BORIS CHALIAPIN

In a different country, in another era, Boris Chaliapin (1904-1979) would have been a "fine" artist and portrait painter, selling ...

LUNATICS AND BUREAUCRATS

In 1985, Rembrandt's "Danae"-- surely one of the most beautiful paintings in the history of the world-- was attacked by a man ...

JIMMY SWINNERTON AT THE DAWN OF COMIC STRIPS

In the earliest days of comic strips, all kinds of strange personalities gravitated to the new field. Perhaps none was stranger than Jimmy S...

ARTISTS IN LOVE, part 14

The poet Dante famously fell in love with Beatrice the first time he saw her, at age ten. He later wrote: At that very moment, and I speak ...

In February, the FBI seized the inventory of a Chicago art gallery accused of selling tens of millions of dollars worth of fake prints by Pi...

THE BOOK OF FLOWERS

Nearly 1,000 years ago, Lambert of St. Omer summarized all of human knowledge in a book called the Liber Floridus (Book of Flowers). Lamber...

ONE LOVELY DRAWING, part 19

The legendary Will Elder passed away last week at age 86. He had a long, glorious career as a founding artist for MAD Magazine, TRUMP , Hum...