Art Forms

Photography

Capturing Light: The Pioneers of Photography in France

It all officially began in 1839 in two countries at the same time: in the UK, the Royal Academy announced the discovery of a method of capturing...

Magda Michalska 20 December 2022

Photography

5 Swedish Pioneering Female Photographers You Should Know

Mainstream history often overlooks women’s contributions. That’s why the fact that in Scandinavian countries, women took up photography as a...

Europeana 20 December 2022

Pop-up books: Carol Barton, Five Luminous Towers: A Book to be Read in the Dark, 2001, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC, USA. Photo by Lee Stalsworth. History

The Surprising History of Pop-Up Books

If I say pop-up book, you might think of a kid’s story time. But think again, dear friends. Originally, pop-up books were made for adults:...

Candy Bedworth 19 December 2022

Painting

Paintings for Hanukkah

December is not just about Christmas, it is also about the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. It is an eight-day, wintertime “festival of lights” which...

Magda Michalska 19 December 2022

History

Jacob Lawrence and the Great Migration

As a child of the Great Migration, Jacob Lawrence was well placed to undertake such a mammoth task in detailing the journey from the rural South that...

Wendy Gray 18 December 2022

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Last of England by Ford Madox Brown

Ford Madox Brown explores the psychological and emotional hardships faced by emigrants in The Last of England. Let us explore a Brown masterpiece.

James W Singer 18 December 2022

Symbolism

Odilon Redon’s World of Darkness

The Balloon-Eye, The Crying Spider, The Cactus Man, The Cyclops… This is not a list of creatures from some horror movie. These are paintings...

Zuzanna Stańska 17 December 2022

Art History 101

Les Nabis 101

“Nabis” in Hebrew means “prophets.” In the Fall of 1888, a group of students at the Parisian Académie Julian disappointed with the strict...

Magda Michalska 17 December 2022

Marlene Dumas, Betrayal, 1994, private collection, courtesy of David Zwirner, New York. Installation view, Marlene Dumas. open-end at Palazzo Grassi, 2022. Photo by Marco Cappelletti con Filippo Rossi © Palazzo Grassi © Marlene Dumas. Women Artists

The Sublimity of Marlene Dumas’ Portraits in Venice

On view until January 8, 2023, the exhibition Open-End, curated by Caroline Bourgeois for Palazzo Grassi in Venice, is a kaleidoscope of faces and...

Carlotta Mazzoli 15 December 2022

Ancient Egypt

Egypt and Berlin’s Icon: The Bust of Queen Nefertiti

The bust of Queen Nefertiti housed in Berlin’s Neues Museum is one of Ancient Egypt’s most famous works of art. A prime example of ancient...

Nadine Waldmann 14 December 2022

Ancient Art

How to Show Up in a Gym – 3 Ancient Sculptures of Hercules

In Greek mythology, Herakles was a demigod and a much admired heroic figure. The Romans called him Hercules (Herakles was his Greek name) and he was...

Ameera Patel 14 December 2022

Photography

Edvard Munch’s Life in Photos

Naturally, Edvard Munch is best known for his paintings. However, he was also one of the first of the generation of painters who dabbled in amateur...

Zuzanna Stańska 12 December 2022