Art Forms

Artist Stories

Diego Rivera’s Life in Self-Portraits

Diego Rivera is mostly famous for his controversial mural for the Rockefeller family and for being the husband of Frida Kahlo. Yet in his lifetime,...

Magda Michalska 9 December 2024

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

History

Diego Rivera: The Controversial Story of Man at the Crossroads

At the suggestion of his mother, Nelson Rockefeller commissioned Diego Rivera, a passionate Mexican socialist artist, to paint the mural that was...

Ruxi Rusu 9 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

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

History

Yes, Santa Claus Is Real! His Name Is St. Nicholas

Who dressed in winter robes, bestowed gifts under the cover of night, and became a hero to children? This describes Nicholas of Myra, a Middle...

Helen Jeffery 6 December 2024

History

Vintage Claus Is Coming to Town

Today is Saint Nicholas Day, a holiday children across the world love because they get little treats if they are good (look up the Dutch version of...

Magda Michalska 6 December 2024

North American Art

Haddon Sundblom: The Artist Behind the Coca-Cola Santa Claus

Various illustrated depictions of the old St. Nicholas, or Bishop of Myra, have existed for centuries, bringing to life his story. Yet, in the end,...

Maria Frazzoni 6 December 2024

North American Art

Ed Wheeler’s Santa Classics: Santa Claus and Masterpieces

Photographer Ed Wheeler has been dressing up as Santa Claus for years and posing in hilarious compositions. He started over  20 years ago with...

Zuzanna Stańska 6 December 2024

winter landscape paintings Camille Pissarro, The Louvre Under Snow, 1902, The National Gallery, London, UK. Painting

Baby, It’s Cold Outside: 7 Snowy Landscape Paintings to Enjoy

Snow. You either love it or hate it. Are you able to picture a fresh snowfall in your mind? Or is it falling outside your window as you read this...

Rachel Witte 5 December 2024