Michael Lobel
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mlobelart.bsky.social
Michael Lobel
@mlobelart.bsky.social
39K followers 94 following 4.4K posts
Professor of Art History, Hunter College & CUNY Graduate Center. I look at things and then write about them.

Author of Van Gogh and the End of Nature, from Yale University Press: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300274363/van-g
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mlobelart.bsky.social
My absolutely favorite artwork for today, capturing the holiday more poignantly than any other: Alice Neel, Thanksgiving, 1965
A painting of a kitchen sink, seen from above. A couple of sponges and dishrags are visible, as is a drying rack and a canister of Ajax scrubbing powder. In the center, a holiday turkey has been left in the sink. Its legs are splayed, and its positioning makes it look like it reaches out to us, almost beseechingly, like the image of Adam from Michelangelo's famed Sistine Chapel
November 27, 2025 at 1:48 PM
mlobelart.bsky.social
Pablo Picasso, The Turkey (Le Dindon), 1936 www.moma.org/collection/w...
Image of a turkey
November 27, 2025 at 2:17 AM
mlobelart.bsky.social
Image of Insane Clown Posse figure with text, Quotation marks, how do they work?
November 26, 2025 at 6:04 PM
mlobelart.bsky.social
Roy Lichtenstein, Turkey, 1962, graphite on paper #Thanksgiving www.lichtensteincatalogue.org/catalogue/en...
Drawing of a turkey on a platter
November 26, 2025 at 5:35 PM
mlobelart.bsky.social
Roy Lichtenstein, Turkey, 1961 #Thanksgiving www.lichtensteincatalogue.org/catalogue/en...
Simplified graphic image of a turkey on a large platter, in yellow, red, and black on a white background
November 26, 2025 at 5:35 PM
mlobelart.bsky.social
Catherine Opie, Jerome Caja, 1993
Jerome Caja, in red dress and slippers, seated in front of green background
November 26, 2025 at 2:53 PM
mlobelart.bsky.social
One of my indelible memories is seeing Jerome in their so-called "poultry drag" outfit at San Francisco's Folsom Street Fair in the early '90s
B&W photo of Jerome Caja in a crowd in an outfit with poultry-themed accents B&W photo of Jerome Caja in a crowd in an outfit with poultry-themed accents
November 26, 2025 at 2:53 PM
mlobelart.bsky.social
"Eggs Having Turkey Dinner," 1985–95, painting in nail polish on metal tray by inimitable artist & drag performer Jerome Caja #Thanksgiving
Anthropomorphic eggs gathered around a table with a turkey dinner, with broken egg at left
November 26, 2025 at 2:53 PM
mlobelart.bsky.social
he has something to say about that darth
The abominable snowman from the stop-motion Rudolph film
November 25, 2025 at 11:58 PM
mlobelart.bsky.social
Jodorowsky's Dune
Concept art for Dune movie by Jodorowsky Concept art for Dune movie by Jodorowsky
November 25, 2025 at 8:55 PM
mlobelart.bsky.social
I kind of love the neologism "Bar Bitzvah" but you might want to have someone change it nonetheless👍
text: "and High-End Bar Bitzvahs"
November 25, 2025 at 5:41 PM
mlobelart.bsky.social
Sonia Delaunay-Terk's designs for pajamas for Dadaist poet Tristan Tzara, 1923
Watercolor of figure in pajamas decorated with text & words
November 24, 2025 at 9:34 PM
mlobelart.bsky.social
Udo Kier and Joe Dallesandro in Warhol's Dracula (aka Blood for Dracula), 1974
Various scenes in b&w from Warhol Dracula film
November 24, 2025 at 6:42 PM
mlobelart.bsky.social
"Udo Kier as the image-conscious Dracula"
Image of Udo Kier as Dracula with text "Warhol's Dracula" and "Udo Kier as the image-conscious Dracula"
November 24, 2025 at 6:42 PM
mlobelart.bsky.social
Andy Warhol, Udo Kier, 1973 #RIP😢 whitney.org/collection/w...
Polaroid photo of Udo Kier, his hands held on each side of his face
November 24, 2025 at 1:04 AM
mlobelart.bsky.social
How is it that college administrators get paid high salaries to come up with such dumb ideas, over & over again...? Is there someone who will pay me for dumb ideas? If you really want I can come up with plenty (and even some good ones as well) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/n...
The departments of English, classics, philosophy, world languages and Spanish and Latino studies, for example, will be grouped into the tentatively titled School of Human Narratives and Creative Expressions. The psychology, linguistics, social work and religion departments will make up the School of Human Behavior and Well-Being. (There will be four schools in all; faculty will help determine the final names.)
November 23, 2025 at 7:54 PM
mlobelart.bsky.social
The vibrancy of Southern California flora
Close-up photo of a vibrant bougainvillea plant
November 23, 2025 at 6:58 PM
mlobelart.bsky.social
Madonna grasping a metal gateway door in her "Like a Prayer" video The Pope looking as if he's singing into a microphone
November 23, 2025 at 1:39 PM
mlobelart.bsky.social
Nahui Olin, Autorretrato con Gato Negro (Self-Portrait with Black Cat) #caturday
Painting of a woman, seen from the neck up, with a black cat at her side
November 22, 2025 at 10:22 PM
mlobelart.bsky.social
Nahui Olin, Gato en el Jardín Florido (Cat in the Flowering Garden) #caturday
Black & white cat in a flowering garden
November 22, 2025 at 10:22 PM
mlobelart.bsky.social
For #caturday: Gatos Amorosos (Amorous Cats) by 20th-century Mexican avant-garde painter & poet Nahui Olin
Two cats, one orange & white, one black, embracing on a ledge before a cityscape
November 22, 2025 at 10:22 PM
mlobelart.bsky.social
lololol - Zohran getting him to pose in front of FDR is just <chef's kiss> - truly a god-tier level troll
Donald Trump & Zohran Mamdani posing together in the White House, in front of a portrait of FDR
November 22, 2025 at 12:22 AM
mlobelart.bsky.social
Fairfield Porter, Portrait of Ted Carey & Andy Warhol, 1960 whitney.org/collection/w...
Painted portrait of two men, one seated, the other standing
November 22, 2025 at 12:16 AM
mlobelart.bsky.social
Robert Mapplethorpe, Brian Ridley & Lyle Heeter, 1979
B&W photo showing two men in leather gear, one seated & one standing, the sitting one in chains, in a well-appointed interior
November 22, 2025 at 12:12 AM
mlobelart.bsky.social
The Mayor of NYC and a Baby Exchange Smiles, 1938 www.moma.org/collection/w...
NYC mayor Fiorello LaGuardia holds a baby as they both smile at each other, with man in glasses looking on, photo dated December 8, 1938
November 21, 2025 at 11:11 PM