Ivan Albright (1897-1983) reintroduced the long-dormant theme of vanitas into 20th-century art. Traditionally, vanitas (vanity) paintings emphasized the transience of life, the futility of momentary pleasure, and the certainty of death, thus challenging the viewer to search for a more meaningful, and less self-centered, existence. The vanitas theme originated in northern Europe in the late Middle Ages and remained popular into the 18th century.² Albright modernized it in Into the World There Came a Soul Called Ida (cover). In it, he shows a woman's reluctant physical transition from youth to middle age. In contrast, in his Picture of Dorian Gray (Figure), based on the Oscar Wilde novel, he turned away from outer appearances . . . [Full Text of this Article]