European Art

Painting

Carel Fabritius in 10 Paintings: Rembrandt’s Most Promising Pupil

Any biography of Carel Fabritius (Dutch, 1622–1654) is necessarily short; there simply is not much known about him. He was born in Beemster, a...

Tom Anderson 9 December 2024

Long Read

Badass Queens from Classical History

A rollicking adventure through the lives of great leaders and queens from ancient times. Famous female leaders are a fascinating bunch. Here at...

Candy Bedworth, Guest Profile 9 December 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Young Woman Peeling Apples by Nicolaes Maes

Today’s Masterpiece Story is about this lovely genre painting by Nicolaes Maes (1634-1693), a Dutch Golden Age painter who specialized in...

Alexandra Kiely 8 December 2024

Jan Havicksz Steen, Woman at her Toilet, 1655-60, oil on panel, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Woman at Her Toilet by Jan Steen

Jan Steen’s Woman at Her Toilet is a provocative masterpiece of genre paintings because of its visual complexity and seductive allure, inviting...

James W Singer 8 December 2024

Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, Conscript’s Farewell, 1854, Leopold Museum, Vienna, Austria. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Conscript’s Farewell by Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller

Conscript’s Farewell is a masterpiece by Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller. It explores a family’s reaction to the conscription of their beloved...

James W Singer 8 December 2024

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Peasant Wedding, 1567 Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Peasant Wedding by Pieter Bruegel the Elder

The Kunsthistorisches Museum (the Museum of Art History) is located in Vienna, Austria. It is the largest art gallery in the country, housing the...

Anastasia Manioudaki 8 December 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Gallant Conversation by Gerard ter Borch

Gallant Conversation by Gerard ter Borch is a genre painting filled with a mysterious narrative. What are the three people doing? Why are they in a...

James W Singer 8 December 2024

Art History 101

Artists and Paintings: Everything You Need to Know About Impressionism

Impressionism has become one of the most significant movements of modern art. The names of Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, or Edgar Degas are...

Nataliia Pecherska 8 December 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Rainbow at Pontoise by Camille Pissarro

Camille Pissarro has an interesting portfolio of paintings. His works are divided between cosmopolitan views of Paris and countryside views of...

James W Singer 7 December 2024

Berthe Morisot, Woman In Grey Reclining, 1879 Women Artists

Berthe Morisot: A Modern Parisian Woman

Berthe Morisot was an influential painter at the heart of the French Impressionist movement. Ahead of her time, her work was innovative, fresh, and...

Candy Bedworth 6 December 2024

El Greco, Repentance of Peter, 1580-1586. Renaissance

5 Facts about the Counter-Reformation in Art You Need to Know

The Counter-Reformation was the Catholic Church’s response to the Protestant Reformation spreading through Europe during the Renaissance.

Anna Ingram 5 December 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Phoenix Portrait of Elizabeth I

One of the most famous depictions of Elizabeth I is Nicholas Hilliard’s Phoenix Portrait, depicting the Queen with a pendant shaped like a mythical...

Guest Profile 5 December 2024