Brian T. Allen

The visionary Ima Hogg bought the best old American furniture, silver, ceramics, and textiles to inspire good taste in design.

She was one of three women who created the museum, and her gifts of art and money still make a difference after 90 years.

Belle da Costa Greene’s legacy is artistic, but she had a secret.

Plus, a discovery in the Sea of Sicily, an odd pick for director of the Walters in Baltimore, and the Met releases designs for a new contemporary wing.

Lotusland, the botanical garden, stars as the art of the year, all 37 acres of it.

A French château look, porcelain, silk, and paintings galore, plus an automaton the size of a baby elephant.

Old Masters sales in London test Christmas wish lists.

Saint Nick among the stars of the Met’s lovely look at Siena, circa 1300.

Gothic Art meets the Renaissance via Duccio, Simone di Martini, and the Lorenzetti brothers.

It uses its millions to inject race grievance into American art.

Things went bananas at Sotheby’s when it turned from Tiffany to Chiquita, with a crypto-bro forking over $6.2 million for a bad joke.

Eastman Johnson’s 200th birthday is this year, and like Thanksgiving, his work fuses God, family, history, and civics.

Pavilions for Ethiopia, Australia, and the Holy See revisit the ‘outsider’ shibboleth.

The definitive exhibition and book, stimulated by a little-known American collection.

Plus, a naughty satyr scores with a she-goat in the archaeology museum’s porn gallery.

Candidates haven’t weighed what works and what doesn’t.

331 works of art and $45 million from a trustee’s estate will transform one of America’s best small museums.

Photographer William Meyers explores American citizenship, which is in better shape than many think.

Wren and Soane spaces shine in a salute to British patriotism.

Near Naples, it’s a case study in archaeology in Italy.

A video about a mural’s racism gives lots of room for thought.

It’s 200 years old, but the celebration has awkward moments.

Plus: Climate kooks get two years in the cooler, a trashed Dürer makes big money, and the Frick gets a new director.

Woke ideology? Shakedown? Abuse of power? A good idea gone bad?

As memorials go, it’s had ups and downs.

No horse hockey here, only a solid, fascinating history of thoroughbred sport.

Dazzling artists from India, London, Antwerp, Rotterdam, and the Great Beyond.

And more: London’s National Portrait Gallery turns climate crazy, while the Brooklyn Museum turns just plain crazy.

The great writer was also a great designer and decorator of houses, and her beloved ‘cottage’ is a work of art.