Jesse Locker
@jessemlocker.bsky.social
Professor of art history at Portland State University. Author of Artemisia Gentileschi: The Language of Painting (Yale University Press) and some other stuff. 2 parts Weltschmerz, 1 part vermouth
Pinned
Rumor has it that this rare, diminutive work by Antonella da Messina, which was just purchased by the Italian state for $15 million, is headed to the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte in Naples. An excellent decision!
February 9, 2026 at 5:49 PM
Rumor has it that this rare, diminutive work by Antonella da Messina, which was just purchased by the Italian state for $15 million, is headed to the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte in Naples. An excellent decision!
"Let me tell you this: every little hair on my neck knows more than you and all your scribes, and my shoe buckles are more learned than your Galen and Avicenna, and my beard has more experience than all your high colleges." -Paracelsus (1530)
February 9, 2026 at 3:20 PM
"Let me tell you this: every little hair on my neck knows more than you and all your scribes, and my shoe buckles are more learned than your Galen and Avicenna, and my beard has more experience than all your high colleges." -Paracelsus (1530)
Grete Stern, Dream 41: The Phone Call. 1949(?). Photomontage, gelatin silver print (Davis Museum at Wellesley College)
Born in Germany in 1904, Stern fled in 1933 and ended up in Argentina. Her best-known works are surreal photomontages for the women's magazine Idilio, representing readers' dreams
Born in Germany in 1904, Stern fled in 1933 and ended up in Argentina. Her best-known works are surreal photomontages for the women's magazine Idilio, representing readers' dreams
February 8, 2026 at 5:46 AM
Grete Stern, Dream 41: The Phone Call. 1949(?). Photomontage, gelatin silver print (Davis Museum at Wellesley College)
Born in Germany in 1904, Stern fled in 1933 and ended up in Argentina. Her best-known works are surreal photomontages for the women's magazine Idilio, representing readers' dreams
Born in Germany in 1904, Stern fled in 1933 and ended up in Argentina. Her best-known works are surreal photomontages for the women's magazine Idilio, representing readers' dreams
Reposted by Jesse Locker
God forbid a woman have hobbies
Nature at Work making Birds, Animals, and People on Her Anvil, circa 1405, Ms. Ludwig XV 7 (83.MR.177), fol. 121v (Getty)
February 7, 2026 at 4:58 PM
God forbid a woman have hobbies
Nature at Work making Birds, Animals, and People on Her Anvil, circa 1405, Ms. Ludwig XV 7 (83.MR.177), fol. 121v (Getty)
February 7, 2026 at 4:48 PM
Nature at Work making Birds, Animals, and People on Her Anvil, circa 1405, Ms. Ludwig XV 7 (83.MR.177), fol. 121v (Getty)
Bruce McCall, "A Brush with Greatness," New Yorker, Jan. 13, 2020
February 6, 2026 at 4:11 PM
Bruce McCall, "A Brush with Greatness," New Yorker, Jan. 13, 2020
How it started / How it's going
February 6, 2026 at 1:38 AM
How it started / How it's going
In a busy week for Artemisia Gentileschi, this small Florentine self-portrait sold for $5.7 Million at Christie’s
Artemisia Gentileschi Self-Portrait Sells for Record $5.7 Million at Christie's | Artnet News
Christie's set a new auction record for Artemisia Gentileschi, and the National Gallery of Art acquired a major work by the artist.
news.artnet.com
February 5, 2026 at 4:17 PM
In a busy week for Artemisia Gentileschi, this small Florentine self-portrait sold for $5.7 Million at Christie’s
National Gallery of art in Washington acquires a key Mary Magdalene by Artemisia Gentileschi (until recently on long-term loan to the Palazzo Ducale in Venice)
US National Gallery of Art acquires important Artemisia Gentileschi painting
The Baroque master’s “Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy”, which sold at auction for €865,500 in 2014, will go on display in Washington, DC, later this month
www.theartnewspaper.com
February 4, 2026 at 7:25 PM
National Gallery of art in Washington acquires a key Mary Magdalene by Artemisia Gentileschi (until recently on long-term loan to the Palazzo Ducale in Venice)
Timeline cleanse.
