ONLINE LEARNING
Whose Revolution at the Concord Museum
BY REED GOCHBERG
What did it feel like to live through a revolution? The Concord Museum’s new special exhibition, Whose Revolution, explores a pivotal moment in American history, when simmering tensions between the American colonies and Great Britain led to the outbreak of war.
The Silvered Stories of 19th-Century Southern Asia
BY KATHERINE ANNE PAUL
Silver entered global markets at an accelerated rate in the 19th century, and the artistry of Southern Asian silversmiths played a major yet under-sung role in converting a once-rare material into items we now take for granted. The Harish K. Patel Collection at the Birmingham Museum of Art in Alabama provides a thorough record of this trend.
Fighting for Freedom: Black Craftspeople and the Pursuit of Independence
BY WILLIAM A. STROLLO
A collaborative exhibition between the Black Craftspeople Digital Archive and the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Museum, Fighting for Freedom: Black Craftspeople and the Pursuit of Independence centers on the lives, experiences, trials, and triumphs of Black craftspeople, illuminating their journey towards autonomy and presenting inclusive vignettes into the American fight for freedom.
A Room of Her Own: New Book Explores the Estrado
BY ALEXANDRA FRANTISCHEK RODRIGUEZ-JACK
Made possible through a generous Publishing Grant from the Decorative Arts Trust, the book A Room of Her Own: The Estrado and the Hispanic World brings new scholarship to this overlooked subject. Accompanying a groundbreaking exhibition at the Hispanic Society Museum & Library in New York City, the book explores the estrado, a long-forgotten emblem of opulence and mystery, which once played a crucial role in the social and domestic lives of women in the Hispanic world.
Probing the Mystique: A New Look at Newcomb Pottery
BY ELYSE D. GERSTENECKER
The story of Newcomb College Pottery has been told often. Seeking out a way for alumnae to put their education into practice, the leaders of the art department of H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College in New Orleans established a pottery. Director Ellsworth Woodward (1861–1939) hired Mary Given Sheerer (1865–1954) to teach china painting courses in 1894, and Sheerer began working toward establishing the Pottery the following year.
Decorative Arts Shine at the Reopened Frick
BY MARIE-LAURE BUKU PONGO
The Frick Collection recently reopened its doors following a significant renovation, marking a true milestone in the institution’s 90-year history. This project not only restored familiar spaces on the first floor of our historic home on New York City’s Upper East Side but also unveiled the second floor to the public for the first time.
Luster, Shimmer, and Polish: Transpacific Materialities in the Arts of Colonial Latin America
BY JULIANA FAGUA ARIAS
Between the late 16th and the early 19th centuries, the so-called Manila Galleons connected the Southeast Asian port of Manila with the Mexican counterpart of Acapulco. Direct trade between these two essential nodes of the Spanish empire enabled artistic circulation between Asia and the Spanish Americas, a cultural flow that enriched both sides of the Pacific.
Figuring the Black Body in European Decorative Arts
BY ADRIENNE L. CHILDS
The new book “Ornamental Blackness: The Black Figure in European Decorative Arts” addresses the implications of the depiction of Black bodies in luxury objects from the Baroque period through the 19th century.
Promoting Long Island: New Book Investigates the Art of Edward Lange
BY LAUREN BRINCAT AND PETER FEDORYK
In February of 1893, Edward Lange (1846–1912) penned a four-page letter from Olympia, WA—one of the few extant documents by his hand—to his longtime friend on Long Island, Carll S. Burr (1831–1916), offering an odd reflection on the nearly 20 years he spent in New York.
Discovering the Origins of Rare Textiles at Museo De Las Américas
BY YADIRA QUINTERO AND LAURA BEACOM
Museo De Las Américas in Denver, CO, has a growing collection of over 4,000 objects, including approximately 600 textiles, consisting of a wide variety of historical and contemporary garments with accessories, tablecloths, handicrafts, and other housewares.