Orhan Pamuk: Meet Me at the Met

Who Is Orhan Pamuk? Orhan Pamuk, one of Turkey’s most prominent writers and professor at Columbia University, was born on June 7, 1952, in Istanbul. He is known for works that blend historical, cultural, and philosophical themes, often exploring the tensions between East and West, tradition and modernity. His major novels include The White Castle…

Robert Lewis Reid: Fleur de Lis

Who Is Robert Lewis Reid? American impressionist Robert Reid was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts in 1862. A painter of landscape, figures, still-life and murals, Reid was one of the founding members of the ‘Ten American Painters’, a group of Impressionists who rebelled against traditionalism in 1897. According to The Met, “Robert Reid was among the…

The Tree of Life: 17th century

  “This association with the Tree of Life in Revelations is reinforced by the curling grape vine wrapped around the trunk of the tree, which is symbolic of the Passion of Christ and the promise of eternal life.” TheMet     This unique image of a miraculous tree bearing multiple species of fruits and vegetables…

Chaim Soutine: View of Cagnes (c.1925)

“Someone Has Killed Soutine!” Chaim Soutine once horrified his neighbours in Paris by keeping an animal carcass in his studio to model for his painting called, not surprisingly, Carcass of Beef. The stench drove them to send for the police, whom Soutine promptly lectured on the relative importance of art over hygiene. There’s a story…