It has been nearly 10 years since my last post. I don’t know if anyone reads blogs anymore—or cares what I think. (Is this a koan-like version of a tree falling in the forest?) What I do know is this: I miss having an outlet to share thoughts about art. So whether this becomes a regular practice again or just a place for occasional, self-indulgent reflections, I’m dusting off the ancient Bearded Roman blog.

Maybe I should start with where I’ve been. It has been a busy decade. Here are ten highlights, in terms of art:

1. In 2016, I completed my PhD at the University of London. My 100,000-plus-word, 414-page dissertation—Madrid, Paris, Rome: Spanish History Painting from 1856 to 1897—explores how French academic training intersected with Spanish and Italian models in the instruction, creation, and exhibition of art. (If your sleep medication isn’t working, it’s a solid substitute.) The research took me to more than 40 archives, dozens of museums, and on repeated trips to Spain, France, and Italy. It also resulted in three cases of pneumonia, four bladder infections, and two bouts of shingles. Let no one say, “He didn’t suffer for his art.”

2. This year, I am founding the Salt Lake Museum of Art. It is not what most would expect from me—no European painting, sculpture, or decorative arts, which have long defined my scholarly and gallery work. Instead, it is a love letter to where I live. Utah has more contemporary artists per capita than any other state in the Union—and among the fewest museums, second only to West Virginia. As a result, many local artists are better known elsewhere than at home. We hope to change that. The museum will feature not only Utah artists, but also significant figures who worked in the region. One of our first exhibitions is the first-ever show of Utah paintings by Albert Bierstadt. I’ve written the catalogue and will share more soon.

3. I co-authored the Dictionary of Utah Fine Artists with Vern Swanson, Donna Poulton, and Angela Swanson-Jones. It includes roughly 4,000 artist biographies, about 800 of which I wrote.

4. I have been a regular guest on Jeff Hein’s Undraped Artist Podcast. Hein—one of the world’s leading figurative painters and a good friend—and I meet about once a month to discuss a historic artist, usually of my choosing. We also record an annual Christmas episode.

5. Alongside Spanish, I have added French to my working languages, opening far more primary sources without translation. Much of this is thanks to ongoing conversations with the brilliant linguist, traveler, and native Breton, Anthony Lollierou.

6. I concluded a thirteen-year board tenure with the Springville Museum of Art. Located about an hour south of the State’s capital, it is home to one of the most — no exaggeration — vibrant arts communities in the world. I am now a board member of the California Art Club, one of the country’s oldest artist-run organizations, for whom I occasionally write and lecture.

7. Over the past decade, I have become a regular juror for several competitions, including the California Art Club Gold Medal Competition and the Almenara Prize.

8. In 2016, I co-founded the Zion Arts Society, a nonprofit, with my friend Eric Biggart. For three years, we produced the Zion Art Podcast and organized more than a dozen exhibitions featuring hundreds of emerging local artists. We paused just before the COVID-19 pandemic, but it appears another friend, Boad Swanson, may revive the effort for a new generation.

9. I am now a partner at Anthony’s Fine Art, a 40-year family-run gallery. The role has me traveling frequently across the United States and Europe to acquire historic works from collections and auctions. I spend roughly half my time viewing thousands of works each week. This has built a growing internal visual database that continues to shape how I see both historical and contemporary art—formally and as an investment.

10. Over the past decade, I have visited more than 100 museums, seen hundreds of exhibitions, and read extensively in art history and theory. The result: creaking shelves and nearly 100,000 images in my Apple Photos—most still unshared.

In short, I am more aware than ever of how little I know.

That awareness has made me less inclined to offer definitive opinions. I now look back with some embarrassment at earlier posts—some of which I have removed entirely. Chalk it up to the confidence of youth, when opinion outpaced experience. Today, I remain keenly aware of my limitations, but I still intend to use this space to think through ideas that arise in ongoing conversations with artists.

Despite my long absence, people still ask about the blog, which surprises me. I was recently a faculty member at the Portrait Society of America’s Annual Conference, where several artists mentioned it. What surprised me more was hearing from two artists in their 20s who had been reading the archives. When I logged in for the first time in a decade, I found that Bearded Roman still receives around 600 visits a day.

So whether you’re new to these ramblings or an old friend, thank you—for being here, and for your patience.