It would appear, in synthesis and to borrow a pleasing opposition of human types from John Milton, that Morris was the active Allegro principle of the firm, while Willing was the more withdrawn but vigilant Penseroso. Morris evidently took the lead during the war in supplying Washington’s troops; Willing remained the presiding presence and, not … Read more

On Morrison, by Namwali Serpell (Hogarth). This collection of essays, by a novelist and literary scholar, considers the writer Toni Morrison’s varied body of work. Serpell homes in on its challenging qualities—including its unique orchestration of voice, unconventional chronologies, and layered metaphors—unearthing fresh insights about Morrison’s themes and craft. In a close reading of Morrison’s … Read more

Phillips is a figure for our therapy-soaked era, even if, for him, therapy feeds into and enables life, whereas we often seem to view life as feeding into and enabling therapy. He’s spent decades translating specialized concepts for general audiences—demystifying transference and projection, peeking under the hood of everyday occupations such as tickling and being … Read more

Before meeting Graff and his patients, Schiele made art that was largely derivative. He had studied at Vienna’s Academy of Fine Arts with mixed results, and landed a few pieces at a major international exhibition in 1909, but his style was still Klimtian and Jugendstil, full of decorative froth and languorous, dreamy bodies. Fast-forward a … Read more