history
People-Watching in Museums: On Portraits and Identity
Why We Love Hamilton, A Musical About Men
Alexander Hamilton’s life story, for all its drama, was always an unlikely source for a smash hit on Broadway. Hamilton favored rule by the elite in an already elitist society. He was adulterous, impulsive and privileged. But Lin-Manuel Miranda, like many musical theatre composers before him, saw in this unlikely source the chance to reform […]Read Post ›
Minds at Work: The Secret Lives of the Schuyler Sisters
Lin-Manuel Miranda was first introduced to the Schuyler sisters while on vacation.
Helpless: Why Aren’t We Talking about Gender in Hamilton?
“We are living in the age of Hamilton,” admitted Annette Gordon-Reed at a recent book talk. Reed’s comment is surprising: she’s a leading scholar on Thomas Jefferson, Hamilton’s rival. But her praise is not; nowadays, everyone loves Hamilton.
Strolling through a Cemetery: Thoughts from Mount Auburn Cemetery
On a sunny May day, I set off for a relaxing and romantic stroll-through a graveyard.
Art as a Response to Change: My Visit to the Art Institute of Chicago
This past week, on a vacation to the Midwest, I found myself at the Art Institute of Chicago, one of Chicago, Illinois’ most iconic art museums. After clumsily navigating the El and getting lost on State Street – which is almost impossible to get lost on – I happened upon the grand facade of the museum, […]Read Post ›
Boston Bombing and American Photography
Tomorrow is Patriot’s Day in Massachusetts. It’s a day to celebrate American Victory in the Revolutionary war. It’s the day that Bostonians host one of the most difficult to enter marathons, and reenact the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Three years ago, it was the day of the Boston Bombing. Always around this time of […]Read Post ›
Sofonisba Anguissola: A Renaissance Woman Artist
Did you know that Michelangelo had a female pupil? Did you know that she gave painting lessons to the Spanish queen? This week’s Female Artist Spotlight is dedicated to Sofonisba Anguissola. Sofonisba Anguissola (c. 1532-1625) has always stood out to me as an interesting figure in art history, not in the least because of […]Read Post ›
Specters in Residence: Gardner & Guggenheim
Ghosts are not the stuff of fairytales. Vibrant personalities leave their impressions on the places they inhabit. Many of these spaces suffer destruction, alteration, redecoration—look at any number of “home museums” and you’ll find period furniture, recreating the ambiance of a place and time. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum looks a bit like a haunted […]Read Post ›
The Female Gaze 