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

20th century

Picasso’s Favourite Instrument…
By Magda MichalskaSeptember 26, 2016
That’s pretty obvious – it’s a guitar! (whoever had any dirty thoughts given the title, go to read about emotions first). It’s probably the most significant instrument for Cubism or even for the entire modern art. It...
Artists' Stories

Suzanne Valadon: The Mistress Of Montmartre
By Magda MichalskaSeptember 23, 2016
She started as a model because she didn’t have money for professional painting classes. She would watch the artists for whom she worked, such as Henri de Tolouse-Lautrec or Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and follow their moves and...
Food

Click Here If You’re On A Diet And Craving Something Sweet
By Magda MichalskaSeptember 22, 2016
I’ve decided – I’m going on a diet. Another one. And this time I’m going to stick to it, honestly! In order to survive, because I have a terrible sweet tooth, I’ve prepared something I can...
Bodies And Erotic Art

Yoko Ono’s Performance You Can Recreate At Home
By Magda MichalskaSeptember 19, 2016
Yoko Ono is not only the wife of late John Lennon. Primarily she is an artist and performer. One of her most famous performances was Cut Piece, first staged on July 20, 1964 at Yamaichi Concert Hall, Kyoto. Ono,...
21st century

Nudes With Eating Disorders
By Magda MichalskaSeptember 18, 2016
To follow up my post about body images and body positivity, I want to show you a touching campaign from a few years ago. The well known nudes from art were remade in order to show...
20th century

How To Become A Surrealist – A Manual to Psychic Automatism
By Magda MichalskaSeptember 17, 2016
In 1924, André Breton defined a completely new word – Surrealism- in his First Manifesto of Surrealism. It was not a trend in art or literature, it was a way of life, he explained. Basing on his dictionary-like entry...
21st century

A Party With The YBAs (BYOB, We Provide Only Formaldehyde)
By Magda MichalskaSeptember 13, 2016
The acronym YBA is probably my third favourite after BYOB and ASAP (I like NASA, too). Have you come across it? It was created in the early nineties to describe a loose group of British Artists who shared a...
Just Weird

Sports fan? These 7 Historical Posters Show That Olympic Games Are Not Over Yet
By Magda MichalskaSeptember 12, 2016
We thought we’d overslept the Olympic Games in Rio this summer… But there are Paraolympic Games going on so there is still a reason to celebrate the magic of sport! Let’s unveil our selection of precious...
21st century

September To Remember – 9/11 Tribute
By Magda MichalskaSeptember 11, 2016
It’s been 15 years already. They jumped from the burning floors— one, two, a few more, higher, lower. The photograph halted them in life, and now keeps them above the earth toward the earth. Each...
Bodies And Erotic Art

Breastfeeding in Public Paintings Allowed Here!
By Magda MichalskaSeptember 10, 2016
Breastfeeding in public recurs in the public debate from time to time. Whether it’s legal, ethical, aesthetic… Well, no matter if you’re a mother, a hungry baby or an annoyed passerby, these paintings are showing that...