The ritual of ecstatic frenzy induced by followers of Bacchus was seen as a way to free yourself from self-consciousness, as well as suppression by the powerful. The Roman Bacchanalia feasts even created moral panic in the government.
Art News
The Barnes Foundation's Henri Rousseau: A Painter’s Secrets is a knockout. If you aren’t familiar with his work– though you likely have seen his masterpiece, The Sleeping Gypsy (1897), borrowed from MoMA for the occasion– this show is a must-see. And, even if you think you know Rousseau, the exhibition still brims with surprises.
Founded in 1966, the David Barnett Gallery has become Wisconsin’s premier fine art gallery, representing over 600 artists. Originally showcasing works by local college students, it now features masterpieces by Chagall, Picasso, Matisse, Lichtenstein, and others, spanning paintings, prints, sculpture, ceramics, glass, and photography. Its diverse collection includes European, American, Latin American, Asian, and ethnographic art. Renowned nationally for its Picasso ceramics and Milton Avery oils, the gallery presents four major exhibitions annually, drawing visitors worldwide.
Famously known as Grandma Moses, American folk artist Anna Mary Robertson Moses (1860–1961) had a huge, and often unacknowledged, impact on American arts and culture. Frequently used as a prime example that it's never too late, the 79-year-old splashed onto the art scene in 1939, with three works in MOMA’s group show Contemporary Unknown American Painters, followed by a solo exhibition at Otto Kallir's New York Galerie St.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s recently opened Dive Egypt exhibition is the latest in a long line of shows centered on ancient Egyptian art to draw massive crowds and fanfare.
In a mysterious photograph from 1922, a pair of shadowy figures hold each other’s faces in their glowing hands and kiss. Perhaps their palms and fingers can deliver heat, and that’s why the bushy brows of the figure on the left trail up in a smoky wisp, suggesting fire. A dark form resembling a thin, double-sided knife also cuts across the image just below the couple’s noses.
The Book of Esther in the Age of Rembrandt centers on the popularity of the Jewish heroine Esther in Dutch art. Celebrated for delivering her people from genocide, this Queen of Persia strategically revealed her previously hidden Jewish identity to her royal husband, convincing him to foil his advisor’s plot. Michele L.
The exhibition, Painting Without Rules, is not only an immersion into American abstract expressionist Helen Frankenthaler’s work, but it is also an opportunity to see and understand how friendships among committed artists are important.
“What belongs to one, belongs to almost no one,” said Spanish sculptor Eduardo Chillida, who dedicated a significant portion of his practice to public works. His “De Musica” stands outside Dallas’ IM Pei-designed Meyerson Symphony Center, while his “Rough Chant V” decorates the garden of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
High profile interdisciplinary artist Jeffrey Gibson (b. 1972) made history as the first Native American to represent the U.S. at the 60th Venice Biennale. His 2024 solo exhibition, the space in which to place me, took its title from a line in Layli Long Soldier’s poem, Ȟe Sápa–which examines history, identity, perception, and place.
