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A new book about John Singer Sargent and the women he painted: "Like characters in an Edith Wharton novel, these women challenged society’s restrictions, risking public shame and ostracism. All had forbidden love affairs; Lucia bravely supported her family despite illness, while Elsie explored Spiritualism, defying her overbearing father. Finally, the headstrong Isabella outmaneuvered the richest plutocrats on the planet to create her own magnificent art museum." more »

The collection includes rare editions such as the earliest chess related cover, DC Comics' More Fun Comics 76, released in 1942, and a 1947 DC Action Comics Superman in The Cross Country Chess Crimes. Additionally, objects are on view for comic and chess aficionados to appreciate, including limited edition, collector comic-inspired chess sets. The Ladies Knight exhibit contains diverse interpretations of the game range from the playful and feminine to the serious, and encourage dialogue about subjects like crime, language, peace and conflict, and inequality. And don't overlook the Q Boutique ... more »

"With a particular New York Jewish sensibility, Chast's humor of complaint offers us all a chance to laugh at the often stressful and absurd world around us. She is an important social satirist who, like so many other Jewish humorists, has helped to shape our culture, and with her moving and honest memoir, she shows us how deeply she can touch our hearts as well." A substantial number of illustrations Chast created for 101 Two-letter Words, a book of two-letter words allowed in the game of Scrabble also appear in the exhibition: an eye-patch-wearing pirate parrot for the word AR and a jar of Grandma Yetta’s Gefilte Fish for OY. more »

Julia Sneden wrote: Anyone who has ever hand-scrubbed a damask napkin across a washboard, rinsed it, set it in the sun to bleach, hung it on the line to dry, dampened it before ironing, and then ironed and folded it and placed it back in the drawer, is not about to take on the task more often than necessary. Unless there had been an utter disaster like a spill of grape juice, or an emergency napkin thrown on spilled gravy to keep it from flowing over the edge of the table, or an uncle who had had a bit too much Scotch and thoughtlessly blew his nose on the best double damask, we refolded our napkins at meal's end and placed them neatly in napkin rings that were clearly ours, each one different from anyone else's.   more »