Emily Wood
LightNews LightNews
banner
ebwood.bsky.social
Emily Wood
@ebwood.bsky.social
6K followers 1K following 2.3K posts
Assistant Curator, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum || ABD in art history || art & architecture of early modern Spain & Italy || she/her || heads up: there will be Red Sox posts
Posts Replies Media Videos
ebwood.bsky.social
For the 29 and for the wives and the sons and the daughters.
Three hands holding up cans of Great Lakes Brewing’s Edmund Fitzgerald Porter in a toast in front of a fire pit.
November 11, 2025 at 12:30 AM
ebwood.bsky.social
Juan de Valdés Leal, In Ictu Oculi, 1671–72, Hospital de la Caridad, Sevilla
Painting, with a rounded top, of a skeleton standing on the right holding a coffin, shroud, and scythe in its left arm and pointing to the words "IN ICTU OCULI" with its right hand. The skeleton stands on a globe with its left foot and on a pile of worldly goods with its right, including armor, swords, cloth, books, images including a triumphal arch, papal garments and attributes, and royal crowns and insignia. The skeleton's pointing right hand also seems to extinguish a long taper candle.
October 25, 2025 at 1:19 AM
ebwood.bsky.social
Yup, seems right.

(Goes off to acquire yet another relic.)
Screenshot from the Co-Star app for Philip II’s horoscope for today, with his portrait in the upper right corner and the text: CO - STAR YOUR DAY AT A GLANCE You probably won't change, but you might become more deeply what you already are. Stop shopping for a new personality. The parts you hate most contain the raw material for who you might become. Look at what's stayed constant through every reinvention attempt. That's your bedrock. Build there.
October 22, 2025 at 2:41 AM
ebwood.bsky.social
Over 800 people at No Kings in Hudson, MA.

And this very good dog.
A photo of a beagle wearing a king costume (crown and red cloak) with a sign around his neck that says, “No kings but me!”
October 18, 2025 at 7:02 PM
ebwood.bsky.social
And the stress baking continues apace.
A cropped picture of two loaves of apple twist bread, drizzled with a powdered sugar glaze.
October 14, 2025 at 3:11 AM
ebwood.bsky.social
Leaning into autumnal stuff as a way to try to cope with everything.

Luckily, our campus does autumn very well.

(Taken last week, not during today’s nor’easter, obviously.)
Photograph of a still lake flanked by trees with some of their leaves turning, a blue sky, and a bird flying just above the water—all reflected in the lake’s calm surface.
October 14, 2025 at 12:37 AM
ebwood.bsky.social
It’s based on a series of posters put out by the United States Office of War Information in 1942 about different Allied troops. For example:

United States Office of War Information, (This man is your friend, he fights for freedom - Australian), 1942, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum
US WWII poster with a black and white image of a smiling man, wearing an identifiably Australian hat and uniform, with a text box partially overlaid identifying him as “Australian.” In blue text band above and below the image, white text reads “This man is your FRIEND” (above) and “He fights for FREEDOM” (below).
October 10, 2025 at 10:57 PM
ebwood.bsky.social
Omg who did this? 10/10, no notes.
A remake of a WWII poster with a black and white photo of the protest frog guy with a blue band above and below. A small box overlaid the image identifies it as “Frog.” In the blue bands, text reads “This man is your FRIEND” (above) and “He fights for FREEDOM” (below).
October 10, 2025 at 10:51 PM
ebwood.bsky.social
Black and white image image of some type of wading bird with a long thin beak standing against a background of ground plants with the words "ALL YOUR IDEAS ARE BAD" underneath. The account name, @effinbirds, below.
October 7, 2025 at 11:04 PM
ebwood.bsky.social
David John Gue, View from Mount Holyoke, 1903, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum
An oil painting of a view down onto a wide river valley from atop a rocky, green mountain, an outcrop of which is visible in the right side of the painting. The valley below is filled with patches of green fields, with lines of darker green trees and pale tan dirt roads running through them. A bend in the Connecticut River cuts through the left side of the painting. More mountains in the far distance and puffy white clouds in the blue sky above.
September 26, 2025 at 1:52 PM
ebwood.bsky.social
Thomas Charles Farrer, Mount Holyoke and the Connecticut River, 1865, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum
Oil painting of Mount Holyoke in the distance and the still surface of the Connecticut River in the fore- and middle-grounds. There is a small boat in the middle of the river. Along the far riverbanks are trees and greenery. Above the mountain are wispy white clouds in the sky. In the bottom right corner we see a strip of the grassy riverbank.
September 26, 2025 at 1:48 PM
ebwood.bsky.social
Happy Mountain Day, all!

