Nothing is sacred anymore. There is no taboo that hasn’t been broken, no religion that hasn’t been ridiculed, no god that hasn’t been deposed. The only thing sacred now, supposedly, is our right to keep nothing sacred. And yet, on a personal level, we know this isn’t true. As explored in the MIA’s new exhibition,  ...

1) Adieu to the unfriendly Frenchman? The gruff Gallic waiter and the petty Parisian hotelier loom as large in the tourist imagination as the Eiffel Tower. Who cares if they’re as unreal as Tintin? The Paris tourism board, that’s who. It’s distributed tens of thousands of brochures called “Do You Speak Touriste?” to cafes, hotels,  ...

WHEN ASKED IF I would write about a work of art at the MIA that inspires me, I immediately said, “Yes.” But as I began to reflect, I recalled the utter frustration years ago of having to identify only ten pieces of music I would want if stranded on a deserted island. Impossible! As I  ...

I must admit I love oil paintings. I love the lush surface and the flexibility that oil paint gives an artist to create illusions. I also have to confess that Edgar Degas is probably my favorite artist in the world. You can stand in front of this painting and say to yourself, “O.K., I’m ready  ...

IN A ROOMFUL of modern masterpieces, Georgia O’Keeffe’s City Night stands out as particularly inspirational to me. As a female artist making her mark within the predominantly male art world of New York in the 1920s, O’Keeffe cut through the stereotypes of “women’s art” to create powerful portraits of the city that stood at the  ...

IN A ROOMFUL of modern masterpieces, Georgia O’Keeffe’s City Night stands out as particularly inspirational to me. As a female artist making her mark within the predominantly male art world of New York in the 1920s, O’Keeffe cut through the stereotypes of “women’s art” to create powerful portraits of the city that stood at the  ...