Essays & Lectures

Esthetics (Art Theory)

• "Subject vs. Theme: Paintings of Oedipus and the Sphinx by Ingres and Moreau"

• Why Do Detailed Analysis of Paintings or Sculpture?

• Annotated Art series

Sculpture

• Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide, available in Feb. 2007

• "Getting More Enjoyment from Art You Love," The Objective Standard, A Journal of Culture and Politics, vol. 1, no. 2 (Summer 2006).

• Cave Paintings and Christo's Gates: Art in Individual Minds and Public Places

• Forgotten Delights: The Producers, A Selection of Manhattan's Outdoor Sculpture

• "WTC Memorial Should Celebrate America's Producers," Jan. 2004 (revised version of July 2002 essay below)

• "Monoliths, Wells, Mounds: What Is It We're Trying to Say Here?" (on the World Trade Center Memorial, July 2002)

• "Turn-of-the-Century Artist-Entrepreneurs: Saint Gaudens, MacMonnies, and Parrish," audiotaped lecture available from the Ayn Rand Bookstore

• MacMonnies' Nathan Hale

• "The Human Form in Greek Sculpture," audiotaped lecture available from the Ayn Rand Bookstore.

Paintings and Drawings

• “How to Analyze and Appreciate Paintings,” The Objective Standard, A Journal of Culture and Politics, vol. 2, no. 3 (Fall 2007).

• "19th-Century French Painting and Philosophy," The Objective Standard, A Journal of Culture and Politics, vol. 1, no. 3 (Fall 2006).

• "Landscapes: History and Significance"

• "Still Lifes: History and Significance"

• Detailed Analysis of Holbein's Sir Thomas More

• "Looking at Drawings: An Introduction"

• "Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres," audiotaped lecture available from the Ayn Rand Bookstore.

• Vermeer's Geographer

• "Turn-of-the-Century Artist-Entrepreneurs: Saint Gaudens, MacMonnies, and Parrish," audiotaped lecture available from the Ayn Rand Bookstore

Literature

• "Vitamins, Minerals and Harry Potter"

Film, Television, Broadway

• "Analyzing and Evaluating Films as Works of Art" (part 3 of a 3-part series)

• "Best Picture: Says Who?" (part 2 of a 3-part series)

• "The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: Movie Reviews and How to Write Them" (part 1 of a 3-part series)

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Real World

• Review of The Scarlet Pimpernel (Broadway musical)

Photography

• Completely Unprofessional Notes on Taking Photographs of Outdoor Sculpture

Politics

Background reports on specific countries

• Afghanistan

• Bosnia

• Haiti

• Iran

• Serbia

• Somalia

• Yemen

• Yugoslavia

Other essays and op-eds

• "What Do We Tell Our Children About September 11th?" (one of many short essays on the Ayn Rand Institute's website; search the site for "Durante" to find the others)

• "Crime or War? The Proper Response to the Terrorist Attacks in New York and Washington" (on September 11th)

• "How America Abets Its Terrorist Foes" (Jan. 2001)

• "National Health Care: Prescription for a Fool's Paradise," with Salvatore J. Durante, DDS

• "A Checklist for Healthy Skeptics"

• "Nuclear Power: How It Works and Why It's Better Than Other Fuels"

History

• Alexander Hamilton: A biographical lecture and walking tour of sculptures of him in Manhattan (10/04)

• On Studying History

Miscellaneous

• "Notes on Self-Publishing"
• "The 2005 Turner Prize: English Art in Plain American"