Looking at Art

A marble head of Caracalla, made at the end of his life or shortly after his death, in A.D. 217, shows the emperor as a rough-and-ready soldier. COURTESY METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
Looking at Art

A Roman Emperor’s Tough Guy Image

By Posted 03/01/04

The Met’s portrait of Caracalla is a consummate example of art as propaganda Read More

Looking at Art

A Giant Zip for Mankind

By Posted 03/01/02

When Barnett Newman painted The Wild in 1950, he challenged current standards not only of how a painting could look but of what a painting could be. Read More

Looking at Art

Irving Penn’s Modern Venus

By Posted 02/01/02

In a photo recalling an ancient sculpture, he transformed a female nude into a timeless fertility goddess. Read More

Looking at Art

Underrated/Overrated

By Posted 12/01/00

Who are the great artists you never heard of? Who's hot who's not?. Read More