Happy Birthday, Caravaggio!
Happy birthday Caravaggio! This year’s collection of images celebrating his birth are some of his self-portraits. The most moving of these, for me, are the ones where he inserts himself into the narrative: as a witness (fleeing) from Matthew’s martyrdom,…
Gustave Caillebotte
Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894) Gustave Caillebotte was trained by celebrated French painter Leon Bonnat. He was three years out of Bonnat’s studio when he first exhibited with the Impressionists, and over the years his style did not stray much from the teachings of…
A Haggardly Beautiful Mary Magdalene
This Mary Magdalene was sculpted by Donatello. Artistically and materialistically, the sculpture departs from his smooth bronze and marble work. Mary stands over 6′ tall, made of wood and gesso. More than stone or marble, I believe the wood and…
The Massacre at Chios
Note: I wrote the following essay excerpt for UCLA’s 19th Century European Art course. It was written against the backdrop of life change, excitement, death, and grief. The class was my first at UCLA, and the course’s professor was the…
