Featured Story

Portraits of Power

Painting

Where Is the Queen? Black Women in Western Art

For centuries, Black women appeared in Western art as slaves, servants, or exotic novelties. But as regal queens and leaders? Shamefully not. We will...

Candy Bedworth 17 February 2025

Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of Henry VIII of England, ca. 1537, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain.  History

Royal Portraits: The Art of Image

Shakespeare once wrote, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” For monarchs...

Abreeza Thomas 17 February 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Queen Mother Idia of Benin

Africa is a beautiful continent filled with sweeping landscapes and mighty rivers. Its history is filled with great kingdoms and large empires. Its...

James W Singer 17 February 2025

King Louis XIV painted by Hyacinthe Rigaud, 1701 European Art

The Sun King’s Reflection: Portraits of Louis XIV

Louis XIV was definitely a great arts patron but sadly a slightly less great king. However, that didn’t stop him from being self-indulging,...

Magda Michalska 17 February 2025

European Art

Royaltastic Queens: Women Who Fought the Patriarchy and Won!

Follow us on a short historical tour of thriving royal women across Europe who enjoyed power and success on their own terms. How we measure royal...

Candy Bedworth 17 February 2025

LatestTrending

Browse More Browse More
Portrait of Madeleine. Marie-Guillemine Benoist, Portrait of Madeleine, 1800, Musée du Louvre, Paris, France. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Portrait of Madeleine by Marie-Guillemine Benoist

What is the message behind Marie-Guillemine Benoist’s Portrait of Madeleine? The history and tradition behind this 1800 painting might explain...

Jimena Escoto 16 February 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Allegorical Painting of Two Ladies

Allegorical Painting of Two Ladies is an enigmatic and highly unusual imaginative portrait made in 1650s England. It reveals a fascinating story...

Nicole Ganbold 16 February 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: A Ride for Liberty by Eastman Johnson

The cool morning dew blew against their warm sweaty skin as the horse led them towards the free North. Stories of another life, a free life,...

James W Singer 16 February 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Belley by Girodet

Although representations of Black people were overlooked in European art for a long time, current social and political movements participate to...

Amélie Pascutto 16 February 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The African King Caspar by Hendrik Heerschop

White subjects have dominated the Western art tradition for millennia, while people of color have been vastly underrepresented and misrepresented.

James W Singer 16 February 2025

Quiz

QUIZ: 8 Fun Things to Know about Vermeer’s View of Delft

Tom Anderson 15 February 2025

Quiz

QUIZ: Love in Art

Anastasia Manioudaki 15 February 2025

Quiz

QUIZ: Do You Know Your Renaissance Painters?

Joanna Kaszubowska 15 February 2025

Quiz

QUIZ: How Well Do You Know Mexican Art?

Jimena Aullet 15 February 2025

Quiz

QUIZ: How Much Do You Know About Picasso?

Ruxi Rusu 15 February 2025

Love Story

The Flying Lovers: Bella and Marc Chagall

A love story is always a good read, especially if it’s such a magical and touching history as that of Bella and Marc Chagall. Unfortunately there...

Magda Michalska 14 February 2025

Love Story

Lovebirds and Life Partners—Famous Artist Couples

Al Green famously sang “Let’s Stay Together” but artists are notorious for tempestuous relationships that often end badly. But hey, let’s...

Candy Bedworth 14 February 2025

All Articles

Browse More
Love Story

Lovebirds and Life Partners—Famous Artist Couples

Al Green famously sang “Let’s Stay Together” but artists are notorious for tempestuous relationships that often end badly. But hey, let’s...

Candy Bedworth 14 February 2025

Art State of Mind

Suffered a Break-up? See This Art

Who hasn’t suffered a break-up may be the first to cast the stone at all of those who don’t sleep at night and cannot stop crying at a single...

Magda Michalska 14 February 2025

Love Story

5 Ideas For Valentine’s Day Inspired By Art History

Valentine’s Day is here and the internet is full of advice on how to make it special. We’re joining with a few ideas inspired by art history,...

Europeana 14 February 2025

Abstract Expressionism

The Irascibles: The Birth of American Abstract Expressionism

This photograph of New York-based Abstract Expressionist painters was published in Life magazine in January of 1951. The photograph, dubbed “The...

Tom Anderson 13 February 2025

JMW Turner, Fighting Temeraire, 1839, National Gallery, London, UK. News

Turner at 250: The Best Anniversary Exhibitions

The year 2025 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Joseph Mallord William Turner, arguably Britain’s greatest landscape painter.

Catriona Miller 13 February 2025

European Art

The First-Ever Femme Fatale: Lilith in Paintings

The apparent sweetness of this work by John Collier (1850–1934), a Pre-Raphaelite painter, is a wonderful testimony of the two sides of Lilith’s...

Guest Profile 13 February 2025

Women Artists

A House of Their Own: The Red Rose Girls

In an old house in Philadelphia at the turn of the twentieth century, four women made their home and their art together. Three decades before...

Guest Profile 13 February 2025

Women Artists

Paula Rego and Other Strong Women

Paula Rego (1935-2022) was a Portuguese-British visual artist considered one of the pre-eminent woman artists of the late 20th and early 21st...

Magda Michalska 13 February 2025

Rosalyn Drexler:Rosalyn_Drexler_at_her_publisher's_office,_circa_1960 Pop art

Rosalyn Drexler: Wrestling Feminist in the Pop Art World

Rosalyn Drexler is an American artist born in the Bronx, New York, in 1926.  She began making sculptures in the 1950s and later explored painting...

Guest Profile 13 February 2025

Love Story

The Love of Ida Rubinstein and Romaine Brooks

Being a bisexual woman at the beginning of the 20th century was difficult. They were looked down on, they were scorned and discussed behind their...

Magda Michalska 13 February 2025

Photography

Gerda Taro—The Girl with the Leica

Have you ever heard of the photographer Gerda Taro? You may know her as Robert Capa‘s girlfriend and muse, and I’m sure you have heard of Capa at...

Arianna Richetti 13 February 2025

Asian Art

Hanuman: The Revered Monkey God in Hindu Mythology

The revered monkey god Hanuman is one of the most iconic in Hindu mythology. He embodies unparalleled strength, unwavering devotion, and boundless...

Maya M. Tola 12 February 2025