Irina Diana Calu

Author

I am an art historian working as an IT Sales Manager. Currently, I am a master's student at the Center of Excellence in Image Studies researching Dutch and Flemish Renaissance Art. I love traveling, visiting museums and exhibitions. Together with my daughter, I live in Bucharest, Romania

Articles by Irina Diana

Museum Stories

Biggest Art Heists in History

Movies on thefts and art heists are making huge box office hits for their great action and wit. However, even if real art heists have been sometimes...

Irina Diana Calu 19 February 2024

Baroque

The Best of Dutch Still Life: 6 Famous Painters

In the art world, it is commonly agreed upon that still life painting as a genre rose in the Netherlands in the last quarter of the 16th century. The...

Irina Diana Calu 20 January 2024

Art History 101

Lapis Lazuli – A Pigment More Precious Than Gold

Lapis lazuli, once more precious than gold, has a history of over 9000 years. The earliest artifacts found at Bhirrana, which is the oldest site of...

Irina Diana Calu 30 December 2023

Artist Stories

Osman Hamdi: The First and Last Ottoman Orientalist

The first and last Orientalist painter of the Ottoman Empire is Osman Hamdi Bey. Born in modern-day Turkey, educated in Paris, and highly regarded as...

Irina Diana Calu 11 December 2023

Masterpiece Stories

Pieter Bruegel’s Children’s Games Explained

Children’s Games is one of Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s most famous paintings. Just like in other works of his, it is debatable whether it was just...

Irina Diana Calu 20 November 2023

Art History 101

Everything You Should Know About Islamic Art

Bright colorful mosaics, stunning arches, amazing constructions in the middle of the desert, beautifully ornate calligraphy, incredible rock crystal...

Irina Diana Calu 8 October 2023

Japanese woodblock prints Asian Art

How Japanese Woodcuts Are Made

Hokusai’s Great Wave from the series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji and Hiroshige’s The Plum Garden in Kameido from One Hundred Famous Views of...

Irina Diana Calu 10 May 2023

Jacobus Vrel (act. ca. 1650-1670), A Woman at a Window Waving at a Child, Fondation Custodia, Frits Lugt Collection, Paris Artist Stories

A Dutch Mystery: Jacobus Vrel

Jacobus Vrel is a ghostly figure in art history because, up to this moment, there is almost no official data about him. No record of his existence...

Irina Diana Calu 30 May 2022

North American Art

Rothko: Eternal Symbols of Life

When you say Rothko, you think of large paintings of colorful rectangular form with frayed edges, horizontal, sometimes vertical as well, floating on...

Irina Diana Calu 9 January 2022

Museum Stories

Must-See Exhibitions: 5 Top Cities to Visit in Summer 2021

The summer is here already, and many countries are lifting their Covid restrictions. Apart from vacations, I am sure that all art lovers out there...

Irina Diana Calu 24 June 2021