Jon Lackman is a PhD student at NYU. His dissertation (in progress) is “Invective in Mid-1800s French Art Criticism.” He has written for Slate, Harper’s, and The New Yorker. He sometimes tweets.
Lackman's Posts:
19 March 2008 | Contemporary
In the Winter 2007 Art Journal, Andrea D. Fitzpatrick writes on “The Movement of Vulnerability: Images of Falling and September 11″: Are those who fell to their deaths on September 11, 2001, exploited or honored by the display of images representing their experiences? … images of falling are not new to photojournalism or contemporary art [...]
17 March 2008 | Museums, Renaissance
Fancy a grand tour? This is also a good time to see Renaissance art, with Sebastiano del Piombo in Rome, late Titian in Venice (read more here), Arcimboldo in Paris, our oh-so scandalous man Cranach now arrived in London (read more here, here, here, here, and here), Nethlandish painting on view in Rotterdam, and Ghiberti’s [...]
14 March 2008 | Modern, Museums
If you’re interested in late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century European painting, you’re in luck. Current exhibitions tackle Courbet, Vlaminck, Vallotton (read here and here), women Impressionists (here and here), and the Barbizon School. Also read here about a lost Cézanne (rough English translation here).
12 March 2008 | Uncategorized
From the Daily Mail (London): Thanks to the bestselling Da Vinci Code, Sotheby’s auctioneer Matthew Festing has his work cut out as the new Grand Master of the Knights of Malta. Ampleforth and Cambridge-educated Festing, 59, finds himself thrust into the limelight as the new leader of the secretive Catholic organisation after a ballot in [...]
10 March 2008 | Books, Teaching
Phaidon is not the only book publisher with a new mega-survey out. Thames & Hudson has recently published Mirror of the World: A New History of Art by Julian Bell: I see art history as a frame within which world history, in all its breadth, is continually reflected back at us — rather than as [...]
7 March 2008 | Books
Frick curator Colin B. Bailey writes in the February 2008 issue of The Art Newspaper: The publication–some 25 years in the making–of the two-volume catalogue raisonné of over 1,100 French ornament and architectural drawings at Waddesdon Manor is a publishing event of the first order … In keeping with Waddesdon’s admirable commitment to publishing its [...]
5 March 2008 | Americas, Photography
The Fall 2007 issue of American Art contains five commentaries on photography. Anthony W. Lee writes: More than most fields, the history of photography is mercurial and eclectic in its interests and methods. This is partly because its subject has continually proved to be a moving target (even the earliest inventors could not agree what [...]
3 March 2008 | Africa, Conferences
The Spring 2008 issue of African Arts contains a review of the recent symposium Global Africa: Through the Lens of Visual Culture, a triennial event that was held concurrently with the University of Florida’s annual Gwendolen M. Carter Lectures on Africa: … we attempt to highlight several of the panels that we believe are indicative [...]
29 February 2008 | Conferences
We’ve extracted a few choice bits from the collected abstracts of the recent CAA meeting in Dallas: Yvonne Scott: “The paradox of the island is that it is at once an entity and a fragment and consequently functions synecdochically.” Daniel Savoy: “The architects of early modern Venice created an ‘aquatic aesthetic’ that responded to the [...]
29 February 2008 | Africa, Architecture
The Winter 2007 issue of Africa Today is devoted to “Visual Experience in Urban Africa.” Guest editor Joanna Grabski writes: Cities in Africa, like their counterparts elsewhere in the world, are intensely visual environments … Rather than positioning the city as a backdrop or stage, the articles [here] explore the relationships and processes connecting visual [...]
28 February 2008 | Americas, Ancient, Architecture
From the AP: A team of German and Peruvian archaeologists say they have discovered the oldest known monument in Peru: a 5,500-year-old ceremonial plaza near Peru’s north-central coast … The discovery is further evidence that civilization thrived in Peru at the same time as it did in what is now the Middle East and South [...]
27 February 2008 | Teaching
The White House recently announced an initiative called “Picturing America,” which will “provide K-12 schools and public libraries with 40 images of American art, an illustrated teachers resource book, and a web site containing additional information including lesson plans.” The press conference included the president and the first lady as well as NEH head Bruce [...]
25 February 2008 | Crime, Modern
From The Art Newspaper: Art historian and Modigliani specialist Christian Parisot is facing trial in Paris, accused of faking 77 drawings by Jeanne Hébuterne, the artist’s mistress and mother of his daughter, also called Jeanne … Mr Parisot told The Art Newspaper that … they are genuine and that they came from a clear-out of [...]
25 February 2008 | Conferences
X.M.B. writes: So here is a brief overview of the 2008 CAA conference in Dallas. There is no Bohemia. everyone gets dressed up and applies for jobs, the world of academia is as cold and stiff as everyone described. There are good eggs and bad eggs though, It is fun to differentiate between the folks [...]
22 February 2008 | Conferences
Alas, neither we nor CAA are blogging from the conference this year. Fortunately, a few other people are: Artist E. Marie writes: … Dallas does not adhere to the same coffee standards as Northern California. Now. On to the more esoteric lessons. The day started off with an interesting conference session entitled “Photography After Photography” [...]
22 February 2008 | Museums
According to The Art Newspaper: the Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) has decided to quietly sell its Rockefeller Rooms to make way for a modernisation of its building on upper Fifth Avenue. The two period rooms from the Manhattan townhouse of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller have been the museum’s signature attractions [...]
21 February 2008 | Career, Conferences
Karla, completing a dissertation on Czech Surrealism, writes: I have reached the architecturally unexpected city of Dallas and am trying to get myself into full College Art Association mode. I’ve always enjoyed CAA in the past, but this year it’s more of an effort. It is kind of difficult to enjoy much of anything to [...]
21 February 2008 | Baroque/Neoclassical, Museums
From the Telegraph: During his lifetime, the Roman painter Pompeo Batoni was among the most celebrated artists in Europe, counting several popes among his patrons as well as Frederick the Great and Catherine of Russia. But only two years after his death in 1787, Sir Joshua Reynolds predicted that Batoni’s name would quickly fall into [...]
20 February 2008 | Conferences
Various individuals descend on the College Art Association conference, which begins today in Dallas. Artist Kathy O’Connell writes, “There I will be schmoozing my way to a job (wearing power shoes, but avoiding Dallas power hair).”
19 February 2008 | Ancient, Awards, Books
The new Art Book Award, awarded by The Art Book and the Association of Art Historians (both in the UK), “aims to promote and acknowledge the best in art publishing by honouring the contributions and collaboration of the many different people involved.” Its first award has just gone to Antinous: the Face of the Antique [...]
