Category Archives: Museums

Beyond the Great Wave

Posted on July 19, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

I was hoping to get to Boston this summer to see the “Hokusai: Inspiration and Influence” exhibition, but alas it only ran until last Sunday. However, while I was taking a deep dive into the show, an unusual print in … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Asia, Museums, Tourism, USA | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Summer Sunday Sundries

Posted on July 2, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

“In its June 26, 1948, issue, The New Yorker published Shirley Jackson’s unsettling story “The Lottery,” and it’s not an overstatement to say that readers freaked out. They wrote letters in droves, angry or unsure about what this slowly unfolding … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Asia, Books, Europe, History, Museums, Restaurants, Tourism, USA, Writing | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Down a research rabbit hole

Posted on June 29, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

The free new research tool from Yale University called Lux is a fascinating opportunity to be led down a rabbit hole of infinite connections for any subject of interest.  The digital tool works by building relationships between objects users look … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art, Books, History, Libraries, Museums, Tech, USA | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Roman ruin that’s not just for cats anymore

Posted on June 25, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

Invariably when I visit Rome I always seem to wander by the Largo Argentina to gape at the inaccessable Area Sacra where Brutus stabbed Caesar on the Ides of March in the year 44 B.C.E. Until just recently, the site … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Europe, History, Museums, Tourism | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Cut & Run

Posted on June 19, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

“Most artists have an obsession that defines their work,” reads the message from Banksy on the wall of Glasgow’s GoMA gallery. “Monet had light, Hockney has colour, I’ve got police response time.” Everyone’s favorite graffiti artist just launched his first … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Europe, Museums, Tourism | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

from the pitcher to the bowl

Posted on June 8, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

 Wisława Szymborska’s epigrammatic poem “Vermeer” (translated by Clare Cavanagh and Stanisław Barańczak from the Polish): So long as that woman from the Rijksmuseum in painted quiet and concentration keeps pouring milk day after day from the pitcher to the bowl … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Europe, Museums, Writing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

They Had No Choice

Posted on June 6, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

On the annual anniverary of the D-Day invasion of France by the Allies, it’s customary to focus on the sacrifices of the human members of the military. This year, I thought that it was also time to acknowlege the contributions … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, History, Museums | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A very big book

Posted on May 23, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the publication of Shakespeare’s The First Folio. The collection of 36 plays by William Shakespeare that was published in London in 1623. Considered to be one of the most influential books ever published, … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Europe, History, Libraries, Museums | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

The Poor Man’s Rembrandt

Posted on May 21, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

Visitors to Amsterdam often take home Rembrandt related artwork in the form of posters, postcards, or T-shirts. Now they can also take home  permanent Dutch souvenirs on their own bodies. Travelers searching for that perfect keepsake of their time in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Europe, History, Museums, Tourism | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

There are no kangaroos in Austria

Posted on May 14, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

Award-winning photographer Kirill Neiezhmakov has created a brilliant hyperlapse tour of Vienna, Austria that plays on the popular longstanding joke that there are no kangaroos in Austria. The very entertaining timelapse video of Vienna explores many of the historic  city’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art, Europe, Film, Museums, Photography, Tourism | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment