Urban Art Antiques, Antiques Mysteries and Great Paintings

July Art Openings 🎨 … First Thursday, July 2

10 Jun 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Spend an evening immersed in Portland’s vibrant gallery scene, with standout exhibitions and receptions at Waterstone, Russo Lee, Augen, and Blackfi...

Collecting the Bicentennial

02 Jun 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The Bicentennial in 1976 marked America's 200th anniversary, prompting widespread celebration and the production of countless commemorative items. Whi...

Misty Morning Montclair

30 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

At the Butler Museum, a quiet landscape by George Inness seems empty… until a figure almost appears. In works like Winter Moonlight, presence never ...

When Paintings Begin to Sing

25 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In a quiet gallery, viewers experience a dynamic interplay of color and sound, reminiscent of composer Wassily Kandinsky's chromesthesia. His art embo...

Podcast Episode: Arch Conspirators

24 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

June Art Openings 🎨 … First Thursday, June 4

19 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Spend an evening immersed in Portland’s vibrant gallery scene, with standout exhibitions and receptions at Waterstone, Russo Lee, Augen, and Blackfi...

Reviewing Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin

19 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Goya and the Darkness of Enlightenment

16 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A sleeping man collapses at his desk as owls and bats gather behind him. In 1799, Francisco Goya created an image that still feels disturbingly modern...

Whispers Between the Pages

09 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A century-old book filled with the voices of the dead… and the markings of the living. Early copies of Spoon River Anthology reveal something unsett...

The Talisman and the Temple

02 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Some paintings show you the world. Others seem to shape it. In a small Paris studio, a group of young artists began treating art less like representat...

When the Sea Wants Company

25 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A man struggles at the water’s edge. He’s pulling someone from the sea. Or is he being pulled in? In a quiet Danish painting, the line between re...

When the Sea Wants Company

25 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A man struggles at the water’s edge. He’s pulling someone from the sea. Or is he being pulled in? In a quiet Danish painting, the line between re...

Back Roads and Barns: A Hunter’s Tale

18 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The Merchant sells. The Scholar explains. But the Hunter goes looking. On back roads and in forgotten rooms, objects wait exactly where they were lef...

Back Roads and Barns: A Hunter’s Tale

18 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The Merchant sells. The Scholar explains. But the Hunter goes looking. On back roads and in forgotten rooms, objects wait exactly where they were lef...

The Poison in the Walls

11 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Victorian homes were beautiful—and deadly. Bright green wallpaper, all the rage in the 1800s, contained arsenic that slowly poisoned families from t...

The Poison in the Walls

11 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Victorian homes were beautiful—and deadly. Bright green wallpaper, all the rage in the 1800s, contained arsenic that slowly poisoned families from t...

The Weight of Looking

04 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A neglected nineteenth-century mirror in a former boarding house, its age-worn glass reflecting unsettling inaccuracies in time. Unlike typical memori...

The Weight of Looking

04 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A neglected nineteenth-century mirror in a former boarding house, its age-worn glass reflecting unsettling inaccuracies in time. Unlike typical memori...

When the Victorians Spoke with the Dead

28 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What if an old photograph was not just looking back at you but trying to tell you something? Travel to 1848 and the candlelit parlor of the Fox sister...

When the Victorians Spoke with the Dead

28 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What if an old photograph was not just looking back at you but trying to tell you something? Travel to 1848 and the candlelit parlor of the Fox sister...

The Power of Life and Death in Winslow Homer’s Art

21 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In 1909, near the end of his life, Winslow Homer created one of the most haunting images in American art: Right and Left. At first glance, the painti...

The Power of Life and Death in Winslow Homer’s Art

21 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In 1909, near the end of his life, Winslow Homer created one of the most haunting images in American art: Right and Left. At first glance, the painti...

The Last Thing She Saw

14 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In the 1800s, some scientists believed the human eye could capture the last thing a person saw before death. When Emma Merlotin was murdered, doctors ...

The Last Thing She Saw

14 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In the 1800s, some scientists believed the human eye could capture the last thing a person saw before death. When Emma Merlotin was murdered, doctors ...

The One Who Didn’t Leave a Trace

07 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Some mysteries are loud. Others barely register at all. In the nineteenth century, entire lives could pass through a house and leave behind almost not...

The One Who Didn’t Leave a Trace

07 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Some mysteries are loud. Others barely register at all. In the nineteenth century, entire lives could pass through a house and leave behind almost not...

Stagecoach Travel: Where History Meets the Haunted Road

28 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A winter storm. A vanished coach. A trail where the wind still carries echoes. In 1886, a red Concord stage disappeared on Raton Pass, its horses foun...

Stagecoach Travel: Where History Meets the Haunted Road

28 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A winter storm. A vanished coach. A trail where the wind still carries echoes. In 1886, a red Concord stage disappeared on Raton Pass, its horses foun...

Unraveling the Mystery of the Princes in the Tower

21 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What happened to the princes in the Tower? Was it murder, betrayal, or something more mysterious? In this episode, we unravel the haunting story behin...

Unraveling the Mystery of the Princes in the Tower

21 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What happened to the princes in the Tower? Was it murder, betrayal, or something more mysterious? In this episode, we unravel the haunting story behin...

Undelivered: Lost Letters and Hidden Truths

14 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The Dead Letter is a podcast that uncovers forgotten history through undelivered letters and lost texts. It begins with a mysterious 1800s letter disc...

The Presence of the Past: A Night at the Tate

07 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What if a portrait could see you back? In this episode, we step into the Tate Museum, where a quiet moment before closing reveals the strange, hauntin...

A Night at Buffalo Central

31 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In 1983, a group of teens slipped inside Buffalo Central Terminal, chasing a dare and the promise of the city’s forgotten heights. They never made i...

And She Was a Witch

24 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Deep in the Metropolitan Museum’s hidden storage, a solitary figure waits. George Fuller’s And She Was a Witch rarely sees the light, yet its gaze...

Candle Wick Trimmers, a Small Tool With a Long Shadow

17 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Candle wick trimmers, crafted mainly from iron or brass, are historical tools essential for maintaining candle flames before electric lighting. Used i...

The Night She Returned: Luisa Tetrazzini and a City That Still Listens

10 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

An estate sale cabinet. A forgotten record. A line of handwriting that should not exist. In San Francisco, a gold edged 78 by Luisa Tetrazzini carries...

The Pipe in the Attic

03 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In a quiet Walnut Street home, an old pipe carries more than smoke—it carries the presence of Orie, a long-gone resident who never truly left. Fanny...

Collecting Hotel Memorabilia: A Glimpse Into the Past, From Postcards to Fixtures

27 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The article explores the allure of hotel memorabilia, particularly from Chicago's Hotel Sherman, which was a prestigious venue until its demolition in...

A Loop of Track and a World of Memory

20 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Marx trains, founded by Louis Marx in 1919, aimed to create affordable, fun toys for children. Known for their cheerful lithographed tin and later pla...

Philadelphia’s Most Famous Cure-All

13 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the early 1800s, William Swaim transformed from a bookbinder to a successful patent medicine entrepreneur with Swaim's Panacea, a controversial rem...

Antiques Mysteries: The Witch’s Castle

06 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Antiques Mysteries, we explore a hauntingly enigmatic site tucked deep within Portland’s Forest Park: the so-called “Witch’...

Tangible Traces of Railroad History

29 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Pennsylvania Railroad was a symbol of American industrial progress, connecting regions with its reliable service and elegant trains like the Red A...

Echoes in Print: Ghost Stories from a Vanished Age

22 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

At the turn of the 20th century, industrialization prompted a rise in ghost stories as people grappled with anxieties about technological progress. Ne...

The Case of the Busby Stoop Chair

15 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Antiques Mysteries explores the legend of the Busby Stoop Chair, believed to cause death to those who sit in it. This episode examines various methods...

The Ghost of North Head and the Sea That Wouldn’t Let Go

08 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The cliffs of Cape Disappointment harbor the North Head Lighthouse, a historic beacon overlooking tumultuous waters. Its keeper, Mary Pesonen, mysteri...

John Quidor’s Vision of Early America

01 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In 1858, John Quidor captured a unique vision of Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow through his painting The Headless Horseman Pursuing I...

Edison’s Ghost Phone: The Machine That Never Spoke

25 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In 1920, Thomas Edison sparked public intrigue by suggesting the possibility of recording the voice of a soul, linking it to his invention of the phon...

The Girl Who Waits: Eastman Johnson’s Haunting Vision

18 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Eastman Johnson's painting, The Girl I Left Behind Me (1872), captures a moment of tension and yearning. The nameless girl, standing on a foggy bluff,...

The Doll That Wouldn’t Leave

11 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"Antique Mysteries" is a new podcast from Urban Art and Antiques hosted by antique dealer Melissa. Each episode investigates intriguing stories behind...

The Race That Never Ends

04 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

They say a painting is a window. But what if it’s something else? What if it’s a trapdoor? In this episode of Antiques Mysteries, we step into the...

Whispers in the Parlor

27 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Step back to a time when Portland’s drawing rooms hummed with questions for the beyond. Whispers in the Parlor, the latest episode of Antiques Myste...

Castle of Shadows: The Haunted Grandeur of the Crescent Hotel

21 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

High on a limestone ridge above the winding streets of Eureka Springs, Arkansas, the Crescent Hotel rises like a dream—or a warning. Built in 1885 a...

Why Blue Willow Dishware Captivates Collectors

14 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

If you’ve ever wandered through an antique shop or peeked into a grandmother’s china cabinet, chances are you’ve seen Blue Willow. That crisp bl...