Art and Museums

Princes, regents and milkmaids figure in the exhibition's thematic groupings within the classes, reflecting the social status of people and the importance their class had in the new Dutch Republic. The fine detail in the pictures will encourage close looking, inspiring the viewer to differentiate between a mistress and a maid or to distinguish a noble from a social-climbing merchant.   more »

The British Museum, in partnership with National Museums Scotland, has staged the first British exhibition in 40 years on the Celts. The exhibition tells the story of the different peoples who have used or been given the name 'Celts' through the art objects that they made, including intricately decorated jewelery, highly stylized objects of religious devotion, and the decorative arts of the late 19th century which were inspired by the past. more »

Treasures and Talismans: Rings from the Griffin Collection on display at The Cloisters — a branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted to the art and architecture of the Middle Ages. The collection is named after the mythical creature that was part lion and part eagle. In medieval lore, the griffin was often a guardian of treasure and was known for seeking out gold in rocks — hence its fitting use for this private collection of precious gold rings. more »

Over the course of his short but intense working life, Van Gogh studied and depicted nature in all its forms — from the minutiae of insects and birds' nests to the most sweeping of panoramic landscapes — creating a body of work that revolutionized the representation of the natural world at the end of the nineteenth century. more »