Santiago Rusiñol, Path in a Park, 1920-1925, oil on canvas, 89 x 110 cm (Fundación Banco Santander)
Santiago Rusiñol, Path in a Park, 1920-1925, oil on canvas, 89 x 110 cm (Fundación Banco Santander)
February 4, 2026 at 3:19 PM
Timeline cleanse.
Santiago Rusiñol, Path in a Park, 1920-1925, oil on canvas, 89 x 110 cm (Fundación Banco Santander)
Santiago Rusiñol, Path in a Park, 1920-1925, oil on canvas, 89 x 110 cm (Fundación Banco Santander)
A 17th-century fresco of an angel in the church of San Lorenzo in Lucina in Rome changed to look like PM Giorgia Meloni. Pope Leo XIV echoes the Council of Trent: images “cannot be misused or exploited, as they are intended exclusively to support liturgical life and personal and communal prayer."
Does This Angel Look Familiar? A Modern Face Appears in a Rome Fresco.
www.nytimes.com
February 3, 2026 at 9:24 PM
A 17th-century fresco of an angel in the church of San Lorenzo in Lucina in Rome changed to look like PM Giorgia Meloni. Pope Leo XIV echoes the Council of Trent: images “cannot be misused or exploited, as they are intended exclusively to support liturgical life and personal and communal prayer."
Reposted by Jesse Locker
Caravaggio’s masterpiece has been installed in our new exhibition Metamorphoses. The story of Narcissus tells of a man who fell in love with his own reflection, a fatal illusion that led to his transformation into a flower.
👁️ https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/whats-on/exhibitions/metamorphoses
👁️ https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/whats-on/exhibitions/metamorphoses
February 3, 2026 at 3:03 PM
Caravaggio’s masterpiece has been installed in our new exhibition Metamorphoses. The story of Narcissus tells of a man who fell in love with his own reflection, a fatal illusion that led to his transformation into a flower.
👁️ https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/whats-on/exhibitions/metamorphoses
👁️ https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/whats-on/exhibitions/metamorphoses
Reposted by Jesse Locker
Feast of St Blaise today. Get out there and get your throat blessed.
Fascinating painting of a very rare subject by Artemisia Gentileschi going up for auction tomorrow at Christie's: A mother presenting her newborn child to St. Blaise (San Biagio), identifiable by the wool comb, the instrument of his martyrdom. www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6...
February 3, 2026 at 8:41 AM
Feast of St Blaise today. Get out there and get your throat blessed.
Andrew Wyeth, Groundhog Day, 1959 (Philadelphia Museum of Art)
February 2, 2026 at 4:26 PM
Andrew Wyeth, Groundhog Day, 1959 (Philadelphia Museum of Art)
Fascinating story of a painting by Goya that Franco intended to give as a gift to Hitler -- in part because a design in it resembled a swastika. (As well as a historical example of a dictator stiffing a contractor)
A letter reveals what Franco paid (and what he still owed) for the Goya painting he wanted to give to Hitler
The letter found in the El Rastro flea market in Madrid demands 9,000 pesetas from the dictator and reveals that he paid one and a half million for ‘Portrait of the Marchioness of Santa Cruz’
english.elpais.com
February 2, 2026 at 4:44 AM
Fascinating story of a painting by Goya that Franco intended to give as a gift to Hitler -- in part because a design in it resembled a swastika. (As well as a historical example of a dictator stiffing a contractor)
Illustrations from the Logbooks of Nantucket Whaleships, from @publicdomainrev.bsky.social
February 2, 2026 at 12:42 AM
Illustrations from the Logbooks of Nantucket Whaleships, from @publicdomainrev.bsky.social
Sheila Barker speaks at the St. Louis Art Museum on "Reframing Artemisia Gentileschi’s Success: The Market Appeal of Feminist Art in the 17th Century," Saturday, March 21, 2026
Reframing Artemisia Gentileschi's Success: The Market Appeal of Feminist Art in the 17th Century
The annual Mary Strauss Women in the Arts lecture will be given by Sheila Barker, director of the Center for Women in Renaissance Archives, The Medici Archive Project.
