His real interest was in social history. It was the architecture first, then the people and their stories. I don’t remember anyone ever telling Bill what to write about. He chose his topics, and they were consequently connected to his heart and mind.
At home in modernism: The John C. Waddell collection of American design (From our Archives)
Waddell’s New York City apartment is filled with striking examples of American design from between the wars
African Art in a fresh context
As they are with their collections of Native American art, many museums are rethinking the way they present, describe, and discuss the art of Africa
Hail the Met at 150
A cultural institution of transcendent richness and breadth, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York enters its sesquicentennial year
Living With Antiques: The Kentucky collection of Sharon and Mack Cox (From our Archives)
Step into Sharon and Mack Cox’s house in Richmond, Kentucky, and your eye might land first on the large stone fireplace at the end of their open living room
History in towns: Bristol Rhode Island (From our Archives)
On a blustery March day in 1813, James DeWolf pored over the ledgers in his counting house in Bristol, Rhode Island.
Arts and Sciences
A new exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution examines the influence of naturalist Alexander von Humboldt on the American arts. In focus here: the landscapes of Frederic Church
The Other Woodstock Anniversary
In the early twentieth century, the town of Woodstock, New York, in the lee of the Catskill Mountains, evolved into one of the leading art colonies in the United States.
Curious Objects
Sign up for our newsletter and get Curious Objects right to your inbox This Week on Curious Objects Listen to Curious Objects on these platforms Patreon || Spotify || Soundcloud || Apple Podcasts In this Curious Objects Bites episode, Benjamin Miller examines an 1830s manuscript tune book from rural Vermont. Learn more. Through interviews with leading figures in …
Curious Objects: One Year in the Books
We’ve arrived at the first anniversary of the podcast and we’ve decided to treat this as an occasion for a little retrospection–this is after all a podcast about antiques–and give you a compilation of some of the more interesting moments from the last year of Curious Objects.