A study of the elements that pull and push a visitor through the museum’s 3rd and 4th floor spaces

The RISD Museum’s 2009 acquisition of the Richard Brown Baker collection included two drawings by the English artist Howard Selina—Cowboy Hat (1974) and Two Boots (1974)—carefully and precisely rendered drawings in graphite on paper of well-worn, utilitarian garments.

This seven-foot-tall Christ would have been suspended above an altar or screen, the juxtaposition of his damaged body and calm, downward gaze reminding those below him of both his humanity and his divinity. 

A colossal Romanesque head in the RISD collection has yet to be securely identified, but the sheen of his nose suggests that it was rubbed by many penitent hands during the course of this sculpture’s life.

This late fifteenth-century Virgin and Child was created with subtlety, flexibility, and portability in mind. These features were central to its medieval use—and its use at the RISD Museum.

This article provides a brief introduction to this finely carved and dynamic sculpture of the Archangel Gabriel.

This fall the RISD Museum Lucy Truman Aldrich Porcelain Gallery reopened with its cabinets filled with engaging figures and a diverse array of tableware. Comprising nearly 180 objects from the museum's collection, this new installation focuses on the role that porcelain played in eighteenth-century life.

A school programs educator describes student encounters with Edouard Manet's Repose.

Curatorial assistant A. Will Brown interviews artist Julien Prévieux about his videos What Shall We Do Next? (Sequence #2) and Patterns of Life.

In 1969, artist Andy Warhol was invited to curate an exhibition at the RISD Museum using works from the permanent collection that were not on view, but in storage.

John Steuart Curry's images of the circus provide us with an insider's look at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in the 1930s.

Understanding historic frames and how to care for them can be a complicated matter.

RISD Museum summer intern Alex Goodhouse talks about Locally Made, Design the Night, anchor buttons, and confetti cannons.

A summer intern describes her experience delving into the RISD Museum's databases, searching for human elements

A summer intern reflects on diversity in the museum's Western European galleries and suggesting curatorial strategies for greater visibility

This rare example of Gorham's "Mythologique" flatware service was purposefully left unfinished as they are samples, combining elaborate hand-worked detail with mechanized brute force.

A look at the graphic-design inspiration and challenges behind Circus.

Luca Cambiaso used iron gall ink and a quill pen to create this drawing in about 1570. RISD professor Andrew Raftery walks us through the making of iron gall ink and a quill pen, and explains how he copied Cambiaso's drawing.

In earlier decades, retouching (or “inpainting”) using reversible painting materials would have been employed where compositional elements were missing.

Albert Bierstadt was born in Solingen, Germany, but came to the United States with his family in 1832 and settled with them in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Over the course of his artistic life, Marsden Hartley sought unmediated

Isabella McCormick (Brown/RISD 2015) explores the intricacies of the Gorham Narragansett Salad Set and their reflections on Rhode Island culture, insights gained from her meticulous cleaning of the utensils as part of her Mellon Summer Internship in conservation.

Editor of publications Amy Pickworth, intern Joanna Cortez, and curatorial assistant of contemporary art A. Will Brown interview UuDam Tran Nguyen about his single channel video Waltz of The Machine Equestrians--The Machine Equestrians (2012).