Opinion From Donald Sutherland’s Sleazy Gauguin to a Classic Caravaggio, How 3 Biopics Romanticize Artists’ (Often Unforgivable) Dark Sides Part 3 of A History of Artist Biopics, on the '70s and '80s. By Ben Davis, Mar 13, 2019
Opinion The Agony and the Ecstasy: Why Two ’60s Art Biopics Are Epic Clunkers, and One Is an All-Time Classic Hollywood puts its stamp on the tales of Michelangelo and El Greco, but a medieval Russian icon-maker is the greatest star of all. By Ben Davis, Feb 25, 2019
Opinion 5 Classic Hollywood Movies That Sculpted Our Image of Artists as Tragic, Irrepressible, Erotic Heroes Filmmakers were enamored with artists long before Leonardo DiCaprio was set to star as Leonardo da Vinci. By Ben Davis, Feb 20, 2019
Opinion How Did the Heart Become a Symbol of Love? The Clues Lie in This Medieval French Illustration The 13th-century French manuscript "Romance of the Pear" contains an early depiction of the heart as a symbol of love. By Ben Davis, Feb 14, 2019
Opinion What Is Democracy? An Experimental New Documentary Looks at the History of an Idea—and Offers a Ray of Hope Astra Taylor's new film surveys contemporary political breakdown through the lens of philosophy. By Ben Davis, Jan 28, 2019
Opinion The World’s Most-Liked Instagram Post Is a Picture of an Egg—and It Hatches a New Age of Conceptual Art for the People It's the viral sensation of the moment. But it has an art-historical precedent. By Ben Davis, Jan 15, 2019
Opinion The Perplexingly Popular Conspiracy Theory That ‘Salvator Mundi’ Is Connected to #Russiagate, Explained Trump, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Christie's, a new shadowy world order... it all adds up! By Ben Davis, Jan 9, 2019
Opinion Excited for Amazon’s Arrival in Long Island City? The Results for New York’s Art Community Won’t Be Pretty Look to Seattle to get a glimpse of the tensions wrought by the tech giant. By Ben Davis, Nov 13, 2018
Opinion The Museum of Voting Shows What Everyone Gets Wrong About Youth and Politics. Here’s Why We need sharper ways to talk about the politics of digital distraction. By Ben Davis, Nov 5, 2018
Opinion Can We Just Admit That Banksy’s Art-Shredding Stunt Is Actually Really Good? It is OK to let yourself like this confounding bit of auction theater. By Ben Davis, Oct 10, 2018
Opinion ‘A Very Provocative Collection’: How Art Addiction at Lehman Brothers Helped Spark the 2008 Financial Crisis Hey, remember how art helped bring down the world financial system in 2008? By Ben Davis, Sep 21, 2018
Opinion The Romance Between the Art Market and Cryptocurrencies Is Getting Weirder Every Day. It Won’t End Well. A look at some of the more outlandish news from the rapidly mutating world of art-and-cryptocurrency. By Ben Davis, Sep 19, 2018
Opinion Why Is the Case of Jailed Photographer Shahidul Alam So Important? Martin Parr, Dayanita Singh, and Others Explain His Significance The Bangladeshi photographer is being punished for criticizing the government. Here's why you should pay attention. By Ben Davis, Aug 19, 2018
Opinion Is the QAnon Conspiracy the Work of Artist-Activist Pranksters? The Evidence for (And Against) a Dangerous Hypothesis The history of "Luther Blissett," the Italian media jamming movement, is suddenly relevant to the US political discussion. By Ben Davis, Aug 8, 2018
Opinion Art History, or the Illuminati? What Jay-Z and Beyoncé Are Really Up to With Their Viral New Louvre Video Three ways to look at the 'Apes**t' video. By Ben Davis, Jun 18, 2018