national gallery of art

The Bedroom by Pieter de Hooch

May 17, 2025May 17, 2025
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Well, here we are my friends, the 100th and final episode! We go back to where it all started, the National Gallery of Art, for… Read More »The Bedroom by Pieter de Hooch

A young pale-skinned woman wearing a short blue jacket and mustard yellow skirt stands in front of a table holding a balance. She stands at a table scattered with jewels bathed in light coming from a window to our left.

Encore: Woman Holding a Balance by Johannes Vermeer

January 11, 2025January 11, 2025

While I’m taking a break, I thought you might enjoy this encore presentation of a popular episode from 2019—the gorgeous Woman Holding a Balance at… Read More »Encore: Woman Holding a Balance by Johannes Vermeer

A peacock and two brown birds perch on a stable roof with men grooming horses inside. A dense colorfully dressed crowd surrounds the stable and two heads with halos are visible in lower right.

The Adoration of the Magi: Fra Angelico and Fra Filippo Lippi

December 14, 2024December 28, 2024

And you thought YOU were gonna have a lot of holiday company! Poor Mary, who’s only given birth a week or so ago, now faces… Read More »The Adoration of the Magi: Fra Angelico and Fra Filippo Lippi

Hazy silver sunlight breaks through a cloud-filled blue-grey sky to illuminate green-grey waves breaking onto a wet beach that fills the lower half of this oil painting. Three white seagulls wheel overhead and a distant ship on the horizon sails from left to right.

On the Coast of New Jersey by William Trost Richards

November 22, 2024November 22, 2024

Today’s episode is all about relaxing, taking a little break after a long year and before the holidays hit. So I offer you a quiet… Read More »On the Coast of New Jersey by William Trost Richards

Portrait of a slender, pale-skinned young woman with blue eyes. She has shoulder-length copper-red hair and wears a white gown with grey and white striped sleeves belted at the waist. She stands before a brocaded ivory curtain.

Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl by James McNeill Whistler

October 19, 2024November 29, 2024

Welcome back! I hope you all had a great summer. We’ll be spending the rest of 2024 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington… Read More »Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl by James McNeill Whistler

A man on an ivory white horse rides away from us on a rugged mountain path heading toward a forest of green trees. He wears a dark blue tunic and pointed brown hat and the scene is strongly lit from the left.

What’s Ahead for A Long Look?

October 10, 2024February 7, 2025

“A Long Look” returns with new episodes soon! Meanwhile, I’ve been looking down the road trying to figure out the future of the show and… Read More »What’s Ahead for A Long Look?

Three paintings are cropped into horizontal bars with the word 150 in white text superimposed over the middle image.

Happy Anniversary, Impressionism!

May 18, 2024May 19, 2025

Just in time for your Memorial Day travels, here’s an extended episode celebrating the anniversary of Impressionism! We take another look at three of the… Read More »Happy Anniversary, Impressionism!

A group of people and angels look down at a baby lying on the floor of an open-sided wooden structure.

The Nativity by Petrus Christus

December 16, 2023April 19, 2024

Merry Christmas! For this year’s holiday episode we’re looking at this kind of unusual Nativity scene jammed packed with the detail those Northern European Renaissance… Read More »The Nativity by Petrus Christus

Bowls of fruit, drinking goblets, and pewter platters of food spread across a long table. In the upper right is a peacock sitting in a caramel-brown pie.

Still Life with Peacock Pie by Pieter Claesz

November 18, 2023November 21, 2023

Just in time for Thanksgiving, we take a look at this sumptuous feast by one of the stars of still-life painting, Pieter Claesz. We’ll find… Read More »Still Life with Peacock Pie by Pieter Claesz

A chubby baby sits on a bed of pink and white flowers in an amber-colored boat with fistfuls of blossoms in his upraised hands. A winged angel in a white robe with a glowing starburst over its heads stands behind him with one hand the tiller, steering them down a narrow river lined with flowers and plants.

The Voyage of Life: Childhood by Thomas Cole

October 21, 2023October 21, 2023

In today’s episode we’re looking at “Childhood” by Thomas Cole. It’s the first of a series of enormous paintings he did called “The Voyage of… Read More »The Voyage of Life: Childhood by Thomas Cole