Tanner's Two Versions of Christ Reading the Scriptures
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Henry Ossawa Tanner painted two works depicting Jesus Christ and his mother Mary engaged in a private moment of reading together. Christ and His Mother Studying the Scriptures (1909) came first.
Standing Guardian Sentinel
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
In contrast to ancestor figures (debata idup), guardian sentinels were provided with a magically effective ingredient (pupuk), which was inserted into square or rectangular cavities in the chest or liver areas. These cavities were closed with a covering made of wood or metal, which was glued or nailed to them.
Knife hilt
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Looking at this knife hilt from the front, a large human face wearing an immense headdress dominates the composition. From the side, the figure’s thin and disproportionally small arms and legs that are arched to the back are seen. This particular depiction of the human body indicates that a priest or magician (datu) is represented.
Sword with Janus-faced hilt in an undecorated sheath
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
This rare type of sword with its unusual hilt is a Toba Batak sword known as a piso halasan. The sword hilt was cut from water-buffalo horn and features three small, curved pins of differing lengths made of iron. Above five simply engraved rings are two identical carved faces, which are facing in opposite directions.
Priest's staff (tunggal panaluan)
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The magic staff of a priest–magician (datu) is a ritual object of the Batak. At least two types of staffs are known: the tongkat malehat and the tunggal panaluan.
Looking at Art: High Society
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
A comparison of three portraits in the DMA collection offers insight on the ways socially prominent people were portrayed in 19th-century England and the United States.
John Singer Sargent's _Dorothy_
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
In reviewing the Society of American Artists Annual Exhibition of 1901, the New York Times art critic remarked:
Jenny Holzer, _I Am a Man_
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The following is a transcript of Jenny Holzer's LED installation at the 1987 Documenta VIII exhibition in Kassel
The Work of Jenny Holzer
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Jenny Holzer's art inhabits the public domain in spaces ranging from museums and galleries to wall, billboards, storefronts, and confronts the viewer with thoughts and ideas directly connected to the contemporary socio-political world.
Henry James, Portrait of a Lady
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The somber expression of Miss Gertrude Murray, as portrayed by Thomas Eakins, hints at the sitter's active mental state. Consider the ways Ms. Murray might visualize the unhappy heroine of Henry James' Portrait of a Lady, (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1881) whose intelligent sensibility is her undoing.