Object Notes

Gerald Murphy’s Razor presents a still life of consumer products one might associate with the modern American man of the 1920s: a safety razor, a fountain pen, and a matchbox. The bold, simplified forms showcase his training in mechanical drawing, as well as an interest in the flattened space of cubist painting.&nbs

Pierre Bonnard experts are not immune to the difficult legibility of this lithograph.

The Icebergs is a superb example of Frederic Edwin Church’s technical skill and clever marketing.

The Maya used large stone vessels called zak-lak-tun (literally, white stone bowls) for public ceremonies and offerings. Smaller stone vessels, like this example from the Ulua Valley of Honduras, were highly prized and quite rare.

One of the hallmarks of Aztec art is sculpture in stone, which ranges in scale from colossal monuments to smaller portable objects.

Besides the hacha and palma, another commonly portrayed element of ballgame attire is the yoke, the protective padded waist belt worn by Mesoamerican ballgame players for deflecting the heavy rubber ball. The name derives from the animal working equipment, as it is similar in shape.