Art and Museums
Desert Jewels - North African Jewelry, Flamboyant and Conspicuous Works of Art
Many materials are thought to have protective and healing qualities as well as symbolic meaning. Silver is linked with honesty and purity, and when combined with certain stones it can heal select ailments. Red Mediterranean coral, associated with life-sustaining blood, is prized for its healing properties. It is worn to promote fertility and to prevent harm to children. Yellow amber attracts sunlight and deflects darkness. more »
"Gardens Are Works of Art Rather Than Nature"
"Every article of my dress was most assiduously studied; and while I can now smile with contempt on the singular hat, or odd-shaped pantaloons of some dandy of the present day, I recall to my mind the white coat, lined with blue stain, and trimmed with silver fringe, in which I was supposed to captivate all hearts on one memorable occasion." more »
A Bouquet of Monets
If you're interested in painting techniques, in 2006 NPR launched "a mini-series on how art is affected by available technology" and began with "the link between collapsible tin tubes and some of the world's best-loved paintings". Monet's well known biographer, Prof. Paul Tucker, imparts some details of the process as well as an amusing bit or two. more »
The Young Vermeer; The Revenge of a Forger and Shopping at the Museum
These early works are quite different from the richly decorated interiors with attractive women you might expect from Vermeer. Instead they depict a mythological subject, a story from the Bible and a brothel scene. more »