Peabody Essex Museum

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Boston arts institutions flexed their muscles in 2011

The following rundown of the best art exhibits of 2011 shows how greater Boston is now consistently offering some of the richest institutional art exhibition programs in the country.
Boom town!
By GREG COOK | December 23, 2011

Slideshow: ''Painting the American Vision'' at the Peabody Essex; ''Shifting Terrain: Landscape Video'' at the Currier Museum of Art

This slideshow of images from "Painting the American Vision" at the Peabody Essex Museum and "Shifting Terrain: Landscape Video" at the Currier Museum of Art accompanies Greg Cook's review of both exhibits, "Painting — and video — of the American lan
"Painting the American Vision": Though Nov 6, 2011 | "Shifting Terrain": Through Sep 18, 2011
By PHOENIX STAFF | August 05, 2011

Painting – and video – of the American landscape

"Painting the American Vision" — 45 rapturous paintings from the New York Historical Society — surveys the Hudson River School painters, dubbed for the upstate New York river where they spent their summers prospecting for sights to transform into ravish
Manifest destiny
By GREG COOK | August 05, 2011

In the triumphant 6/17 issue: Best Music Poll victors, Oxy Morons, and Teflon Deval on a winning streak

It's been one hell of week for Boston -- a Stanley cup victory, a parade that drew over a million people. So, too, has it...
By Kevin Sviokla | June 20, 2011

Man Ray and Lee Miller at the Peabody Essex Museum

"Man Ray | Lee Miller, Partners in Surrealism," organized by curator Phillip Prodger at the Peabody Essex Museum, is an impressive exhibit of 76 photos, paintings, sculptures, and letters that came out of their steamy three-year affair, plus art by their
L'amour fou
By GREG COOK | June 17, 2011

Art lovers

Buñuel and Dalí weren't the only Surrealists whose short-lived partnership belies the big impact of their work on the art world. Opening on June 11...
By Scott Kearnan | June 13, 2011

Photos: Golden: Dutch and Flemish masterworks

The Van Otterloo collection at the Peabody Essex Museum
Peabody Essex Museum | East India Square, Salem | Through June 19
By PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM | March 04, 2011

The Van Otterloo collection at the Peabody Essex Museum

Some years back, Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo began collecting horse carriages, until they completely filled their New Hampshire barn.
Solid gold
By GREG COOK | March 04, 2011

The Van Otterloo collection at the Peabody Essex Museum

Some years back, Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo began collecting horse carriages, until they completely filled their New Hampshire barn.
Solid gold
By GREG COOK | March 04, 2011

Winter Art Preview: Interiors and exteriors

During the icy months of the gray heart of the Boston winter, art offers a chance for you to travel to the balmy South Seas and, via a brainy conceptual artist, the streets of Mexico City. Winter shows also offer a chance to travel through history, from
Gorey's "Enigmas," La Farge's Tahiti, Fig's studios, Perry Welty's voicemail
By GREG COOK | December 31, 2010

Top 10 New England Art Exhibits of 2010

Art – and art spaces — of all sizes
Art – and art spaces — of all sizes
By GREG COOK | December 24, 2010

An Emperor's heaven on earth

Salem's Peabody Essex Museum has pulled off the curatorial coup of the year with "The Emperor's Private Paradise," which reveals to the public for the first time 90 "treasures from the Forbidden City," the Chinese imperial palace in Beijing.
The Peabody Essex Museum scores a curatorial coup
By GREG COOK | September 24, 2010

Slideshow: Treasures from the Forbidden City

The Emperor's Private Paradise at the Peabody Essex Museum, now through January 9, 2011
The Emperor's Private Paradise at the Peabody Essex Museum, now through January 9, 2011
By PHOENIX STAFF | September 24, 2010

Tracking time

The tracks run side by side across cracked, dried mud. But this black-and-white photo by Mark Ruwedel is deceptive.
Mark Ruwedel at PEM, Jerome Liebling at the Currier
By GREG COOK | August 06, 2010

