Napoleon ~ Symbols of Power at the MFA in Boston and artifacts of squalor at Longwood on St. Helena

If you want to see objects of the glory days of Emperor Napoleon, get on up to Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts for the exhibition “Napoleon: Symbols of Power.” It contains objects from 1800-1815. The brochure reads: “Rare treasures on view range from Napoleon’s sword and folding campaign bed to one of only four surviving [...]

Raquel Welch at the Smithsonian ~ in a bikini

I’m in Texas this week and thought it was a good time to post some Texas-related memorabilia. Some Texas Hold ‘em poker buffs know that an 8-3 starting hand is “Raquel Welch,” but do they know that Ms. Welch has a prominent place in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington as a statue wearing [...]

Korean funerary figures ~ Journey to Grave, Dance to Paradise

Laurel Kendall of the American Museum of Natural History gave a speech on Wednesday night in conjunction with the Korea Society.  The title of the talk was “Journey to the Grave, Dance to Paradise: Shamanic Rituals for the Dead” (available here in MP3 format).  The speech helps to mark the opening of a new exhibit [...]

Folk artist Earl Cunningham at the National Portrait Gallery

While in Washington over Labor Day weekend, I had the pleasure of going for the first time to the National Portrait Gallery, which I mentioned in my post on Saul Steinberg.  Currently, through November 4th, they have an exhibit on the life and works of a man named Earl Cunningham, who was born in Maine [...]

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