From the Archives: The Swans of Harlem

As I mentioned in a recent post,  I have been fascinated by ballet and its history for most of my life. So when I began to see notices for a book about the forgotten Black ballerinas who danced for the Dance Theatre of Harlem I was eager to get my hands on it.  It lived…

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Cecilia Beaux, Portrait Painter

During her lifetime, Cecelia Beaux (1855-1942) was well-known in the social circles who had their portraits painted. She was often compared to John Singer Sargent (1856-1925), whose career overlapped with Beaux’s— both for her style and for her place as one of the leading society portrait painters of her day.[1] Both blended academic realism with…

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Rebel of the Regency

I’ve been following Ann Foster  around the internet for awhile now. In her popular podcast, Vulgar History,  and now in her substack Vulgar History A La Carte, Foster uses wit and impeccable research to shine the light on  historical women whose stories have been forgotten or told through a misogynist lens.  Obviously this is my…

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