Category Archives: Books

A Life of Ideas

|Lary Bloom isn’t in the art business, he was a friend of LeWitt, and as such this biography is more about the man than his art.| There were several curious aspects to my purchase of an original pen and ink … Continue reading

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Bridget Riley

|“Those who understand art only by what it looks like often do not understand very much at all.” -Sol Lewitt| In 1965 Bridget Riley made a trip to New York City to participate in a show titled, “The Responsive Eye.” … Continue reading

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Chymische Hockziet Enoch

|“Chaos is an azure line that surrounds all the world.” From the Sefer Yetsirah| Chapter One While reading the Sefer Yetsirah by the light emanating from a painting of Lucas Cranach I was approached by an angel whose wings were … Continue reading

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Kipling and the Man Who Would Be Surprised

|The wheel of the world swings through the same phases again and again.|― Rudyard Kipling, “The Man Who Would Be King” For no particular reason, I’ve again been reading the collected works of Rudyard Kipling. Mostly he is remembered today (if … Continue reading

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Random Thoughts on Art: Explaining Creativity

|Eric Fischl does a fabulous job explaining not just how he goes about the creative process, but how his creative process came to be what it is.| Eric Fischl’s 2013 autobiography, Bad Boy, is quite the piece of work – literally. … Continue reading

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Gentlemen Adventurers

Privateering as an Investment Strategy (Hint: The Only Yields are Literary) By: Gerry Scott A friend’s generous and thoughtful gift of a print depicting a late 17th century sailing ship led me to consider what I might contribute to his … Continue reading

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A Twice Told Tale?

Among the best stories that Jorge Luis Borges wrote is a particular favorite of mine, The Immortal. Originally published 1947, it was subsequently reprinted to a wider audience in the first edition of El Aleph in 1949. It is possible … Continue reading

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Mumford Rules

On the recommendation of my good friend David, I have been perusing The Lewis Mumford Reader. It might be accurate to describe Lewis Mumford as a modern polymath and an apologist for the American mind. Born in 1895 his work … Continue reading

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The Casual Geometry of Sol Lewitt

Sol Lewitt published “Serial Project #1” in an art magazine during 1967. He commented at the time, “The series would be read by the viewer in a linear or narrative manner (12345; AB B C C C; 1 2 3, … Continue reading

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When geometry becomes art

Euclid’s Elements was one of the first books on mathematics to be printed (Ratdolt Latin Edition, Venice, 1482), and is now thought to be the most widely published book after the Bible. The 1926 essay by Charles Thomas-Stanford clearly demonstrates that … Continue reading

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