Feminist writer Anna de Noialles set the trend for the ultra-quiet writer’s den. Marcel Proust, followed suit, writing his novels in a sound-proof room.
Some writers do their best work when they withdraw from society, working in a kind of fevered isolation.
December is the time of year for partying and decorating, for gift-giving and for holiday travel. Yet it’s also a time of stress and over-indulgence, shopping madness, traffic jams and holiday blues. How do we manage to enjoy the season and keep our spirits bright? The best winter prescription is to simply hunker down at home.
How does an artist adapt to a new country? Sara Evans explores Gustave Baumann’s move to New Mexico and his woodcuts from the 1930s in a lavish new book from Rizzoli.
German cabaret artist Anna Depenbusch explores why we leave home and what draws us back. Frank Beck introduces her haunting songs.
The paintings in Leo Tadek’s home are a memoir of his marriage, his life in Belgium and in Moscow — and they also double as a tour of European history.
Frank Beck considers how our songs of youthful wandering give way to the poetry of marriage and belonging.
Why are we so nostalgic for the comforts of home? How are we reinventing it as an intellectual salon, a mindful sanctuary, a hub of creativity and commerce? We propose a unified theory of home that shows how this place shapes every aspect of our lives.
What does it mean to fall in love with a sofa, a painting, a kitchen table or a vase? The world grows a little kinder when we have an I-Thou relationship with our possessions and enter the society of things.
A painting on the wall, or a piece of sculpture standing on a table asks you to interact with the sensibility of the artist. If you look at it, a work of art will say, “I’ve got a distinctive way of viewing the world and I want you to see things my way, at least for a few minutes!”