Art Only Exists Because Death Exists. Skulls in Art
Dia De Los Muertos is celebrated every year across Mexico. A far cry from the Western commercial horror-fest of Halloween, it is a glorious...
Candy Bedworth 2 November 2022
Bizarre
9 Creatures by Odilon Redon That Will Give You the Creeps
The creatures by Odilon Redon look truly otherworldly. During the early years of the artistic activity of this Symbolist painter, printmaker,...
Zuzanna Stańska 31 October 2022
The Wonder and Glory of Medieval Portable Shrines
For devoted Christians, a portable shrine provided an immediate and intimate way to connect to a higher power within a monastic space or the privacy...
Marga Patterson 3 October 2022
Wild Women of the Waves – Art of Ships Figureheads
A figurehead is a carved and painted figure ornamenting the bow of a ship (that’s the front to us landlubbers!). For thousands of years, people...
Candy Bedworth 26 August 2022
Maurizio Cattelan and His Obsession with Pigeons
It was at the Venice Biennale in 1997 when Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan displayed 2000 stuffed pigeons installed at the top of the air...
Zuzanna Stańska 16 July 2022
Murder on Canvas: How Artists Portrayed the Ultimate Taboo
To quote the novelist Aldous Huxley “It takes two to make a murder. There are born victims, born to have their throats cut, as the cut-throats...
Wendy Gray 4 July 2022
Hags and Slags? A History of Witchcraft in Art
Hold on to your broomstick as we fly through time to check out the delicious and diabolical witch in art history.
Candy Bedworth 31 May 2022
That’s My Color! Famous Painters’ Trademark Colors
Did you know that there are some colors that you can’t use in your art? Such “painters’ trademarked colors” are owned by certain artists, and...
Wojtek Rozdzenski 22 January 2022
Famous Lobsters in Art
Lobsters, large marine crustaceans, have been eaten by humans since prehistoric times. They became a delicacy by the Roman period. They were also...
Zuzanna Stańska 7 April 2021
A Hero and Mythical Creatures: Famous Spiders in Art
Spiders disturb the majority of the people. Even though they are much smaller, and thus much less powerful than us, we cannot help but fear their...
Belkıs Pesen 6 April 2021
A Controversial Christmas Tree in Venice
Weighing 9 tonnes, 10 metres tall, the 2020 Christmas Tree of Venice had become a scandal before it was lit up last week. Why? Because it’s not...
Magda Michalska 22 December 2020
Creepy Art History: Bugs and Critters Hiding in Paintings
Creepy-crawlies: bugs, lizards, and insects. You either love them or hate them. But one place you may have thought they wouldn’t appear is in...
Kristin Urban 31 October 2020
