Sarah Jaffray
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sarahj.bsky.social
Sarah Jaffray
@sarahj.bsky.social
190 followers 160 following 76 posts
Art historian C19/20 | drawing, paper & prints | philosophy & process | cinema | choses français | London via L.A.
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sarahj.bsky.social
This is a silly-beautiful ukiyo-e print by Utamaro of two women with a baby (1793). One woman makes a silly face at the baby who peek-a-boos from behind a screen.
A highly patterned Japanese print of three figures: two women and a baby. One woman hides behind a screen laughing as she holds the clothes of the baby who crawls on the floor. The baby sees the other woman who is sat at her vanity. She sees the baby and makes a face so the baby will laugh.
January 6, 2026 at 9:43 PM
Reposted by Sarah Jaffray
mobydickatsea.bsky.social
unsay that story
January 4, 2026 at 11:47 AM
Reposted by Sarah Jaffray
joewrote.bsky.social
I'm starting to question the legitimacy of the FIFA Peace Prize.
January 3, 2026 at 6:04 PM
sarahj.bsky.social
Charles White, Love Letter III, 1977.
A Black person wrapped in a brown cloak, head turned upwards, eyes downcast. Directly above them hovers a large pink conch shell. The background is blue into yellow ombre.
January 3, 2026 at 11:42 AM
Reposted by Sarah Jaffray
ebwood.bsky.social
Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Allegory of Bad Government, 1338–40, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena
At the centre of the dais sits Tyrannia, with the appearence of a demon, with horns and fangs. The figure of Tyranny has flowing woman's hair, a cloak with gold embroidery and precious stones, a gold cup in her hand and a goat, the traditional symbol of lust, at her feet. Below is the vanquised Justitia: the scales are broken and scattered around her on the ground. Around Tyranny's throne are gathered the Vices. (Taken from the Web Gallery of Art’s description of the fresco.)
February 2, 2025 at 12:18 AM
sarahj.bsky.social
This was our rainy day film at school - seen it 100 times or more and it is always beautiful.
desdelboy.bsky.social Des @desdelboy.bsky.social · 7d
Just a reminder that the beautiful “The Red Balloon” 🎈 is still available to watch in its entirety (30 minutes) on YouTube
youtu.be/iU9cxSb6bXo?...
January 3, 2026 at 10:54 AM
Reposted by Sarah Jaffray
mlobelart.bsky.social
Elizabeth Catlett & Alberto Beltrán, Untitled (Composition for a Peace Poster), c. 1950 www.artic.edu/artworks/222...
Printed image of a group of people, including mother & child, below, with an outsized hand above reaching out to stop a cluster of bayonets
January 3, 2026 at 10:11 AM
sarahj.bsky.social
Maybe, just maybe, a university degree was not/is not solely about social mobility or jobs, but about learning, experimenting, expanding your mind with the close study of the world. Having to continually argue the above point is exhausting, but I'll never stop.
January 3, 2026 at 10:21 AM
sarahj.bsky.social
Nearly full moon at sunset. Ombre sky with a pink cloud floating nearby.
Nearly full moon at sunset. Ombre sky with a pink cloud floating nearby.
January 2, 2026 at 3:52 PM
sarahj.bsky.social
Since 2018, The Getty has been supporting some of the (imo) most exciting art history out there: The African American Art History Initiative. Search all the projects here: www.getty.edu/projects/afr...
African American Art History Initiative
Project about creating a more robust and accurate history of African American art.
www.getty.edu
January 2, 2026 at 12:10 PM
Reposted by Sarah Jaffray
tylerhuckabee.bsky.social
day one in mamdani’s new york
a guy wearing a “i ❤️ ny” cap reading the qur’an in one hand and the communist manifesto in the other
January 1, 2026 at 5:10 PM
Reposted by Sarah Jaffray
jeffjarvis.bsky.social
"For too long those fluent in the good grammar of civility have deployed decorum to mask agendas of cruelty."
- Mayor Mamdani.
January 1, 2026 at 7:57 PM
Reposted by Sarah Jaffray
jessicavalenti.bsky.social
When Rebecca Solnit asks you to turn a thread into an essay, you fucking do it. jessica.substack.com/p/cbs-news-f...
bsky.app/profile/rebe...
December 30, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Reposted by Sarah Jaffray
jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social
I have to admit, I also always had kinda the wrong idea about Norman Rockwell until I saw the piece "Murder in Mississippi" as a teen in art history class
A painting almost entirely in grey-brown tones, other than the bright red spots of blood. It depicts the murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner in 1964. One of the two white men, either Goodman or Schwerner, is facedown on the ground. The other stands just left of center of the composition, holding the collapsed body of Chaney, a Black man, close to him while staring off the side of the piece. We can't see what he's looking at, but the shadows of the Klansmen that will kill him and the others in moments are visible clustered around the edge of the frame like malicious spirits.
