Magda Michalska

Magda, art historian and Italianist, she writes about art because she cannot make it herself. She loves committed and political artists like Ai Weiwei or the Futurists; like Joseph Beuys she believes that art can change us and we can change the world.

Stories By Magda Michalska

Architecture

These Churches Will Make You Believe In God

By Magda MichalskaJuly 22, 2016

Churches are fascinating buildings where time seems to stand still. Allow to be led by the smell of incense into the dark Gothic interiors. Watch out for chimera statues! Sagrada Familia in Barcelona Sagrada Familia...
Baroque

Vermeer’s Desperate Housewives

By Magda MichalskaJuly 20, 2016

Johannes Vermeer was a master of ambiguity. His silent and calm interiors, and beautiful Dutch women, although innocent at the first gaze, seem to be hiding more than one secret. Alcohol This woman has had too much...
History

Guns, Fire and Blood: Paintings For Our Uncertain Times

By Magda MichalskaJuly 18, 2016

Art and politics have always been closely interrelated. Artists documented the events or narrated them, often manipulating the truth. Art is full of propaganda, protest and revolution. In the times of political turmoil all over the...
Animals

Puppies, Doggies And Pugs (For Dog Lovers Only!)

By Magda MichalskaJuly 17, 2016

Dogs are man’s best friends. And if a man happens to be a painter or a sitter for a painting, they must be included too. In the end, they are our most dedicated companions. Meet the dogs...
Bodies And Erotic Art

Bumcheeks, Hats And Other Fetishes of Florentine Sculpturers (All Related to David)

By Magda MichalskaJuly 16, 2016

Sculpturers from Florence loved the biblical story about David, an adolescent boy who would win a duel by killing a giant Goliath using just a sling. Why? Did they just love to mould young boys’ shapes, however dirty it...
Food

Come Dine With Art History: See What It Has Cooked For You

By Magda MichalskaJuly 14, 2016

Socrates said that we eat to live, not live to eat (although his wife must have thought differently since according to the legend she was terribly fat). Well, even if ‘be, or not to be’ can...
Nature

5 Gardens That Would Make Every Greenfingered Gardener Envious

By Magda MichalskaJuly 12, 2016

Doesn’t matter if you have a garden, a balcony, a terrace, or just a window sill on which you keep a small cactus. These gardens are like nothing you’ve seen before. Prepare for a thrust of...
Seasons

When The Days Get Too Sunny…

By Magda MichalskaJuly 9, 2016

… it’s time for the umbrellas! Check out these 5 beautiful pieces of art that feature rain (and umbrellas occasionally). 1. Gustave Caillebotte, Paris Street, Rainy Day, 1877 This is probably the most famous work of . He...
Bodies And Erotic Art

8 Paintings That Will Make You Feel Better About Your Body

By Magda MichalskaJuly 9, 2016

If you happen to feel negative about your body size, your weight or your shape from time to time (or at all times, like me), have a look at these paintings. They will hopefully show you...
Just Weird

Can You Spot A Rubber Duck? Bathing In Art History

By Magda MichalskaJuly 8, 2016

Even before rubber ducks were invented, people had loved bathing. And they loved to peep at others bathe. Nothing’s changed, soap operas are still in fashion 😉 1. Paul Cezanne, The Large Bathers worked on this painting for 7...