Category Archives: Arts

Many readers of this site know that I, Nikitas, am an artist as well as a conservative commentator. I studied art in college and have made paintings, drawings and constructions throughout my adult life. I have rarely shown my work. … Continue reading →

We recently built a new church for our Orthodox Christian parish. The old church was small and cramped and the hospital next door wanted its land for an expansion. Our former priest, Father Joseph, had suggested six years ago that … Continue reading →

(These are the opening pages of my short novel called "Simply Roses" which is the third in a trilogy of fiction I wrote about a young writer (JM Beemis) who has composed a novel about his travels around America. At this point … Continue reading →

Traveling Hopefully by Nikitas Below are the opening pages of my short novel (42,650 words) called Traveling Hopefully. It is one of a trilogy of stories that I wrote between 1981 and 1996, chronicling the life of a young novelist. … Continue reading →

These are photographs that I took on a recent visit to New York City when I passed through the spectacular Grand Central Terminal. I call this group 'The Lights of Grand Central' since it focuses on the myriad types of … Continue reading →

For anyone who has immersed himself or herself in a one-semester college survey course on the whole history of art, you probably have owned or come into contact with a copy of H.W. Janson’s History of Art, A Survey of … Continue reading →

America’s Christian churches are some of our most special architectural treasures. From Old North Church in Boston to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City to thousands of churches across our cities, towns and villages, we often see a loving … Continue reading →

The Classical Greek sculptor Polyclitus said, “Perfection comes about little by little, through many numbers.” And he lived by his credo. The two legendary Polyclitus bronzes that have come down to us as marble Roman copies – Doryphorous and Diadumenos … Continue reading →

Toulouse-Lautrec and Paris, an exhibition of prints, drawings and paintings by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and others at The Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts. (This exhibit was mounted in 2009 but is worth thinking about here.) Utter the name Henri de … Continue reading →

There’s nothing like a good old-fashioned country fair to make your summer whole. The Cummington Fair in the tiny burg of Cummington, Massachusetts is one of the oldest in the nation. It attracts people from many surrounding states. The Cummington … Continue reading →

Here are two brief statements from Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) about why painting is superior to sculpture and poetry. They make good points. That Sculpture is Less Intellectual than Painting, and Lacks Many Characteristics of Nature I myself, having exercised myself … Continue reading →

There is a fascinating town in New York state that history buffs would love. It is called Sharon Springs and it has achieved a certain amount of new media notoriety in the last decade. Sharon Springs is 45 miles west … Continue reading →

The Art of Devotion: Panel Painting in Early Renaissance Italy, Middlebury (Vt.) College Museum of Art. This exhibit brings together paintings from eleven different collections to explore how these works of art – collaborative products that depended upon a close … Continue reading →

You know those guys who have the model railroad empires in their basements – tracks all over the place, mountainous scenery, switching yards, dozens of locomotives, hundreds of cars, a jungle of wires under the layout? Often we say that … Continue reading →

Here is a modest photo essay of the permanent installation of Ancient Greek art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. I hope that it gives you a hint of the richness of the exhibit. Under each … Continue reading →

Nicholas Bobrovsky is not an artist by profession. He is a retired General Electric engineer. But the quality of the Byzantine-style icons that he produces is, in a word, professional. And the fact that Bobrovsky is a parishioner at St. … Continue reading →

The Origins of El Greco: Icon Painting in Venetian Crete, a survey of Christian religious paintings from Crete during the period in which Venice dominated the island. Onassis Cultural Center, New York, New York. (This exhibit is now closed.) If you … Continue reading →

The Strange World of Albrecht Durer: An exhibit of Durer prints highlighting the fantastic aspects of the artist’s imagination and iconography. The Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts Mention the name of German artist Albrecht Durer (1471-1528) and you will always … Continue reading →

Charleston, South Carolina is a beautiful city. I attended a conference there in August 2011 and strolled the streets several times to enjoy the historic architecture. Here are just a few pictures for your enjoyment. Note the top one: The … Continue reading →

