. There has long been an association between caustic temperaments and creative genius. But is this just an excuse developed by said jerks to get away with, quite literally in some instances, murder?
You may know the Dia Foundation from their renowned upstate escape, Dia Beacon. And while this arts center is a gem of contemporary art and sculpture, the Foundation’s work goes far beyond this singular location.
British sculptor Phyllida Barlow challenged the conventions of sculpture for over fifty years. On Monday, Barlow’s gallery Hauser & Wirth, confirmed her recent passing. She was 78.
Caspar David Friedrich, like other Romantic painters, established landscape paintings as a dominant genre in Western art. Friedrich’s coming of age was during a time when materialistic society began to favor spirituality. The artist followed this shift in ideals through expressing the natural world as a divine creation, a separate entity from human civilization. As French sculptor David d’Angers said, he was a man who had discovered “the tragedy of landscape.”
The mysteries of the life and inner-working of Vincent van Gogh have captivated art lovers for over a century. This month, a researcher with a keen eye made a discovery that gives us further insight into his last days and final masterpiece.
John Constable, a British landscape painter, is known for his works that capture ordinary daily life.
For the past two years, the Smithsonian has been working to gather support from donors on a proposed American Women’s History Museum. Last week, the Smithsonian announced over $55 million dollars in gifts that will help to solidify the museum’s future. Though it has yet to receive Congressional approval, it is a step in the right direction for the future museum’s place on the National Mall’s promenade.
Considering Holi and Diwali’s spectacularity, and a growing number of Indian immigrants ebbing westward into American and British media, it is a small wonder that these two Hindu festivals have developed a cultish following.
Okwui Enwezor (1963–2019) was so many things: a curator, an academic, a poet. But if you were to ask what was his biggest legacy, it would be that he brought African art history to the global stage.
