November 26, 2021 • View in browser

Good morning. 🌧️ Today, a close look at painter Catherine Murphy, an 18th-century watercolor of a Black woman in Scotland, and a billionaire beat out crypto fans to buy an original copy of the US Constitution.

— Hrag Vartanian, editor-in-chief 

Catherine Murphy's Observational Paintings Find the Uncanny in the Ordinary

There is nothing extraordinary about Murphy’s subjects and yet there is something inexplicably disturbing about her paintings and drawings. | John Yau

LATEST NEWS

David Allan, “Edinburgh Milkmaid with Butter Churn” (c. 1780–1790) (all images courtesy National Galleries of Scotland)

• The National Galleries of Scotland announced their acquisition of one of the earliest known images of a Black woman by a Scottish artist.

• An original printing of the US Constitution fetches $43.2 million at auction, setting the record for the most expensive document or book ever sold.

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