Academic Art

Masterpiece Stories

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 21 January 2024

A person looking at the empty painting frame. Museum Stories

Art Crimes: What Is Artnapping?

It can be quite surprising to consider art as one of the items moved in the world’s black-market economy, alongside some of the more expected...

Nikolina Konjevod 11 January 2024

Artist Stories

Osman Hamdi: The First and Last Ottoman Orientalist

The first and last Orientalist painter of the Ottoman Empire is Osman Hamdi Bey. Born in modern-day Turkey, educated in Paris, and highly regarded as...

Irina Diana Calu 11 December 2023

Hubert Robert, Roman Ruins, ca. 1776. Musée des Beaux-Arts de la ville de Paris, Paris, France. Wikimedia Commons (public domain). Academic Art

Robert of the Ruins: Idealized Ruins by Hubert Robert

Hubert Robert was an immensely popular French painter from the 18th century best known for his skillful landscapes, particularly his landscapes that...

Maya M. Tola 11 September 2023

Artist Stories

Life and Art of José Ferraz de Almeida Júnior

José Ferraz de Almeida Júnior (1850–1899) was a popular Brazilian artist from the late 19th century. His commendable paintings paved the...

Maya M. Tola 30 March 2023

Academic Art

The Naked Truth About Nudes in Academic Art

Academicism was the dominant style in European art in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was called so because it was dictated by the French Academy of...

Magda Michalska 21 February 2023

Artist Stories

An Orientalist from the Orient: Theodoros Rallis

Not every Orientalist painter journeyed to the Orient or the Levant to observe and interact with the socio-cultural fabric they intended to portray...

Erol Degirmenci 3 November 2022

Academic Art

Portrayal of an Abandoned Hero: Philoctetes

How would you feel if your friends abandoned you on an uninhabited island with a limited amount of food and no shelter just because you were injured?...

Erol Degirmenci 30 August 2022

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Leonidas at Thermopylae by Jacques-Louis David

Whether you are within an academic environment or at a coffee shop, when the term “Neoclassicism” and its huge influence on the visual arts...

Erol Degirmenci 30 August 2022

Women Artists

Amélie Beaury-Saurel: The Incredible Life and Works

A true femme fatale in the art world, Amélie Beaury-Saurel was a French painter in the 19th century and a prominent member of Académie Julian. At...

Ruxi Rusu 8 August 2022

Atala. Luis Monroy Josué, Last Moments of Atala, 1871,Museo Nacional de Arte, Mexico City, Mexico. Literature

Atala: The Tragedy that Transcended Pages

In the 19th century, Europeans went crazy for one story: Atala, or the Story of Two Lovers in the Desert. It is a novel by René de Chateaubriand...

Jimena Escoto 3 January 2022

Museum Stories

Highlights of the Clark Art Institute

The Clark Art Institute, often referred to as “The Clark,” was founded in 1950 to house the extensive art collection of Sterling and Francine...

Anastasia Manioudaki 15 October 2020