Click here for the podcast version of this post. The Red Jackson photograph by Gordon Parks sent me into a whirlwind of reactions from the first time I saw it. Encountering this black and white masterpiece in the Metropolitan Museum of Art feels like a lucky break at first. It’s a thoughtful photographic version of …
Why is The Falling Soldier photograph by Robert Capa such a stunner?
– A spectacle and shadow of death
– Cropping with poignant purpose
– Controversy can’t kill a masterpiece
What’s so special about the sculpture Woman Combing Her Hair 1915 by Aleksander Archipenko?
– A moving figural map
– The void within
– Futurist fundamentals in 3D
What makes Man Ray’s sculpture Cadeau (The Gift) so special?
– Mass production, war, and Dada
– Poking at prevalent perspective
– Multiple copies of a stolen masterpiece make its point
What’s the meaning of Robert Rauschenberg’s Canyon painting?
– A bird, a pillow, a god and a boy’s bottom
– An excuse for trauma built into Greek myth
– Canyon’s three dimensions create depth
What makes New York Night by Georgia O’Keeffe such a special painting?
– Glimmering window panes
– The machine age and Precisionism
– An avant-garde squad