Art Movements

Mary Cassatt, In the Loge, 1878, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA. Detail. Women Artists

Mary Cassatt: The Story of the American Impressionist

Mary Cassatt was an American painter and printmaker who developed her skills by studying, working, and living in France. She was one of only three...

Marija Canjuga 7 November 2025

Baroque

Caravaggio in 10 Paintings

Caravaggio is one of the best-known Italian Baroque painters of his time. Seen through his characteristically naturalistic style, his paintings...

Anna Ingram 7 November 2025

tenebrism: Gerard van Honthorst, The Procuress, 1625, Centraal Museum, Utrecht, The Netherlands. Art History 101

Tenebrism 101: All You Need to Know

The Baroque movement, which characterizes much of the European art of the 17th century, is known for its dramatic flair. Gods, demigods, and saints...

Anastasia Manioudaki 7 November 2025

Painting

Mary Magdalene in Candlelight by Georges de La Tour

In the 17th century, Mary Magdalene was a popular subject in art, symbolizing sin, repentance, and redemption. Georges de La Tour, the French Baroque...

Guest Author 7 November 2025

Baroque

Francisco de Zurbarán: The Spanish Caravaggio

Francisco de Zurbarán was one of the major Spanish painters of the 17th century. He is especially known for his religious subjects and for the...

Vithória Konzen Dill 7 November 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Judith Slaying Holofernes by Artemisia Gentileschi

Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–1656) was the most accomplished female painter of the Italian Baroque. She specialized in Biblical scenes of strong...

James W Singer 7 November 2025

Women Artists

The Polka Dot Queen: Yayoi Kusama Through 10 Artworks

Yayoi Kusama, often referred to as the Queen of Polka Dots, is a pioneering feminist artist, sculptor, performer, and much more—all embodied in one...

Katerina Papouliou 6 November 2025

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, At the Moulin Rouge, The Dance, 1890, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: At the Moulin Rouge, The Dance by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Tonight the Moulin Rouge is bursting at the seams. Men in dark coats and distinguished women dance and converse on the buzzing floor. Each has a...

Ruxi Rusu 6 November 2025

Post-Impressionism

In a Cabaret with Toulouse-Lautrec’s Posters

On the outskirts of Paris, a working-class district with cabarets and dance halls called Montmartre became the bohemian center of the city.

Magda Michalska 6 November 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Aristide Bruant in His Cabaret by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

In the 1890s, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was part of a group of young avant-garde artists whose color lithography served as a vehicle for innovative...

Zuzanna Stańska 6 November 2025

manet bar at the folies bergere Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: A Bar at the Folies-Bergère by Édouard Manet

A Bar at the Folies-Bergère is considered Édouard Manet’s last major painting. Presented in the Paris Salon of 1882, just a year before the...

Anastasia Manioudaki 6 November 2025

Artist Stories

Powerful or Problematic? Robert Mapplethorpe’s Photographs

Photographer Robert Mapplethorpe shocked the world with his images of bondage, gay sex, female bodybuilders and naked black men. Technically brilliant or politically problematic, what do you think?

Candy Bedworth, Guest Author 4 November 2025