Masterpiece Story: Anguish by August Friedrich Schenck
Surrounded by menacing crows, a mother sheep wails in anguish as her lifeless young lamb rests on a snowy bed. This scene, painted by August...
Montaine Dumont 20 September 2026
Academic Art
Masterpiece Story: The Obsequies of an Egyptian Cat by John Weguelin
Here is a Masterpiece Story to honor our beloved cats. The Obsequies of an Egyptian Cat by John Weguelin presents an imaginative interpretation of an...
Alexandra Kiely 7 August 2026
Powerful Women in Paintings
The female form has been revered since time immemorial and women adorn artworks of all mediums portraying all imaginable aspects of femininity. These...
Maya M. Tola 3 August 2026
Constance Mayer and Pierre Prud’hon: Better Together?
Constance Mayer (1775-1821) was one of a generation of women artists who took advantage of the new freedoms offered by the French Revolution. She...
Catriona Miller 20 July 2026
Masterpiece Story: The Roses of Heliogabalus by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema
Lust, Gluttony, and Sloth. Three of the Seven Deadly Sins are depicted in Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema’s The Roses of Heliogabalus. Many other sins are...
James W Singer 12 July 2026
Roberto Ferri: When Contemporary Art Meets Academicism
People often picture contemporary art as a mixed-media practice on current topics set apart from classic styles. However, the art of Roberto Ferri...
Errika Gerakiti 10 July 2026
Masterpiece Story: The Dessert by John F. Francis
The Dessert by John F. Francis is a masterpiece of still-life painting. Its colorful and elaborate composition reflects 19th-century American and...
James W Singer 28 May 2026
Education Matters! Women in Art Academies
From the 17th to the 19th century, art academies across Europe and America excluded women from their classrooms. Only a few of them count as...
Jimena Escoto 23 April 2026
Masterpiece Story: The Reluctant Bride by Auguste Toulmouche
Have you ever seen a bride more… angry? Should this not be the happiest day of her life? The Reluctant Bride or The Hesitant Fiancée by Auguste...
Jimena Escoto 22 March 2026
Not Your Average Portrait Show in New York—Gainsborough: The Fashion of Portraiture at the Frick
Thomas Gainsborough assembled a veritable army of portraits of “the great and the good” in Georgian Britain. And the new exhibition at the Frick...
MJ Rivera 5 March 2026
Constructing Racism in Western Art – Hans Makart and the Case of Cleopatra
When Netflix cast Black actress Adele James as Cleopatra in a docu-series on the life of the famous Egyptian queen, the world went viral in a heated...
Kero Fichter 29 December 2025
Masterpiece Story: The Tortoise Trainer by Osman Hamdi Bey
Osman Hamdi Bey’s The Tortoise Trainer shows an elderly man patiently working with a group of turtles. Drawing on his time in Paris and his...
Guest Author 13 October 2025
