At a time when our nation was still young and finding its feet culturally, Frederic Church took on the role of explorer and interpreter of the visual splendors of the New World—and of the rest of the world. He was a native American genius who also became a global artist, showing America to Americans and [...]
I cannot, by myself, eclipse the darkness of disconnection, growing illiteracy, and lives filled with an infinite scroll. But in my work as an artist and especially in these sincere, thoughtful encounters with art, I can offer a small light showing the way out, and, hopefully, a permanent reminder etched into hearts of who we [...]
The Merry Fiddler The Romantic tradition has taught us to value originality in the arts, exalting those artists who were pathbreakers and radical individualists. But the fact is that all artists learn by building on the past and imitating those who came before. History offers notable examples of artists known for imitating other [...]
Howard Pyle did not give us the sounds of pirates that make talking like a pirate so much fun. He did, however, imprint on our imaginations what they looked like. Of the world’s “holidays,” Talk Like a Pirate Day (or, to use its full name, International Talk Like a Pirate Day) is probably not high [...]
The beauty of art comes in many forms, shapes and sizes. It is rendered in metal, stone, sound, movement, oils, watercolours and words. It ranges in scale from the majestic splendour of the great cathedrals to the diminutive glory of the finest crafted jewellery, from the grandeur of the greatest epic poems to the sonorous [...]
If you are allergic to emotion, this may not be the film for you. But if your heart yearns for good to triumph over evil, for beauty to emerge from squalor, and for the vindication of strong heroes who can fight, shoot, and pray, Les Misérables will be an exhilarating experience. Putting this story before [...]
Howard Pyle’s historical tale illustrates G.K. Chesterton’s claim that fairy tales tell us that “dragons can be killed.” Young Otto is not himself a dragonslayer, but he is an image of the child who can withstand the assault of hatred and brutality without taking on those characteristics himself. Sometimes known as the “Father of American [...]
Art has the twin functions of reflecting a culture and shaping it. The problem that contemporary artists face is a difficult one: how to express meaning to a world that has become culturally over-stimulated by the spectacular, the hyper-sexualized, and the dumbed-down by inanity, and which has increasingly become antagonistic to manifestations of Christianity. “We [...]
"The 'contact' between seen and unseen is not a secret formula but a person," says artist Martin Earle. "The ultimate justification for Christian art is that the infinite God has taken the initiative, revealing Himself in a finite form. This is the form we encounter sacramentally in the Mass, and it is the form sacred [...]
The imagination invests the world with that richness and resonance which makes it an attractive dwelling for the intellect. But the imagination is indispensable to action as well. For the real world is worth our exertion only when the visionary imagination sets the scene for action. Tonight I shall commit the deliberate indiscretion of trying [...]
The one thing that unites man with his most ancient of ancestors and which divides him from all other creatures is his status as a sub-creator, as the imago Dei, who uses his imagination to create in the image of the Creator Himself. Art is the signature of man. —G.K. Chesterton G.K. Chesterton begins his [...]
To enter a universe peopled with objects whose function is to give pleasure is also to establish contact with the order of pure beauty. The words “beauty” and “beautiful” have become unfashionable, not indeed with artists, who use them quite freely even in our own day, but rather with the school of those aestheticians who [...]
We are so accustomed to regarding the fine arts as simply a means to pursue or attain the beautiful in the abstract, that we forget that for long centuries there was a close connection between the arts and some public purpose. Outside of academia, discussions about theories of art or the relations of art and [...]
Roman death masks—called “imagines”—were actually wax models impressed directly on the face during life, and they bore a remarkable likeness to the person. Displayed during the funerals of the elite, they served as a link between the present and the past and were meant to inspire attendees to patriotic virtue. The recent defacement of statues [...]