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Rusty Freeman

John Singer Sargent

One of the most remarkable artists in the Cedarhurst collection is John Singer Sargent, an American by birth, who lived his entire life based in Europe.  Born in Florence, Italy to wealthy American parents, Sargent often traveled to America for commissions, but settled permanently in London.   Sargent was the preeminent society portraitist of his …

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Beauty, Truth, and a New Year

Since the time of the Greek philosopher Plotinus, Beauty has been regarded as inextricably linked to Truth.  Modern writers John Ruskin, Walter Pater, and Oscar Wilde shared this conviction. In appraising Beauty, we sense something greater than the sum of the form’s parts.  No single attribute defines the object, it is a cumulative effect. During …

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The Allegory of Freedom

The personification of Woman began when we looked to the sky and named a planet, Venus. Woman as allegory can stand for a variety of conceptualizations.  The Ideal of Woman as quintessential Other has been appropriated endlessly to personify conceptions: Nature, Nations, Ships…, as well as the promise of Democracy and Freedom. Today, “Goddess” does …

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Smithsonian’s “Things Come Apart”

This exhibition explores the product design and evolution of some of our most cherished tools, the telephone, the clock, and the camera.  And many others.  Along the way, we discover that some of our most important, like the smartphone, though incredibly well-designed, and without a doubt, now indispensable, may not be the most sustainable and best …

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Encyclopédie, Smithsonian, & Cedarhurst

What could the 18th-century and the 21st-century possibly have in common?  Two things: a love of knowledge, and a love of takings things apart to see how they work.  See Things Come Apart and Jefferson & Diderot blogs. The Encyclopédie gathered current knowledge in written essays and illustrations to make it available beyond aristocrats and scholars. A side-by-side comparison; left, …

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American Artists of Asian Heritage

In this week’s blog, we celebrate three permanent collection artists: Jiyong Lee, Arthur Towata, and Cheonae Kim.   JIYONG LEE, South Korea (b.1971), Cube Segmentation, 2014, Cut and carved glass, color laminated, Museum purchase with funds provided by the Cedarhurst Collectors Club, 2015.01 Jiyong Lee on the metaphors in his art: “The segmentation series is inspired by my …

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