A master in his field accomplishes things that are separate from the ordinary, things that reveal the essences of a higher hidden world that reveals all the mysteries. The Ancient Greeks had knowledge so extraordinary that their temples to this … Continue reading →

(This is a column that I wrote that was published on the Op-Ed page of The New York Times in 1981. I was living in Vermont at the time.) WARREN, Vt. – In June 1975 I rode a freight train … Continue reading →

The Unknown Monet, Pastels and Drawings, Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts. Also: Side by side; Millet and Van Gogh. And: Gainsborough, Constable and Turner, The Manton Collection: Selections from the bequest to The Clark by insurance magnate Sir Edwin AG … Continue reading →

Being an American of Greek descent, and being a genuine and unrepentant lover of beauty, I, Nikitas, always look to the Ancient Hellenes for the roots of modern beauty. It could be said that the Greeks “discovered” our modern concept … Continue reading →

The Western Railroad of Massachusetts, with construction commenced in 1830 and completed in 1841, was derided as “a railroad to the moon” by one Boston newspaper at the time it was proposed. It was intended to link Boston to Albany, … Continue reading →

Remington Looking West, paintings and drawing by Frederic Remington at The Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts. Also, drawings by Claude Lorrain at The Clark. The name Frederic Remington is synonymous with artistic depictions of the American West. Yet he was … Continue reading →

I love auto racing, all kinds really. Because the cars are very artistic – the colors, the forms. So I take photos of them and of the people involved. This section will grow as I add pictures. The two gentlemen … Continue reading →

I lived in New York City for 13 years but I only went into the World Trade Center once. And that was before I even lived in the city. I moved to New York in 1985 but my first and … Continue reading →

Sol LeWitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective, an exhibit at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams, Massachusetts. This show will  be on view from 2008 to 2033 (yes, 25 years…) I, Nikitas, have a theory that most of so-called … Continue reading →

I love trains. And I love to photgraph trains and men working on trains. Here is just a sampling. This page will grow as I add images. I have several hundred. Click on each picture to enlarge (recommended only for … Continue reading →

Nikola Tesla is  the Serbian/Croatian genius who immigrated to the United States and developed our system of AC electrical  generation and transmission, the system that the whole world uses today. Here is Tesla talking in 1908: "As soon as it … Continue reading →

On my old website, I had a section called ‘Charioteer’ which discussed art. Here is the original heading for that section: Under the rubric of art, Charioteer will discuss the pre-eminence worldwide of Western ideas in art, architecture, engineering and … Continue reading →

Drawn to Drama; Italian Works on Paper, 1500-1800, The Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts Above: Clockwise from top left. Detail of Head of a Woman, Early 1490s by Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio. Deatil of Standing Male Nude, c. 1735-40, by Francesco … Continue reading →

Here is some family history. The dates may not be precise but the sentiment surely is: My grandparents on my mother’s side came from Sparta, Greece in the early 20th century, before 1910, I believe. They settled in Burlington, Vermont … Continue reading →

  The Eiffel Tower in Paris reminds us every day how Western man for millennia has pursued transcendent beauty and structural challenge. It is amazing that the Tower is made of so many thousands of individual pieces of iron but that … Continue reading →

A classic Italian sports car shows us superb design. Bellisimo!     After World War II, Italian auto maker Enzo Ferrari started to manufacture his elite passenger cars in order to generate cash for his existing racing pursuits. Most people … Continue reading →

(Here is an art exhibit that I reviewed in 2011. Enjoy the observations.) Eye to Eye: European Portraits 1450-1850, The Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts. A survey of 31 portraits representing a variety of styles. These works are on loan … Continue reading →

In addition to being a conservative activist, I, Nikitas, am a painter and draughtsman; a novelist and short-story writer; and a designer of useful things. I currently have eight separate items that I have spent many years designing and that … Continue reading →

Above are two photographs. On the left is a picture that I took with my Instamatic camera in 1970, at age 16. It is a picture of the Parthenon, in Athens, Greece. On the right is a commercial postcard of … Continue reading →