Where to Begin?

John Haber
in New York City

For art's histories revisit these moments, or you simply take my ultimate museum tour:

• The Cloisters takes an uncanny leap
• van Eyck seeks the truth in painting
• Bellini has a rendezvous with the sun
• Why Rembrandt's art takes words
• Vermeer finds a narrative in light
• La Tour knows when silence is golden
• What can make art history feel fresh?
• Does money make a masterpiece?
• All the terminology you will ever need!

For art these days, see how we got into the postmodern paradox:

• Homer enters the Gulf Wars
• Can better art fairs save art?
• Is Detroit's art worth a human life?
• Krasner more than survives Pollock
• Johns still targets modern art
• Did Arbus exploit her subjects?
• Who says art today is mannered?
• Media mix a woman's memories
• A black artist's two-way journey
• Why is art always so annoying?

How seriously do I take these choices? Not very. I just had to stop somewhere. A reviewer is his own worst critic, and I mostly list what others tell me they have enjoyed or used in class, but fair warning: the essay on van Eyck is longer and heavier on (egad) "theory," but all my reviews try to get at something that was on my mind.

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