St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome

Looking at La Danse de Henri Matisse, 1939

MoMA was magical ✨

To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don't need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself. When you are born a lotus flower, be a beautiful lotus flower, don't try to be a magnolia flower. If you crave acceptance and recognition and try to change yourself to fit what other people want you to be, you will suffer all your life. True happiness and true power lie in understanding yourself, accepting yourself, having confidence in yourself.

— Thích Nhất Hạnh

edited screen cap from the politician

Adam Driver photographed by Michael Nagle for the New York Times

Denizler Kitabevi Bookshop in Istanbul, specializing in antique maps and maritime books.

Frederick Douglass, February 14, 1818* - February 20, 1895

Frederick Douglass, ca. 1879 Series: Portraits, 1862 - 1884. Collection: Frank W. Legg Photographic Collection of Portraits of Nineteenth-Century Notables, 1862-1884 

Born into slavery in Maryland two hundred years ago in 1818, Frederick Douglass went on to become a prominent abolitionist, author, orator and statesman.

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”

More African American history resources at the @usnatarchives

(*While the actual date of Douglass’ birth is unknown, he reportedly chose to celebrate his birthday on February 14.)

Anonymous Artist, Portrait of Vincent van Gogh, 1925-1928 🎨

Edward Steichen’s “The Maypole (Empire State Building)”

Edward Steichen was born on this day in 1879. In addition to being a photographer himself, Steichen was Director of MoMA’s Department of Photography and curated the museum’s popular exhibition The Family of Man. Steichen took this photo of the Empire State Building a year after its construction ended, and used two separate negatives to create the photograph’s dizzying effect.

[Edward Steichen. The Maypole (Empire State Building). 1932. Gelatin silver print. Gift of the photographer. © 2017 The Estate of Edward Steichen/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.]

Michael Moon’s Bookshop, Whitehaven.