Category Archives: Art

Witchy art cards, from the NYPL

Posted on October 31, 2019 by Lizzie Ross

Thanks to the bloggers at the NYPL, you can find images of a few great Halloween-themed art cards from the Library’s collection here. Happy Haunting!

Posted in Art, Halloween | 2 Comments

Ghoulish image

Posted on October 31, 2019 by Lizzie Ross

Because there can never be too much Poe available on this spooky day, here’s a little something I spotted at a recent art show (IFPDA Fine Art Print Fair) in NYC:   “Edgar Allen Poe”, Horst Janssen (1929 – 1995), color etching, 1988 … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Gothic, Horror, Macabre, Mystery, Poetry, RIP | Tagged | Leave a comment

Tolkienerdity*

Posted on February 27, 2019 by Lizzie Ross

The Morgan Library’s JRR Tolkien exhibit may not be large, but it’s crammed with plenty of items that require a good long look just to see every detail. Images of a small number of the items are up on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Am reading, Art, Fantasy | 2 Comments

Brueghelian Obsession

Posted on September 14, 2018 by Lizzie Ross

The fourth and last in a series of novels involving the search for lost art. But a new slant here: this novel is for adults. Headlong, Michael Frayn (1999), Picador, 342 pp. Remember that Rod Serling story, where the Nazi … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, History, Mystery | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The Borrowers Meet Don Marquis’ Archy

Posted on September 12, 2018 by Lizzie Ross

Third in a series reviewing novels about stolen paintings. Masterpiece (2008), Elise Broach (illus. Kelly Murphy), 288 pp. It’s a bit strange to read about “beetles” living under the sink of a NYC apartment, but I suspect Broach’s editors wouldn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Mystery | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Ars gratia artis

Posted on September 10, 2018 by Lizzie Ross

To keep with my most recent post’s art-mystery theme, I’ve resurrected this from my now defunct earlier blog, The Ineluctable Bookshelf. Two more will follow in the next few days. Chasing Vermeer (2004), Blue Balliett, 254 pp. (+ two sequels) … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Art, Mystery | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Art in peril

Posted on September 8, 2018 by Lizzie Ross

Laura Marx Fitzgerald, Under the Egg (2014) and The Gallery (2016) (both read as e-books from the NYPL) It’s no surprise that these two middle-grade novels by an art historian involve art: missing masterpieces, questions of ownership, and just plain how to … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Art, Mystery | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Proust drops in at 44 Scotland Street

Posted on August 8, 2016 by Lizzie Ross

Alexander McCall Smith, 44 Scotland Street series (2005 – no end in sight) If you like your soap operas literate, breezy, quirky, and in book form, then the prolific Mr. Smith* has a few options for you. I settled into … Continue reading →

Posted in 2016 Goals, Art, Fiction, Humorous, Roman fleuve, Series, Travel | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Cartographer’s Prize

Posted on September 26, 2014 by Lizzie Ross

The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet (2009), Reif Larsen. Tecumseh Sparrow Spivet is 12, the only surviving son of Dr. Clair and Father, brother to Gracie, and a prodigy who maps not just his geographic world (his bedroom, the route to … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Art, Travel, YA Lit | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Ridiculous Obsessions

Posted on June 30, 2014 by Lizzie Ross

I.e., NOT in the least bit magnificent. I try not to succumb to obsessive collecting. I actually don’t need complete matching sets of book series (so what if two of five volumes are paperback?) or any musician’s entire CD/LP/45 output. But today I … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Labyrinths | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments