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A black chalk drawing by Rembrandt, most likely from 1641, at the Rembrandt House in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on July 1, 2021. An exhibition in Amsterdam explores the wandering life and untimely death of Hansken, an Asian elephant who became a spectacle in 17th-century Europe. Julia Gunther/The New York Times.
by Nina Siegal
(NYT NEWS SERVICE)
.- In Rembrandts 1638 etching Adam and Eve in Paradise, there are two symbols of good and evil. A dragon hovers over the couple as they contemplate the forbidden apple, representing the danger of temptation. And in the background, a little, rotund elephant romps in the sunlight, a sign of chastity and grace. The meaning of these symbols, while obscure today, would have been recognizable in 17th-century Europe. The dragon Rembrandt drew was a figment of his imagination. But the elephant looks surprisingly true to life. How did Rembrandt, who never traveled outside the Netherlands, know what an ele
ATHENS â From July 17 to Dec. 5, 2021, the Georgia Museum of Art will share refreshingly modern works of art in the exhibition âNeo-Abstraction: Celebrating a Gift of Contemporary Art from John and Sara Shlesinger.â âNeo-Abstractionâ highlights the resurgence of abstract art among contemporary artists, including an early spin painting by Damien Hirst and a photographic abstraction by Walead Beshty. Cutting-edge art like Sarah Bramanâs âCoexist,â a striking juxtaposition of commonplace objects, will be on view alongside more familiar approaches to abstraction, like Daniel Hesidenceâs colorful canvases of humanoid figures and celestial bodies.
Sarah Braman, âCoexist,â 2010. Found car part, plexiglass, paint and found chair, 49 Ã 61 Ã 55 inches. Georgia Museum of Art, University of Ge…