December 30, 2025 at 5:33 AM
sarahj.bsky.social
These in-between days give me time to watch excellent stuff like this: A short documentary on Charles White as a teacher. If you have 18 mins, this is a treat.

youtu.be/ZEYuIf-22jA?...
Life Model: Charles White and His Students
YouTube video by Los Angeles County Museum of Art
youtu.be
December 30, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Reposted by Sarah Jaffray
pbsnews.org
Scientists in Britain say ancient humans may have learned to make fire far earlier than previously believed, after uncovering evidence that deliberate fire-setting took place in what is now eastern England around 400,000 years ago. https://to.pbs.org/3KUcGsH
Humans were making fire 350,000 years earlier than previously thought, study finds
LONDON (AP) — Scientists in Britain say ancient humans may have learned to make fire far earlier than previously believed, after uncovering evidence that deliberate fire-setting took place in what is ...
to.pbs.org
December 28, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Reposted by Sarah Jaffray
tate.bsky.social
Edward Ruscha, PRETTY EYES, ELECTRIC BILLS, 1976
https://botfrens.com/collections/14375/contents/1078457
date inscribed ARTIST ROOMS Acquired jointly with the National Galleries of Scotland through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund 2008
December 24, 2025 at 5:31 AM
sarahj.bsky.social
Currently obsessed with this huge Lyotard pastel on vellum (c.1756). His wife, Marie Fargues in 'Turkish Dress' at Rijksmuseum.
Framed drawing of a woman sat leaning on her hand, she wears a loose, white dress and has a blue ribbon tied in her hair. She sits on a low settee with an 'oriental rug' on the floor. Detail of the drawing, a small white vase with pink carnations. One carnation is red and sticks out farther than the rest. Detail of drawing, the rug with blue, red and orange flower like patterns. Detail of drawing, her dress that is white with red and blue flowers. She wears a large, loose belt with a large, sliver buckle.
December 23, 2025 at 6:28 PM
sarahj.bsky.social
'Let us live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.'

Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar, 1894.
December 23, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Reposted by Sarah Jaffray
mobydickatsea.bsky.social
prolonged and exhausting
December 23, 2025 at 5:47 AM
sarahj.bsky.social
Jenny Holzer, DODDOACID, 2007, (ironically) National Gallery of Art Washington D.C. 🖤
The crisp-edged black silhouette of a handprint on a white background takes up most of this vertical painting under a heading, in which information has been written and redacted. The print is of a right hand, and there is a black dot over each of the four fingers. The area with the handprint is labeled “Palm Prints (Left Hand/Right Hand).” The palm overlaps the numbers 99 at the bottom center, and text appears to be printed in the lower right corner, “DODDOACID 008769.” Text is written to the right of the hand, “b(6) 5” and “b(7)(c) 5.” The form above has fields for Name (Last, First, Middle), SSAN, Case#, Signature, DOB, Date, and “Signature of Official taking Prints.” Answers in all the fields have been blacked out except the Case#, which was left blank, and the date, “23JU/04.” Text appearing to be written above the fields repeats, “b(6) 5” and “b(7)(c) 5.” Text written next to the Signature of Official taking Prints field reads, “b(6)1” and “b(7)(c) 1.” Two black dots at the top center resemble the distinctive hole punch of official documents
December 20, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Reposted by Sarah Jaffray
ruralindexing.bsky.social
Redacted
Centerville, SD
December 20, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Reposted by Sarah Jaffray
kjshepherd.bsky.social
It's your birthday, Duane.
Duane Kearns Puryear, holding his panel for the AIDS Memorial Quilt. It reads, in block letters: "My name is Duane Kearns Puryear. I was born on December 20, 1964. I was diagnosed with AIDS on September 7, 1987 at 4:45 PM. I was 22 old. Sometimes, it makes me very sad. I made this panel myself. If you are reading it, I am dead..." There are several great resources to learn about Duane, his advocacy, his family, his panel, and the politics of memory and re-creation, especially this one by The Dallas Way: http://www.thedallasway.org/stories/written/2021/9/19/duane-puryears-and-the-quilt-panel Duane Puryear died in 1991.
December 20, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Reposted by Sarah Jaffray
kirkdalebooks.bsky.social
Robert Fludd, redacted
Robert Fludd Black Square along each side is written: Et sic in infinitum (and so on, to infinity)
December 20, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Reposted by Sarah Jaffray
mlobelart.bsky.social
James Rosenquist, President Elect, 1960-61/1964
Painting featuring JFK, a woman's hand splitting apart a piece of cake, and the front end of a vintage automobile
December 18, 2025 at 7:30 PM