Camille Pissarro, The Crossroads, Pontoise, or Square at the Old Cemetery (Le Carrefour, Pontoise, or Place du Vieux Cimetière, Pontoise), 1872, Carnegie Museum of Art

Camille Pissarro, The Crossroads, Pontoise, or Square at the Old Cemetery (Le Carrefour, Pontoise, or Place du Vieux Cimetière, Pontoise), 1872, Carnegie Museum of Art

Monday Motivation

Start each week with inspiring artworks, words of advice from the artists we love, and creative prompts.

A collage of photographs showing a person who is seated and another photograph showing the same person laying on a floor, these images are layered over a background image of a metal chair and a camera on a tripod

Vision and Desire with Paul Mpagi Sepuya

We’re kicking off this week with the words of artist Paul Mpagi Sepuya, whose artwork Self-portrait Study with Roses at Night (1709) is on view in Scaife Gallery 16.

In a large room, one person is seated, and a child is standing facing them. Both figures are playing violins and a stand with sheet music is set up behind them.

Finding the Sublime with Hedda Sterne

Our Monday Motivation is coming from artist Hedda Sterne.

A sculpture made from an armoire covered in cement

The Power of Art With Doris Salcedo

“Art has enormous power: the power to take back control of life, of humanity, of life that has been profaned.” –Doris Salcedo

A person wearing a brightly decorated mask wraps their arm around their neck, resting their hand on their own shoulder revealing fingernails intricately decorated to match the mask

Revising the Future with Siwa Mgoboza

I am interested in re-imagining objects, bodies and landscapes that are constructed to immerse us in the logic of another place, an imagined reality.

An abstract artwork with a brightly colored background and seven horizontal lines cutting across it. 

Defining Art with Donald Judd 

We’re mulling over this thought-provoking quote for our Monday Motivation. To artist Donald Judd, as soon as an artwork was identified as art, that’s what it was! In your opinion, what makes something art?

A young child is standing in a walker and wearing sunglasses, smiling with their arms held out

Summer Fun with Charles “Teenie” Harris

This Monday, we’re getting a pick-me-up from these images capturing the small pleasures of summer in Pittsburgh, taken by photographer Charles “Teenie” Harris in the 1950s and 1960s.

A photograph of a child standing on a ramp with one hand on the railing and the other in their mouth. Glass skyscrapers are behind the child and an American flag is flying. 

Happy Birthday, William Eggleston

For today’s Monday Motivation, we’re celebrating the influence and birthday of William Eggleston, an American artist whose work helped legitimize color photography as a medium in fine art.

A black and white photograph depicts a woman dressed all in black staring directly at the camera. 

Do What is Right with Louise Nevelson

This week’s source of Monday Motivation is artist Louise Nevelson, whose work Tropical Garden’s Presence, greets us every time we enjoy some sunshine in our Sculpture Courtyard.

A skeletal figure with the head of a bull is clothed in a black robe standing in the forefront of a painting. In the background, you can see a pair of feet, a trumpet on fire resting on the ground, and a figure with progressively larger torso, waist, and legs. At the top of the image is the word “Minotaure.”

The Mystery of Art with Magritte

For today’s Monday Motivation, we’re exploring the mystery of artworks as demonstrated by iconic surrealist René Magritte.

People crowd into a room to watch a performer. In the foreground of the paiting a person wearing dark glasses and a bright shirt is seated in the doorway watching the act.

Knowing Yourself Through Art with Nicole Eisenman

Nicole Eisenman is one of the foremost figurative painters of our time. Combining a visual language of art history with personal allegory, Eisenman’s works offer a forthright, comedic, and critical mediation on contemporary life.