Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 11hWhile most know major Renaissance works at the Vatican, notably the Sistine Chapel, I think many are likely unaware the Vatican Museums also include modern art, including a stupendous example of Jacob Lawrence's "Builders" works, donated by the artist himself www.museivaticani.va/content/muse... 28421
Reposted by Michael LobelChris Santa Maria @chrissantamaria.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Wayne Thiebaud, Santa Fe Cloud, 1991 oil on canvas 15 5/8 × 16 5/8 inches 1305
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 01/10/2026I have never heard before of this department of the MTA but now I am extraordinarily curious about what exactly they do 3333
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 01/10/2026There's a lot suspect about NY Times op-ed today, "I'm a College Professor. Writing Isn't as Important as We Think," but this is one of most egregious. How could you give *each* student in your class an independent 45-minute oral exam?? How could this possibly scale? www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/o... 1170
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 01/10/2026 absolutely savage😭 www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/u... 1294
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 01/10/2026This 1890 painting by Van Gogh of flowering chestnut trees, which hasn't been seen publicly in over 50 years, and which goes on sale - along with modern works by the likes of Cezanne, Monet & others - at Sotheby's in NY in November👀 www.theguardian.com/artanddesign... 3489
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Feels like it would be a good time for a Pavel Tchelitchew retrospective: Untitled (Skull), 1944 3364
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Pierre-Ernest Prins, Édouard Manet on His Deathbed, c. 1883 www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti... 0323
Reposted by Michael LobelMichael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 29/09/2026"A Lazy Cat," 1896, by Henriette Ronner-Knip, one of the great animal painters of the 19th century, who specialized in carefully-observed feline portraits like this one. Too cute! 222129
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Did I just get back from a viewing at Bonhams auction house in NYC of cat-themed art? Why yes- yes I did. Did I take pictures, including of these Chinese ceramic cats from the Qing Dynasty? Also yes! Will I make a thread of some of them? Indeed I will, which will include... 8720162
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Contact sheet of photos by Peter Hujar of Diana Vreeland, iconic doyenne of fashion born #OnThisDay in 1903 www.interviewmagazine.com/art/5783-pho... 1311
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Many people act like I'm a crazy Luddite for not using AI in my work, but honestly at this point I want to hear a really good argument for using it, at least in scholarly/creative work. The downsides just seem way too significant, and they appear to be growing day by day 3755
Reposted by Michael LobelMichael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Georgia O'Keeffe, "Patio Door with Green Leaf," 1956 access-ok.okeeffemuseum.org/object/28/ 1407
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Great panel this afternoon at NYU on catalogues raisonnés, with Julia Halperin interviewing Barbara Bloemink (on Florine Stettheimer) and Barbara Buhler Lynes (on Georgia O'Keeffe). Saw some great paintings I'd never seen before, including (thread)... 1285
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 27/09/2026I've talked to a few journal editors who are concerned about similar problems re: anonymous reviewers. If a peer reviewer wants a little help & feeds your unpublished submission into an AI system, they've just shared your proprietary work & broken confidentiality. A nightmare to think about 6240134
Reposted by Michael LobelPeter Huestis @peterhuestis.bsky.social · 27/09/2026The great Hairy Who artist Karl Wirsum was born on this date in 1939. Lip Balm, acrylic on canvas, 1966, from the Smithsonian American Art collection: 0305
Reposted by Michael LobelMichael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Another piquant Helene Kröller-Müller anecdote: in 1939, as threat of war loomed, she lobbied to have bomb shelter built at her museum—where her beloved artworks were stored during WWII. I was there in 2019 when museum temporarily allowed visitors to enter tijdlijn.krollermuller.nl/en/timeline/... 3435
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 27/09/2026It is true that the world can be ugly at times, but it can also be very beautiful as well, full of miraculous wonders. Try to remind yourself of this as often as you can 49710
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Unfortunately, the NY Times fails to mention one of most notable moments in collecting career of Helene Kröller-Müller, who amassed one of world's most remarkable collections of Van Gogh works: after her death in 1939, her coffin was laid out in her museum beneath her beloved Van Gogh paintings 1539
Reposted by Michael LobelMichael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Jacob Lawrence, Rain, 1938 312421
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 26/09/2026When at the end of 1939 Walter Benjamin was advised to get out of Paris, he instead renewed his library card. He died #OnThisDay in 1940, fleeing from the Nazis. He was one of the great cultural critics of the 20th century 17417
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Georgia O'Keeffe, Morning Sky, 1916 whitney.org/collection/w... 181307180
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 26/09/2026John Sloan, "Sunset, West 23rd Street," 1905-06 1144485
Reposted by Michael LobelJesse Locker @jessemlocker.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Cornelis Norbertus Gijsbrechts, Reverse side of a painting, 1670, Oil on canvas, 67 x 87 cm (Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen) 17214
Reposted by Michael LobelAlex Zivkovic @alexzivkovic.bsky.social · 24/09/2026can't stop obsessing over Manet's masterful details!!! such effective faces in the background of his Masked Ball at the Opera (1873). Some have so few brushstrokes! each economically conjures an eyebrow, blush, or five-o-clock shadow 1263