Elizabeth Goodridge; View of Mount Holyoke, Massachusetts, and the Connecticut River; ca. 1835; Mount Holyoke College Art Museum
Watercolor of a green mountain in the distance, with the summit house just visible atop it and white puffy clouds above. The fore- and middle-grounds are a wide swathe of relatively still river. Along the banks of the river on the left of the image are a man and woman standing in a boat. The boaters, riverbank, trees, mountain, and billowy white clouds are all reflected in the river's surface. The watercolor is in a gold and black frame with vegetal designs.
September 26, 2025 at 1:44 PM
ebwood.bsky.social
Alma Thomas, Morning in the Bowl of Night, 1973, Smith College Museum of Art
Horizontal rectangular abstract painting with uneven geometric patches of dark blue against a pink ground. Signed and dated in the lower right corner.
September 22, 2025 at 7:01 PM
ebwood.bsky.social
Yup, accurate.
Screenshot of today’s Co-Star app’s horoscope for Philip II with a circle of his portrait in black and white in the upper right corner, the name Co-Star in the upper left, and the text, “YOUR DAY A A GLANCE / You are bit for everyone.” along the bottom.
September 20, 2025 at 10:54 PM
ebwood.bsky.social
From Effin’ Birds: a black and white illustration of a bird (a cormorant, I think?) next to the words: “Our expectations were low, but holy fuck.”
September 20, 2025 at 2:36 AM
ebwood.bsky.social
Our opening event for the exhibition “Anni’s Orchestra: Theme and Variation in the Prints of Anni Albers” is this Thursday, 18 September! Join us at MHCAM—should be a great evening!
Orange, grey, and white event poster with the text: MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE ART MUSEUM Theme & Variation in Music and in the Prints of Anni Albers A conversation between Christopher Benfey and David Sanford Thurs, September 18 | 5:15 pm Gamble Auditorium Reception in Museum Lobby to follow Join us for an evening of music and conversation! Enjoy a lively conversation between Professor of Music David Sanford and Professor Emeritus of English Christopher Benfey, who will explore wide-ranging connections between contemporary music, jazz, and the visual arts. The event will begin with a short performance of John Cage's Atlas Eclipticalis by members of the Mount Holyoke Symphony Orchestra led by Victoria Schubarg '26. This program celebrates the Museum's new exhibition Anni's Orchestra: Theme and Variation in the Prints of Anni Albers. This program is made possible by the Natalie D. Hofheimer Program Fund. Anni Albers, Orange Meander, 1970 © 2025 The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation/ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
September 15, 2025 at 5:56 PM
ebwood.bsky.social
Antonio Sánchez, Virgen de Guadalupe, late 18th century, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum
An oil on copper painting of the miraculous image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, center, in her starry blue mantle, estofado-like pink and gold dress, and radiant crown. She stands on an upturned crescent moon, the hems of her robes held aloft by a bust-length angel beneath her feet. She stands within a mandorla made up of pointed gold rays. Surrounding her, in each of the four corners of the painting, are four scenes from the narrative of her miraculous appearance to Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin in 1531. Beneath her, in the bottom center of the painting, is a cityscape of Guadalupe, centered on the plaza. The five surrounding scenes are contained by fictive baroque wooden framing elements, and draped on and between these are chains of flowers—including the same pink Castilian roses that miraculously appeared to Juan Diego—and blue ribbons. The painting is signed in the lower left corner.
September 9, 2025 at 10:24 PM
ebwood.bsky.social
Study of perspective - Trump Tower, Chicago, after Ai Weiwei (2016)

📷: June 2016
Black and white photo of a left hand flipping the middle finger to Trump Tower in Chicago, with the “TRUMP” sign visible in the upper portion of the picture and the river visible in the lower portion. The façade of the tower reflects back the images of the buildings across the river.
September 2, 2025 at 11:08 PM
ebwood.bsky.social
Pellegrino Tibaldi, Study for the presentation of the Virgin in the Temple at the Escorial, ca. 1587, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum
Red chalk, pen, ink, and wash drawing on ivory paper, with the pictorial field in the shape of a vertical rectangle with a rounded top, reflecting the location of the finished fresco in a vaulted cloister. On the left of the drawing is a stepped porch with a pediment held up by to Solomonic columns, under which stand the rabbi and other figures. In the lower left corner, a group of indigent and disabled men sit and stand. The lower right corner is left unfinished, with the first sketch of red chalk lines for part of the base of another Solomonic column left exposed. This is the area that will have the young Virgin and her parents in the final fresco.
August 24, 2025 at 11:18 PM
ebwood.bsky.social
Hartford Yard Goats game last night.

Minor league baseball remains undefeated.
Picture of a baseball field at twilight (taken from the stands in right field looking in towards the diamond) with groups of people holding up a big Italian flag and a big American flag in shallow center field.
August 15, 2025 at 1:04 AM
ebwood.bsky.social
Ummm…send in the Duke of Alba?
Screenshot of Philip II’s Co-Star horoscope for today, with his black and white portrait in the upper right corner. The text reads: “CO - STAR YOUR DAY AT A GLANCE It's a good moment to think about what you do when you fear you're losing someone.”
August 6, 2025 at 12:26 AM
ebwood.bsky.social
Hermes in his pond, seen from a distance amidst the high summer flowers in the garden.
A bronze sculpture of Hermes on a base in a small pond in the mid distance on the right, seen from behind. In the foreground and left side are green bushy plants, orange day lilies, and tall yellow and white flowers. In the far background are green trees.
August 5, 2025 at 7:09 PM
ebwood.bsky.social
Meme of a pelican on a vet’s table leaning towards a woman so that its face is only inches from hers with text that reads, “WHAT YOU DID THERE, I SEE IT.”
August 5, 2025 at 1:39 AM
ebwood.bsky.social
The excitement I felt when I was back in MA for a visit in 2020 (when I still lived in Chicago) and saw this beauty.
A picture of a Polar Seltzer vending machine.
August 5, 2025 at 12:57 AM
ebwood.bsky.social
Monday was Mondaying hard, so I stopped by the Post Office on my lunch break and bought the 250th anniversary stamps and that made things better.
Detail of the sheet of USPS 250th anniversary stamps, which form a bustling cityscape of people doing various activities in buildings, on sidewalks, and in the streets as mail carriers deliver mail on foot with their pushcarts and in their delivery vehicles. There are trees with leaves of various colors and an equestrian monument as well. At the bottom edge of each stamp it reads, “USPS/FOREVER/USA.”
August 4, 2025 at 6:50 PM