Art Movements

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Malle Babbe by Frans Hals

Although Frans Hals’ Malle Babbe was always considered a tronie or a fictional character study, the portrait is based on a woman whom the Dutch...

Nicole Ganbold 8 September 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Portrait of Sofonisba Anguissola by Anthony van Dyck

Anthony van Dyck was a Flemish painter born in Antwerp (then Spanish Netherlands, now Belgium) in 1599 and passed away in London in 1641. From 1621...

Soledad Castillo Jara 8 September 2024

Review

Mothers of Invention: The Feminist Roots of Contemporary Art – Book Review

The book Mothers of Invention: The Feminist Roots of Contemporary Art comprises an innovative collection of essays by four different authors. Each...

Kaena Daeppen 6 September 2024

Painting

A Peek Into the Masters’ Workshops: How Artists Worked in the Italian Renaissance

The illustrious Renaissance masters and their celebrated artworks have lesser-known stories behind them. The Renaissance art world abounded in tales...

Guest Profile, 5 September 2024

Art History 101

Japonisme: Western Fever for Japanese Art and Culture

During the mid-19th and 20th centuries, Western art saw the birth of Japonisme. The term was coined by Philippe Burty in 1872 and refers to the craze...

Jimena Escoto 5 September 2024

Impressionism

Julie Manet – Who Was This Pretty Girl Immortalized by the Impressionists?

Julie Manet – called the beauty of Impressionism – was the daughter of the wealthy, well-connected painter Berthe Morisot and Eugène Manet,...

Pola Otterstein 5 September 2024

Sir Edwin Landseer, Monarch of the Glen, ca 1851, Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, UK. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Monarch of the Glen by Edwin Landseer

Monarch of the Glen by Edwin Landseer is one of the most famous British paintings of the 19th century. It is a Victorian melodrama at its most...

James W Singer 4 September 2024

European Art

Masterpiece Story: The Pineapple Picture

Known as the “pineapple picture,” this enigmatic 17th-century painting captures the royal reception of King Charles II. The British royal...

Maya M. Tola 3 September 2024

Sculpture

Eerie, Haunting and Below the Sea: DeCaires Taylor’s Underwater Museums

In 2006, British artist Jason deCaires Taylor installed the first undersea sculpture park in the Caribbean. Since that time he has created...

Nadine Waldmann 2 September 2024

WTF Art History

The Unbelievable Story of Killer Rabbits in Medieval Manuscripts

If you’ve ever watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail, you probably remember the scene when the vicious killer bunny (which, as we remember,...

Zuzanna Stańska 2 September 2024

Artist Stories

8 Things Everyone Should Know About Joaquín Sorolla

Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida was a Spanish painter whose style was a variant of Impressionism. His best works, painted in the open air, vividly portray...

Zuzanna Stańska 30 August 2024

Impressionism

Masterpiece Story: Strolling along the Seashore by Joaquin Sorolla

This painting is the crowning work of Joaquin Sorolla’s late period. It shows his wife, Clothilde, and eldest daughter, Maria, walking elegantly on...

Zuzanna Stańska 30 August 2024