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 24/09/2026I'll bet you thought I had let this go, but I was just biding my time; your reminder that I'm waging a one-man campaign to get My Neighbor Totoro transferred to Broadway, & now I'm calling on Bluesky heavy hitters like @joshuajfriedman.com & @darthbluesky.bsky.social for assistance as well🙏youtu.beMy Neighbour Totoro perform acoustic title song | Heart MusicalsYouTube video by Heart 515131
Reposted by Michael LobelMichael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Seems to me like we're due for a reconsideration—and perhaps even an exhibition?—of the mostly forgotten illustrator Boris Artzybasheff, whose hallucinatory mid-20th-century automation drawings seem eerily prescient right now. "Executive of the Future," 1952 onlinecollections.syr.edu/objects/1223... 635390
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Seems to me like we're due for a reconsideration—and perhaps even an exhibition?—of the mostly forgotten illustrator Boris Artzybasheff, whose hallucinatory mid-20th-century automation drawings seem eerily prescient right now. "Executive of the Future," 1952 onlinecollections.syr.edu/objects/1223... 635390
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 23/09/2026And now some good news for the day: the Archives of American Art's website is back up, I can continue browsing archival material to my heart's content, huzzah!🥳 www.aaa.si.edu 2230
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 23/09/2026I'm not the kind to say it all points back to a single historical episode, but so much of what Trump is doing with ballroom & Kennedy Center—the wanton destruction, the callous indifference to the past—was evident when he destroyed Bonwit Teller's irreplaceable sculptures nearly a half-century ago 37745222
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 23/09/2026As a regular user of the Archives of American Art's online collections in my research & teaching, painful to see the site still down. Hoping this isn't akin to catastrophic 2023 British Library cyberattack. If you're curious to learn more, take a few minutes to watch this video on the AAA's mission:youtu.beArchives of American Art — Dig Deep (2025)YouTube video by Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution 1249
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Hi- So I use the Archives of American Art website a lot, & just tried to access it, & it goes...nowhere...? Well to a Smithsonian site that redirects to itself...? I'm concerned this is part of Trump's attack on the Smithsonian—does anyone know about this or have further information? www.aaa.si.edu/aaa.si.eduResearch Centers 42610
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 22/09/2026The NY Art Book Fair is a lovely event, running September 24-27 at MoMA PS1 in Queens, and if you're interested in art, books, & everything in between, a visit is highly recommended www.momaps1.org/en/events/84...momaps1.orgPrinted Matter’s 2026 NY Art Book Fair - MoMA PS1Event. Sep 24–27. Printed Matter’s NY Art Book Fair (NYABF) is the world’s leading fair for artists’ books. Over four days, NYABF convenes hundreds of independent publishers, artists, antiquarian book... 0145
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Fred Tomaselli, Night Music for Raptors, 2010 315622
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Having just spent several hours studying how railway signal towers operated around 1920, I understand why these people use AI, but the hill I'll die on is that the work of scholarship *is* the time spent doing the research, which helps me understand the past in ways I couldn't otherwise comprehend 3314
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Also, thanks to @sirenma.bsky.social for pointing out our porcelain cat friend's resemblance to Salvador Dali, which now I can't unsee 16512
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 21/09/2026As a member of the LGBT+ community throughout my adult life, just honestly aghast at someone who has moved through the world without having to consider that social and political circumstances might have a massive impact on them. Hard for me to imagine how that might even feel 4665
Reposted by Michael LobelFiona McLees @mclees-fiona.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Gallery 12 at National Museum Cardiff now has EIGHT of our wonderful Monets on display. As viewing experiences go - none of the jostling and filing past you might find in the galleries of Paris and London. If you come early enough you might even have them to yourself! 2519
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 21/09/2026There's some incredible cat-themed art in this upcoming auction, but this dapper fellow - a cat lantern from China's Qing dynasty - has to be one of my favorites😻 www.bonhams.com/auction/3258... 38427
Reposted by Michael LobelMichael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 20/09/2026Fortunately I know the answer to this 0685
Reposted by Michael LobelMichael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 19/09/2026Gotta admit I've lived in NYC a very, very long time and don't think I ever knew about this mural Keith Haring did in 1987 for the Carmine Street Swimming Pool. I just stumbled upon it while walking past and was like👀 www.haring.com/!/art-work/242 210626
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 19/09/2026Gotta admit I've lived in NYC a very, very long time and don't think I ever knew about this mural Keith Haring did in 1987 for the Carmine Street Swimming Pool. I just stumbled upon it while walking past and was like👀 www.haring.com/!/art-work/242 210626
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 19/09/2026This is reminding me of this indelible image from Fred Wilson's 1992 "Mining the Museum," where he remixed & reinstalled objects from the Baltimore Historical Society's permanent collection, which included placing a Klan hood inside a baby carriage bmoreart.com/2017/05/how-... 513424
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 19/09/2026Would probably be a good time to introduce all of you to George Stoll's untitled 1990s artwork where he recreated two rolls of toilet paper out of white silk chiffon, hand-quilted & lovingly embroidered with tiny roses. In other news, George Stoll is brother of John Waters actress Mink Stole 47817
Reposted by Michael LobelMichael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 18/09/2026A close look at the resplendent variegation of the natural world: Sylvia Plimack Mangold, "Summer Maple," 2016 1212