Walker Evans’s Havana, through an Architect’s Lens
Julio César Pérez Hernández, architect and author of Inside Cuba, visits the Getty Center this Thursday to talk about Cuban architecture in conjunction with... Read More
All Posts by Jessica Portner
I’m a contributing writer for the Iris. As a journalist, I've covered science, education, and art, both as a staff writer for The San Jose Mercury News and as a freelancer for The Washington Post and the Science Channel. I've also studied political philosophy, surrealism, and Shakespeare. I grew up in L.A. and have been tooling around museums since I was in kindergarten.
A Gallery Fit for a Prince and Now the Public? The Düsseldorf Gallery and the Modern Museum
Most museum galleries have certain things in common. For one, the works are spaced a restful distance apart from one another on the wall.... Read More
Uncorking the Secrets to Ancient Cocktails
Update—We’ve posted video excerpts from Patrick McGovern’s talk. See below for his discussion of Midas Touch, here for Chateau Jiahu, and here for Theobroma.... Read More
Paris Gamblers: Gaming in 18th-Century France
The well-coiffed elite of the time relished a good card game.
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The Nazarenes: German Artists Illuminating the Spirit of the Age
In the emerald-green galleries of the exhibition Spirit of an Age: Drawings from the Germanic World, I was drawn to a cluster of quiet... Read More
The Museum as Classroom: Q&A with Guest Scholar George Hein
George Hein, a leading authority on museum education whom the Museum’s Education Department invited as a guest scholar this spring, says that museums are... Read More
Mortals Pay Homage to Homer’s “Iliad,” Epic of Gods and War
Mighty sieges and human follies. The bravado of warriors and the rages and schemes of gods. The Iliad, one of the best-told epics of... Read More
Pointing East, Thinking West: Felice Beato’s Photographic View
Whether he planted his tripod in India, China, Japan, Korea, or Burma, the Italian-born photographer Felice Beato always portrayed a country’s culture through a... Read More
Making Over Early Photographs with Color
“First, ever so lightly, I take a little flesh-colored pigment and add a bit of color to his face,” said Luther Gerlach as he... Read More
Mixing Afghan Rhythms at Sounds of L.A.
Just 48 hours before he was pounding percussion onstage at the Getty Center this past weekend, one of the creators of Sounds and Rhythms... Read More
Honey, They’re Playing Our Painting
Many couples have a favorite song, a tune that conjures up memories of blissful infatuation and unending devotion. Elia and Maranatha have a painting.... Read More
Drawing the Line: Conserving Master Drawings with a Light Touch
The intriguing exhibition The Secret Life of Drawings—closing this Sunday at the Getty Center—unveils hidden clues to unfinished works on paper, undiscovered sketches, and... Read More
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