Charles Dickens, according to his son Henry, “never made a point of his religious convictions,” which were “very strong and deep.” They were also liberal and rather loose. Although he sometimes attended Anglican services and was well-versed in Scripture, Dickens was not interested in . . . . Continue Reading »
Washington, D.C.’s cultural apparatchiks have long hankered for a Frank Gehry showpiece. On the eve of the new millennium, the director of Washington’s Corcoran Gallery implored Gehry, then basking in accolades for his titanium-clad Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, to enter a competition to . . . . Continue Reading »
Catesby Leigh notes in his essay “Monumental Contrast” (October) that the removal of the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial in New York City is a sign that the “monumental aesthetic” in public art is an “endangered species.” Those of us in the art world know only too well that in civic art the . . . . Continue Reading »
In recent years, reports have appeared in the media of art restorations so appalling they produce howls of laughter. That these stories have focused on the mutilation of works of religious art is no accident: Ineptitude combines with sacrilege. The most recent atrocity was inflicted on a copy of a . . . . Continue Reading »
Throughout history, times of plague and catastrophe have called for serious responses in the form of churches and sacred art. Continue Reading »
Since the end of World War II, American conservatism has been characterized by a three-pronged coalition. The first prong emphasizes the virtues of a free economy, the second a strong military, and the third a faith, family, and flag social conservatism. The three prongs endure today, but they are . . . . Continue Reading »
Theodore Dalrymple (“Identity as Ideology,” February) is certainly correct to point to the yearning for transcendence that was not—and likely cannot be—obliterated in people like André Hébert when they lose the will to enter into communion with the traditional means of attaining . . . . Continue Reading »
Outrage erupted over a leaked memo suggesting that President Trump would issue an Executive Order creating a preference that federal buildings be designed in a classical style. Continue Reading »
“Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again,” Trump’s draft executive order, mandates a reorientation of Uncle Sam’s architectural patronage along traditional—and above all, classical—lines. Continue Reading »
An observer of a Spenglerian bent might just write Venice off, taking the floods that afflict the city with increasing frequency as the finishing touches on a long-running spectacle of political, economic, and cultural decline. That decline, spanning half a millennium, has by now reduced the city to . . . . Continue Reading »
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