Bob Duggan
Contributing Writer
Bob Duggan has Master’s Degrees in English Literature and Education and is not afraid to use them. Born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, he has always been fascinated by art and brings an informed amateur’s eye to the conversation.
Bored by “Citizen Kane”? Looking back from our era of psychologically messed up lead characters (think Bryan Cranston’s Walter Whitein Breaking Bad), Vertigo seems decades ahead of its time.
If tattoos had always been as popular as they are today, here is what Charles Darwin, Henry V, Lord Nelson, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama might have inked.
There's a strange beauty, yes, but also a violence to Degas' technique. Where did that violence come from?
Why did Jackie Robinson have to break baseball’s color line in 1947 after another man broke it almost 70 years before?
Is Amanda Palmer (who turns 40 today!), queen of pop-up concerts, kickstarter, and social media, the prototypical artist of the future?
Author-musician James McBride claims that James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, holds the secret to America’s race-torn soul.
What secrets did Shakespeare take to his grave 400 years ago? Are the plays the thing to unlock the mysteries of literature’s king?
Impressionist master or indulgent misogynist? Why do people either love Renoir or love to hate him?
If Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice made you mad, maybe you’re part of the modern nerd culture Batman began.
We heard the news today, 46 years ago, that the Beatles were no more. But who was the real killer in the magical mystery tour of the Fab Four’s finale?
More than just a pretty face, the Venus de Milo (rediscovered on this date in 1820) has changed ideas of female beauty ever since, often in surprising ways.
If a politician’s broken promises ever broke your heart, Beethoven knew how you feel.
Actor Lon Chaney was the movies’ original “Man of a Thousand Faces.” Who is the man (or woman) of a thousand faces today?
Artist Laura Poitras—the filmmaker who helped Edward Snowden—shows Americans how to survive total surveillance in a new exhibition.
Warhol may be dead, but Pop Art is not—it’s more international, relevant, and alive than ever.
Picasso didn’t fight in World War I, but he still struggled with how that war influenced his art and life.
Monty Python’s Terry Jones argues that economics isn’t a science—it’s history! Forgetting that history inevitably dooms us to the next financial crisis.
For Women’s History Month 2016, take the #5WomenArtists challenge and test your (sexist?) art history knowledge.
Before #OscarsSoWhite and #MoviesSoBland, William Cameron Menzies turned American movies into art.
On the 500th anniversary of the death of Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch, his native Netherlands is letting the freak flags fly.
Walter Martin sings about art history in his new album Arts and Leisure and makes music for your eyes.
Artists such as Glenn Ligon still look to comedian Richard Pryor to make sense of the African-American experience.
Chinese activist Ai Weiwei is the most political artist on Earth. Did he just sell his soul to a department store?
These American artists once challenged the art world with epic land art. Where are today’s troublemakers?
Mark Rothko’s suicide colored how we’ve seen his art ever since. His son’s book paints a brighter, richer picture.
Resolved to be more cultured in 2016? Try these art and music pairings to learn to savor more of both.
Don’t know Ellsworth Kelly or his art? Now’s your chance — he’s dead.
Freud was much more than the Id and Oedipus, and he may be the answer to today’s problems.
Before there was Cruise, Stallone, and Schwarzenegger, there was Douglas Fairbanks.
Always wanted the Zen, but without the meditation? Maybe drawing is your path to mindfulness.