Travels in the 2nd half

Palazzo Barberini   Like many cities in Europe, Rome has taken many of its old palaces and turned them into museums. The Palazzo Barberini is and excellent example, now using the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica (National Gallery of Antique Art). The Palazzo Barberini was built between 1625 and 1633 by Maffeo Barberini, who had recently been anointed as Pope Urban VIII. The Barberini family were nobility and made their fortune as trade merchants. It was around this time that they created a workshop that created tapestries. The Barberini family lived in the palazzo until 1955. The Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica was founded in 1893. In 1883 Tomaso Corsini sold his palace to the Italian government, along with his entire collection of paintings. This collection formed the original gallery and was housed in the Palazzo Corsini, where it is still on the walls, the way the Corsini family had them arranged. Over the years the museum grew, and in 1953 Italy purchased the Palazzo Barberin...

  The Poster House is quickly becoming one of my favorite museums in New York City. It offers deep dive exhibits into the production and use of graphic arts around specific themes. On my last visit they were exploring the history of the Push Pin Agency and a second show on the posters and music of the era of Blaxploitation films. Currently, the Poster House is hosting two shows that explore both history and culture. Puerto Rico in Print: The Posters of Lorenzo Homar (through Sept. 7 2025) Lorenzo Homar (1913-2004) was a Puerto Rican artist who helped found and /or worked in three of the island’s major graphics workshops: Centro de Arte Puertorriqueño; División de Educación a la Comunidad, which was tasked by the government with producing materials for public cultural education; and the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. Born in Puerto Rico, Homar’s family moved to New York City when he was fifteen years old. Due to the family’s financial needs, Lorenzo went to work in a textile...