Articles

Art & Design in the Roaring '20s

One hundred years ago, America was in the throes of post war prosperity, technological advances, and the French-inspired style known for its sleek and elegant lines known as Art Deco. There were mo...

Black Forest Carvings

 Many assert that Black Forest wood carvings are a distinctive style of decor that originated not in the Black Forest of Germany, but in the Swiss Alps. The Black Forest style or "Brienzerware" we ...

Color Blindness in Art

Color blindness, or color vision deficiency, affects about 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women. It is most commonly caused by a gene mutation on the X-chromosome but can occur due to accidents, age, med...

Egyptian Revival in the Victorian Era

While its popularity had ebbed and flowed for decades, Egyptian Revival architecture and style was most popular from 1880 to 1930 and then continued to heavily influence the Art Deco period. Egypt ...

The Value of Mahogany

Mahogany has a beautiful wood grain that darkens over time, giving warmth to any space. It's been favored by carpenters for centuries because of its durability and the ease of carving it. It's well...

Margaret Tafoya, Mother of Southwest Pottery

Margaret Tafoya, born 119 years ago today, was the matriarch of Santa Clara pottery. Serving as the bridge between the old and new ways, Tafoya was an experimenter. She was most known for the size ...

Bronze Age Shipwrecks

Shipwrecks have always conjured a romantic notion in our heads; the riches they carried, the loss of life, the possibility of a perfectly preserved time capsule beneath the water. Above all, they h...

Benjamin Randolph: Philadelphia Cabinetmaker and American Revolutionary

Philadelphia cabinetmaker Benjamin Randolph may not have been a signer of the Declaration of Independence, but his patriotism and hospitality were not insignificant contributions to the War of Inde...

The Anonymous Makers of Southern Furniture

Enslaved peoples in the United States were trained as artisans in just about every trade that existed in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. From blacksmithing to weaving and especially furniture ma...

Patriotism and Patronage: Art in the Second World War

While art is always an integral part of a nation's culture and identity, it is even more so the case during wartime. One could argue that World War II in particular utilized artists, historians, ar...