Category Archives: Art/Photography

“I do love Alice in Wonderland though. That’s something I think I could do very well.” — Edie Sedgwick

It’s her birthday today. Her influence on me was massive and I came to her young. I discovered her in high school through the famous oral biography by Jean Stein and George Plimpton, which I inhaled, over and over again. … Continue reading

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“Reality is always extraordinary.” — Mary Ellen Mark

It’s her birthday today. My first job was as a page at a local library. I would go there after school, shelve books for a couple of hours, and then head home. I ended up working there all through high … Continue reading

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“Make the most of what you have and enjoy being female; enjoy being you.” — Bunny Yeager

“I want to show off how beautiful my subjects are, whether its a cheetah or a live girl or two of them together.” — Bunny Yeager It’s the birthday of model and pin-up photographer Bunny Yeager. She is most famous … Continue reading

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For International Women’s Day: Ladies I Love

I post edited versions of this every year. I add names. I take names off if I feel like it. I enjoy compiling it. It’s not just about enjoyment. As women’s rights are up for grabs more than ever, like … Continue reading

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“I wish I had not been so reserved.” — Joseph Cornell’s final words

Today is the birthday of artist Joseph Cornell. “Cornell is superb. I first saw the Medici Slot Machine when I was in college. Oh, I loved it. To think one could have bought some of those things then. He was … Continue reading

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“Improvement makes strait roads, but the crooked roads without Improvement, are roads of Genius.” — poet/engraver/visionary William Blake

“I mean, don’t you think it’s a little bit excessive?” “The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom. William Blake.” Pause. “William Blake?” “William Blake!” “William Blake???” “William Blake!!!” — Bull Durham William Blake was a poet virtually … Continue reading

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“If the thing is there, why, there it is.” Happy Birthday, Walker Evans

That last photo is Walker Evans’ innovative perspective of the parade for Charles Lindbergh after Lindbergh successfully crossed the Atlantic in 1927. It’s one of the first photos Evans took, and shows that he had a “good eye” from the … Continue reading

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“A vast amount of rubbish is published in the name of art. A man should let his work talk for him. ” — Charles Dana Gibson

It’s his birthday today. Old-timers will remember when my blog-design was Gibson-Girl inspired. My favorite haughty Gibson Girl was in the blog banner for years! The only vestige of the Gibson Girl origin-story of this site is in the email … Continue reading

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“If I could say it in words there would be no reason to paint.” — Edward Hopper

It’s his birthday today. I wrote about Edward Hopper quite a bit in my Present Tense column at Film Comment, detailing the Hopper-y vibe of Tom Noonan’s great film about urban loneliness, What Happened Was… In fact, I have a … Continue reading

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“I believe the Negro blood counts, and counts to my advantage – though it has caused me at times a life of great humiliation and sorrow.” — painter Henry Ossawa Tanner

It’s his birthday today. When I lived in Philadelphia – a million years ago, with my boyfriend who was in law school at U. Penn – I became intimately familiar with Henry Ossawa Tanner’s paintings since so many of them … Continue reading

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