Max Pearl

Max Pearl writes about art and politics across the Americas.

In “Bomarzo,” the Renaissance Man is a Monster

In “Bomarzo,” the Renaissance Man is a Monster In “Bomarzo,” the Renaissance Man is a Monster

Manuel Mujica Lainez’s historical novel, a strange biography of a 16th-century duke, leaves the reader wondering if human nature can ever change.

Mar 26, 2026 / Books & the Arts / Max Pearl

Raymond Jonson, Casein Tempera No. 1, 1939.

The Curious Case of the Transcendental Painting Group The Curious Case of the Transcendental Painting Group

A touring exhibition of 20th-century painting from the American Southwest is poised to be the next big art world hit. Yet the show forces us to ask: What is fueling the revival?

May 22, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Max Pearl

Florine Stettheimer, Insider Artist

Florine Stettheimer, Insider Artist Florine Stettheimer, Insider Artist

Barbara Bloemink’s biography paints a complicated picture of an artist whose work both celebrated and critiqued the upper echelons of early-20th-century cultural life.

May 12, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Max Pearl

Art at the Border of Power and Ecology

Art at the Border of Power and Ecology Art at the Border of Power and Ecology

Miguel Fernández de Castro’s multimedia works reveal the ties between money, migration, and environmental disaster.

Oct 19, 2021 / Feature / Max Pearl

Luchita Hurtado, 1940 / Untitled (1971) Courtesy The Estate of Luchita Hurtado and Hauser & Wirth

Luchita Hurtado’s Spiritual Modernism Luchita Hurtado’s Spiritual Modernism

Her paintings strove to convey the ways sublime experience could be found in nature and the body.  

Aug 4, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Max Pearl

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