Painting

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 28 August 2023

Jane Morris Love Story

Jane Morris: A Pre-Raphaelite Artist and Muse

Jane Morris (1839-1914) was an English embroiderer and artists’ model who embodied the Pre-Raphaelite ideal of beauty. She was a model and muse to...

Marija Canjuga 28 August 2023

Mannerism

The Fantasy World of Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s Portraits

Giuseppe Arcimboldo was the king of Mannerism. If you see a portrait made of plants, vegetables, books, animals and generally speaking, stuff – you...

Zuzanna Stańska 28 August 2023

John Everett Millais, Mariana, 1851, Tate Britain, London, UK. Literature

Literature in the Pre-Raphaelite Paintings

From its very inception, subjects taken from the literature were a staple for the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Shakespeare, Keats, and Tennyson were...

Anastasia Manioudaki 28 August 2023

WTF Art History

The Pre-Raphaelites and the Wombat

Many people are obsessed with cute cats, penguins, pandas, koalas, and all sorts of animals. However one rarely hears about the wombat, especially in...

Joanna Kaszubowska 28 August 2023

Women Artists

5 Women Artists Whose Works Were Misattributed to Men

“Why have there been no great women artists?” continues to be a question that pops up all too often. The response can be succinctly...

Anastasia Tsaleza 28 August 2023

Art History 101

10 Things You Should Know About the Pre-Raphaelites

Just about all of us have a tiny inkling about Impressionism, the Renaissance, maybe even Expressionism, and what makes each movement different from...

Abreeza Thomas 28 August 2023

Venice in art: Claude Monet, Grand Canal, Venice, 1908, Museum of Fine Arts,Boston Art Travels

Venice by Famous Artists

Venice is hands down one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Every nook and cranny looks like a theater or a movie set. It is no wonder that...

Anastasia Manioudaki 27 August 2023

Bizarre

The Elephant in the Church and Other Curious Stories of Venice

With its maze of narrow streets, bridges, and canals linking its splendid architecture and art, Venice is beautiful. It is worth exploring and a...

Marina Kochetkova 27 August 2023

Animals

Art’s Best Friend: Dogs in Paintings

No one will ever be as happy to see you coming back home as your dog. Since they are always with us, they do deserve their own place in art. And they...

Joanna Kaszubowska 26 August 2023

Animals

Thomas Gainsborough and His Dog Portraits

Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) was a portrait and landscape painter. During his career, he often painted dogs accompanying his sitters. He always...

Joanna Kaszubowska 26 August 2023

Leonora Carrington, Self-portrait, 1938-1939, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA. Detail. Surrealism

Leonora Carrington and Her Surrealist Life in Her Own Words

Leonora Carrington (1917-2011) is considered one of the greatest but most neglected British Surrealists. Her life story is a fascinating one: she...

Magda Michalska 25 August 2023