tiny genies: Chinese snuff bottles at the Met

In the first translation of the 1001 Nights, Aladdin and his magical genie actually came from 'a city of cities in China'. Our family's collection of snuff bottles, made of porcelain and red lacquer, seemed like just the kind of vessel that might contain a pocket-sized version of the wish-granting jinn.

Red lacquer bottle showing children at play
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Impressionism: light and water

Seeing paintings in the country where they were painted is pure magic. The French Impressionists especially were obsessed with the exact colours that reflected off their rivers and lakes and shimmered in the sky.

Regatta at Argenteuil, Claude Monet (1872)

AGO: Toronto, Canada

This week's pick is a new find for wonder | wander | world.

On a recent visit to Toronto, Canada wonder | wonder | women had a great experience at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Swimming Bear - Tim Pitsuilik, 2016

This summer the AGO celebrates the power of Inuit art by bringing together two extraordinary artists – Kenojuak Ashevak and her nephew Timootee (Tim) Pitsiulak.

Two generations of Inuit artists who have challenged viewers to respond to their art and the Inuit world view in new ways.

Mahala and I wish our island heritage were as alive and thriving. We dream of having the opportunity to resurrect and contribute to our home island art as well.

Luminous Char - Kenojuack Ashevak, 2008

Seasons Greetings!

On December 18, the newly renovated local museum in our hometown of Bacolod City on Negros Island in the Philippines was host to "Talamdan."

A home grown exhibit of the National Archives of the Philippines that documents and records the Spanish occupation and birth of the sugar industry on the island.

The Negros Museum was was built in 1925 by Juan Arellano. Originally part of the Provincial Capitol, it was known as the Provincial Agriculture Building.

summer in NYC

For those stuck in this city's summer heat, there's still a lot going on to entice us. 

A regular favorite of ours here at wonder | wander | world is a visit to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

big sky: Georgia O'Keeffe at the Tate Modern

Like the Joseph Cornell retrospective, this turned out to be unexpectedly personal and affecting. Like any dedicated artist, I knew a little about Georgia O'Keeffe. I knew she lived a long time, painted flowers and skulls with great beauty and skill, lived in the American Southwest, and was a feminist icon. Mostly, though, I knew her as my mother's favourite artist.

My Front Yard, Summer 1941

writers and artists cross-pollinate at the Guggenheim, NYC

A week after the exhibit opened wonder | wander | women were at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum on Fifth Avenue in New York City to view over 100 works in diverse mediums by 48 international artists from the Guggenheim’s contemporary collection. 

Agnieszka Kurant, The End of Signature, 2015

Storylines: Contemporary Art at the Guggenheim explores mediums and methods current art and artists are harnessing to tell their stories and expand on conventional narrative devices such as plot, character and setting. Much of these pieces are on view for the first time.