I write about all aspects of art and the art world – from artists, museums, galleries, and the market to museum issues, art history, conservation, and art law. Writing about art has allowed me to tackle virtually any subject I've wanted to, from politics and technology to military history and contemporary culture. It is the perfect beat for anyone who wants to be a generalist in specialist's clothing.
You can find my work in The New Yorker, WSJ., T, The New York Times, and 1stdibs, among others. I have also written for Slate, The Atlantic, Abu Dhabi's National, Art + Auction, Art in America and many more.
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Latest Work
Why Abstract Painter Emily Mason’s Star Continues to Rise
1stdibs Introspective, December 17, 2023
A new show at New York’s Miles McEnery Gallery celebrates the late artist’s rich, beautiful and long-overlooked body of work.
Talk of the Town: Lee Miller’s Surrealist Lunch
The New Yorker, November 13, 2023
The photographer liked to serve gold-covered chicken on Picasso plates and drinks on a platter that she stole from Hitler. For a show opening, Gagosian is planning a meal in homage.
The Social Network: Panic at the House Museum!
Town & Country, November 2023
Can today’s tame tastes satisfy the public’s appetite for historical homes?
The Very Modern Love Story of Mid-Century Design Duo Alvar and Aino Aalto
1stdibs Introspective, September 22, 2023
A power couple before the term existed, the influential pair made work that still resonates today.
With Dansk, Jens Quistgaard Delivered Danish Simplicity to American Tables
1stdibs Introspective, May 28, 2023
When a visionary Copenhagen designer teamed up with an enterprising Long Island couple, Scandi-style magic landed in kitchens and dining rooms across the United States.
Outside the Lines
WSJ. Men’s Issue, March 11, 2023
Once known for her risqué canvases, Cecily Brown brings vibrant life to paintings about death—and vanity and shipwrecks, among other things—in a wide-ranging show at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
• listen to story here
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News Flashback
• Hauser & Wirth in New York recently opened Thornton Dial’s first New York solo show in many years. I profiled him for the NYT before the opening of his first career retrospective at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, which positioned him as a major modern artist. This was Mr. Dial’s first interview after his disastrous encounter with Morley Safer of Sixty Minutes; I believe it was also his last.
Letting His Life's Work Do the Talking
Arts & Leisure, February 20, 2011
Slide Show: Slide Show: Thornton Dial
Video: Excerpt, 'Mr. Dial Has Something to Say'
• Jeffrey Gibson just opened a huge show at Mass MoCA. I wrote the first major story in Jeffrey’s work in 2013, for the New York Times. It was very clear then that he would go on to great things.
At Peace With Many Tribes • Arts & Leisure, NYT, May 19, 2013
After a "huge acceptance of self" as a Cherokee and Choctaw, Jeffrey Gibson took a new path as an artist, and now he's juggling multiple exhibitions.
Slide Show: Inspiration in Self-Acceptance
• Last month was the hundredth anniversary of Surrealism. Here’s a story I wrote 24 years ago, when Surrealism first began making its presence felt in the art world again–plus Slate’s first slide show. (There’s another one linked here and here, about the growing market for Surrealism, and what it can teach us about how art history is created.)
Ceci N'est Pas Surrealism: Even if you don't know Surrealism, it knows you • Slate, February 19, 2002 - plus Slate’s first slide show
Ceci n'est pas Surrealism: A Surrealism Slideshow
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