Art and Museums

When the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust unveiled a portrait with strong claims to be the only surviving contemporary likeness of Shakespeare, it created an international stir. But wait, there's another claim about a 1603 portrait created by an ancestor who was a bit actor in Shakespeare’s troupe more »

Their gilded surfaces and brilliant colors put them at odds with the austere criteria of the scholars' aesthetic from the Song dynasty. In 1368 Cao Zhao wrote that cloisonné enamels were not suitable for study by members of the scholar class and were really appropriate only for the apartments of women more »

Taking inspiration from the rich depictions in early European paintings, iconic costumes in museum collections, photographs, sketches and even literary descriptions, de Borchgrave skillfully works paper to achieve the effect of textiles: crumpling, pleating, braiding, feathering and painting the surface. more »

During the nineteenth century, with the advancement of tailoring tools and techniques, styles changed in dramatic ways, accentuating or minimizing different body parts —shoulders, breasts, waist, hips, derriere — in ongoing attempts to keep up with fashion. more »