Art and Architecture, mainly

I was lecturing in a series on “The Silk Road and Marco Polo”, suggesting that Europeans were not as sophisticated in trade, capitalism and tran­s­port systems as the Asians were. But I fell apart suggesting that Marco Polo (1254-1324) was...

Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald was born in Boston (1890-1995), oldest child of John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, prominent figure in Boston politics. Rose was first introduced to politics by her congressman father. By the time she turned 15, Honey Fitz was on...

If I thought there was a lot of sex going on in the late 1960s, those of us interested in turn of the century Vienna had to do some rethinking. Here is my old post republished, now with a greater look at contemporary anti-Semitism. Alma Schindler (18...

At Eternity’s Gate (2018) is the latest film about Vincent van Gogh 1853–90 (Willem Dafoe), one of the western world’s most famous or infamous art­ists. Ac­ad­emy Award-nominated direct­or Julian Schnabel, himself a painter, made a film ope...

Sydney Opera House sits on Bennelong Point, a space first developed as a fort named after Governor Macquarie. It was later used as a tram shed which was demolished in 1958. The project of the Syd­ney Opera House began in 1954 when NSW state premier...

After King Charles’ death, Jacobite Rebellions, failure of the Darien Scheme on the Isthmus of Panama (1698–1700) and the social and economic instability that fol­lowed, a very slow recovery was expected in Scotland. Instead there was the birth...

Frenchman Robert de la Salle sailed down the Miss­iss­ippi River in 1682, explored the area and claimed it for the French Mississippi Company. In 1699, a French-Canadian explorer Pierre le Moyne sailed in from the Carib­bean and landed locally.By...