Sharon Anderson

“What we did then is now art history.” — Herbert Vogel In 2008, film director Megumi Sasaki released the film Herb and Dorothy, a story of two unlikely art collectors... Read More

David Hockney: The de Young’s largest exhibition yet

In the end nobody knows how it’s done — how art is made. It can’t be explained. Optical devices are just tools. Understanding a tool doesn’t explain the magic o... Read More

Duchamp revisited in book of interviews by Calvin Tomkins

“I don’t believe in art. I believe in the artist.” — Marcel Duchamp When he first met Marcel Duchamp in 1959, Calvin Tomkins was not the famous art critic he wo... Read More

Allen Ginsberg’s Beat memories at the Contemporary Jewish Museum

When Allen Ginsberg’s poem Howl was first published in 1956, it ignited controversy and sealed his reputation as a formidable poet. Influenced by Whitman’s free verse a... Read More

Museums for sale Public vs. private art debate ignites in Detroit

In May 2013, Christie’s contemporary art auction set record prices when paintings by Roy Lichtenstein, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jackson Pollock, and others sold for a record $49... Read More

Ed Ruscha Revisits ‘Some Los Angeles Apartments’

“My pictures are not that interesting nor the subject matter. They are simply a collection of facts.” — Ed Ruscha Fifty years ago, contemporary artist Ed Ruscha publi... Read More

Punk poetics: Richard Hell in his own words

“Poetry must be made by all and not by one.” — Comte de Lautréamont The ripple effect of an influential life creates plot developments to rival the greatest novels. ... Read More

The Book and the Binding at the Legion of Honor

Through May 12, 2013, the Legion of Honor museum will feature the art of book design in the exhibition The Book and the Binding. It features unique selections from the Reva and Dav... Read More

We have well arrived: The backstory on the end of the Mayan calendar

If you’re reading this, then the world didn’t come to an end on Dec. 21, 2012. But was that the real story behind the Mayan calendar end date? My cousin sends me letter... Read More

Sociopolitical art: Ai Weiwei retrospective in Washington D.C.

“Liberty is about our rights to question everything.” — Ai Weiwei In early 2011, the artist Ai Weiwei was arrested at an airport in Beijing. He was held for months ... Read More

Flea market find turned stolen goods: The adventures of a Renoir painting

Treasures are found in the strangest and most unexpected of places, sometimes in our own backyard. That’s what a woman in Virginia discovered recently when she found a box in... Read More

‘I Am a Beautiful Monster,’ by Francis Picabia

“Picabia has destroyed ‘beauty’ and built his work with the leftovers.” — Tristan Tzara A self-declared poet, painter, idiot, failure, pickpocket, and anti-a... Read More

Meeting Gore Vidal

Gore Vidal died on July 31, 2012, and much has been written about him since. Some have retold the story of his infamous on-air argument with William F. Buckley Jr., while others ha... Read More

Lee Miller and Man Ray at the Legion of Honor