www.slam.org
January 31, 2026 at 7:22 PM
Sheila Barker speaks at the St. Louis Art Museum on "Reframing Artemisia Gentileschi’s Success: The Market Appeal of Feminist Art in the 17th Century," Saturday, March 21, 2026
Jusepe de Ribera, Jacob's Dream, 1639, Oil on canvas, 179 x 233 cm (Museo del Prado, Madrid)
January 31, 2026 at 5:13 PM
Jusepe de Ribera, Jacob's Dream, 1639, Oil on canvas, 179 x 233 cm (Museo del Prado, Madrid)
This season's writers are getting a little lazy
January 30, 2026 at 7:36 PM
This season's writers are getting a little lazy
A rare signed portrait by Sofonsiba Anguissola being shown by Robert Simon at the Winter Show, held at the Park Avenue Armory
Long-Lost Portrait by a Renaissance Trailblazer Resurfaces
A rare 16th-century Italian Rennaisance portrait by Sofonisba Anguissola is the surprise star of New York's annual Winter Show.
news.artnet.com
January 30, 2026 at 4:16 AM
A rare signed portrait by Sofonsiba Anguissola being shown by Robert Simon at the Winter Show, held at the Park Avenue Armory
Timeline cleanse
[Jean-Étienne Liotard, The Lavergne Family Breakfast, 1754, pastel on paper (National Gallery, London). The little girl has paper curlers in her hair.]
[Jean-Étienne Liotard, The Lavergne Family Breakfast, 1754, pastel on paper (National Gallery, London). The little girl has paper curlers in her hair.]
January 29, 2026 at 3:51 PM
Timeline cleanse
[Jean-Étienne Liotard, The Lavergne Family Breakfast, 1754, pastel on paper (National Gallery, London). The little girl has paper curlers in her hair.]
[Jean-Étienne Liotard, The Lavergne Family Breakfast, 1754, pastel on paper (National Gallery, London). The little girl has paper curlers in her hair.]
I really just want to post artworks and fun observations on early modern culture but these monsters make it impossible bsky.app/profile/jben...
NEW: Liam Conejo Ramos, the 5-year-old who ICE agents in Minneapolis nabbed last week and shipped off to a Texas detention facility with his dad, is now in poor health, his school superintendent told me today www.huffpost.com/entry/liam-c...
5-Year-Old in ICE Detention Is Sick, Says Top School Official
The 5-year-old who was taken by federal agents in Minneapolis is being held behind bars with his father in Texas.
www.huffpost.com
January 28, 2026 at 11:41 PM
I really just want to post artworks and fun observations on early modern culture but these monsters make it impossible bsky.app/profile/jben...
Reposted by Jesse Locker
If you acknowledge Anne Frank's family did not, in fact, have legal status, you have to acknowledge "citizenship" is neither a moral nor ontological state, but a political category that can be removed to define the out-group. And this makes Trump Jews uncomfortable. www.jta.org/2026/01/27/p...
‘Anne Frank was in Amsterdam legally,’ Trump antisemitism envoy says in refuting Walz’s ICE comparison - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun joined the US Holocaust museum in criticizing Walz.
www.jta.org
January 28, 2026 at 9:07 PM
If you acknowledge Anne Frank's family did not, in fact, have legal status, you have to acknowledge "citizenship" is neither a moral nor ontological state, but a political category that can be removed to define the out-group. And this makes Trump Jews uncomfortable. www.jta.org/2026/01/27/p...
Hendrick Bogaert, A Man Dancing with a Dog, oil on panel, 26.5 cm × 22.3 cm, c. 1655-c. 1665 (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
January 28, 2026 at 3:50 PM
Hendrick Bogaert, A Man Dancing with a Dog, oil on panel, 26.5 cm × 22.3 cm, c. 1655-c. 1665 (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
Reposted by Jesse Locker
Nunca creí que los leopardos comerían MI cara
The co-founder of Latinas for Trump is now condemning Trump’s ICE raids:
“I’m afraid of someone stopping my son.”
“This is not what we voted for.”
“I’m afraid of someone stopping my son.”
“This is not what we voted for.”
January 27, 2026 at 11:17 PM
Nunca creí que los leopardos comerían MI cara