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Image title: Kneeling Black woman Medium: Brazilian rosewood; pedestal: lapis lazuli, marble and gilded metal Date: early 17th century Source: The Met Collection   “ There is nothing happens to any person but what was in his power to go through with. ” — Marcus Aurelius Venus Was Black?: Reimagining Classical Sculpture Through African Diasporic Lenses   Introduction: White Marble, Erased Histories For centuries, the pure white aesthetic of Greco-Roman sculpture has stood as a Read more…

Image title: Ia Orana Maria (Hail Mary) Medium: Oil on canvas Date: 1891 Source: The Met Collection   “ Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. ” — Seneca the Younger From Atom to Abstract: Quantum Physics Meets Color Field Painting   Introduction: When Color Meets the Quantum Field In the mid-20th century, two seemingly disjoint disciplines—abstract painting and quantum physics—were undergoing seismic shifts. On one hand, artists like Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, and Read more…

Image title: Hermann von Wedigh III (died 1560) Medium: Oil and gold on oak Date: 1532 Source: The Met Collection   “ Pitching is the art of instilling fear. ” — Sandy Koufax Stitching Borders: The Radical Politics of Embroidered Protest Art   Introduction: Needles as Weapons of Resistance Historically dismissed as a domestic pastime or women’s work, embroidery has often remained on the margins of high art discourse. Yet, across continents and decades, textile Read more…

Image title: Hermann von Wedigh III (died 1560) Medium: Oil and gold on oak Date: 1532 Source: The Met Collection   “ One that desires to excel should endeavor in those things that are in themselves most excellent. ” — Epictetus “The Frame Is a Lie”: Meta-Artworks That Refuse to Contain Themselves   Introduction: The Politics of the Perimeter What does it mean to “frame” a work of art? At its surface, the answer seems Read more…

Image title: Prayer in the Mosque Medium: Oil on canvas Date: 1871 Source: The Met Collection   Introduction: Kafka’s Shadow in Oil and Ink In the dim corridors of Cold War Eastern Europe, between the echoing typewriters and rubber stamps of endless paperwork, a distinct form of visual art emerged—one haunted not by ghosts but by documents, desks, and dizzying systems of bureaucracy. In Czechoslovakia and Poland, where the state apparatus loomed large and omnipresent, Read more…