The Elusive Smile in Art History It’s a common misconception that the reason subjects in portraits of yesteryear didn’t smile is because of unappealing looking teeth. In fact, the reason is quite logical: smiling for hours on end is awkward and straining for models. In an essay on the topic, writer Nicholas Jeeves says, “A smile is like a blush. It is a response, not …
It’s a common misconception that the reason subjects in portraits of yesteryear didn’t smile is because of unappealing looking teeth. In fact, the reason is quite logical: smiling for hours on end is awkward and straining for models. In an essay on the topic, writer Nicholas Jeeves says, “A smile is like a blush. It is a response, not an expression per se, and so …
Dubbed the “Indiana Jones of the Art World,” Dutch detective Arthur Brand has just recovered a stolen Picasso painting worth $28.2 million. Like the storyline of a heist movie, the 1938 painting Buste de Femme (Dora Maar)—depicting one of the artist’s mistresses—was stolen in 1999 from “a Saudi sheikh’s yacht on the French Riviera.” Brand (who spent four years on the hunt) says the painting was …