Art in the air conditioning

From Picasso to William "Shrek" Steig's cartoons, and surfer photos to a Twilight Zone toy store, New England offers art worth traveling to this summer. Here we round up the best in the region, no matter the weather or your artistic inclinations.
Local museums keep you cool — and the art's pretty good, too
By GREG COOK | June 18, 2010

After images

Karen Finley won’t be naked, or covered in chocolate. Candied yams will not be involved. If there are neighborhood morality-watch squads in Salem, they’ll have the night off.
Karen Finley does Jackie
By JIM SULLIVAN | May 28, 2010

Slideshow: The Maya And The Mythic Sea at Peabody Essex Museum

Mayan works of art at the “Fiery Pool: The Maya And The Mythic Sea,” exhibit
“Fiery Pool: The Maya And The Mythic Sea,” Peabody Essex Museum through July 18
By PHOENIX STAFF | May 21, 2010

Power plays

Some weeks back, I got to listen to Brown University archæology professor Stephen Houston pronounce the throaty, staccato sounds of Maya hieroglyphs carved across a six-foot-wide limestone panel.
The Maya and the Kennedys at the Peabody Essex
By GREG COOK | May 21, 2010

Photos: 'The Kennedys' at Peabody Essex Museum

Photographs of JFK and his family
"The Kennedys” exhibit at Peabody Essex Museum, through July 18
By RICHARD AVEDON | May 21, 2010

Tall stories

The Institute of Contemporary Art gets down and dirty this spring with Mexican artist Jerónimo López Ramírez, who's better known as DR. LAKRA — or, as they might say in his home of Oaxaca, "Dr. Delinquent."
Puppets, painted poetry, and the Kennedys
By GREG COOK | March 12, 2010

On the Watch

Look, we know that no matter how sincere your intentions and bleeding your heart, staying on top of complex international events is a daunting task....
By Scott Kearnan | January 11, 2010

Modern times

Does Jen Mergel's appointment mean that the MFA is getting serious about contemporary art?
Does Jen Mergel's appointment mean that the MFA is getting serious about contemporary art?
By GREG COOK | January 08, 2010

Fresh fruit and vegetables

The bleakest months of New England winter are ahead of us, so the prospect of leaving your toasty house to see art may not be at the top of your to-do list.
A winter crop of art
By GREG COOK | January 01, 2010

2009: The year in Art

The year started off with a kick in the teeth when, in January, Brandeis University announced plans to shutter its Rose Art Museum and sell off its masterpieces.
Saints, sinners, paint
By GREG COOK | December 25, 2009

Magpie and copyist

If you were going to recount the evolution of hippie guy fashion, you might say that what began with psychedelic ruffled shirts and corduroy pants in 1968 has in late middle age split into two streams: collarless white button-down shirts, usually buttone
Iris Apfel at PEM, Mary McFadden at MassArt
By GREG COOK | November 27, 2009

“Rare Bird of Fashion: The Irreverent Iris Apfel”

“Fashion icon” is an honorary title that gets tossed around just a bit too loosely these days. For every timeless maven, there’s a trendy poseur;...
By Scott Kearnan | October 05, 2009

Pottery, Potter, mummies, and a 'Rare Bird'

The art of 2000 BC Egypt, visions from the Iraq War and AIDS activism, and the magic of a digital technology and Harry Potter make up the highlights of Boston's autumn art calendar.
Museums and galleries gather their objets d'art
By GREG COOK | September 18, 2009

Photos: Dutch Seascapes at Peabody Essex

Dutch Seascapes at Peabody Essex
"The Golden Age of Dutch Seascapes" at the Peabody
By PHOENIX STAFF | June 26, 2009

Ruling the waves

The Dutch emerged at the dawn of the 17th century as a pre-eminent military and commercial power on the sea. They were in the midst of throwing off Spanish rule and developing a shipping empire that would reach from the Americas to South Africa to Asia.
The golden age of Dutch sea power sails into Salem
By GREG COOK | June 26, 2009

Water world

What's the difference between art photography and fashion photography? That's the question I kept wondering about at Joni Sternbach's "SurfLand" exhibition at Salem's Peabody Essex Museum.
Surfing photos in Salem, new talent at PRC
By GREG COOK | June 12, 2009

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