Romanticism

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Abbey in the Oakwood by Caspar David Friedrich

Sadness and desolation fill this scene like an oppressive melancholy. The sun is dying behind the horizon as fog enshrouds the ground. Skeletal trees...

James W Singer 16 March 2024

Carl Gustav Carus, Woman on the Balcony, 1824, oil on canvas, Galerie Neue Meister, Dresden, Germany. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Woman on the Balcony by Carl Gustav Carus

Woman on the Balcony is an intimate portrait of a person lost in thought. There is no action and no obvious story to interpret. However, its quiet...

James W Singer 11 March 2024

Painting

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 8 March 2024

Sir Edwin Landseer, Monarch of the Glen, ca 1851, Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, UK. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Monarch of the Glen by Edwin Landseer

Monarch of the Glen by Edwin Landseer is one of the most famous British paintings of the 19th century. It is a Victorian melodrama at its most...

James W Singer 25 February 2024

A dark brown horse rears on its hind legs; an olive green background: George Stubbs, Whistlejacket, c.1762, The National Gallery, London, UK. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Whistlejacket by George Stubbs

If you visit London’s National Gallery, you can’t miss Whistlejacket. George Stubbs’ life-size, rearing stallion is visible down a...

Catriona Miller 25 February 2024

Romanticism

William Blake’s Demonic Red Dragon

William Blake was a great artist, poet and engraver of the Romantic Age. But he died penniless, scorned by his contemporaries and the art establishment. Take a look at one of his most famous works: The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in Sun.

Candy Bedworth 16 January 2024

William Blake The Ancient of Days, from Europe A Prophecy, 1794, watercolor etching, The British Museum, London, UK. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Ancient of Days by William Blake

The Ancient of Days, designed, printed, and hand colored by William Blake, was the frontispiece of his 1794 poem Europe a Prophecy. An epic...

Catriona Miller 3 January 2024

Johan Thomas Lundbye, View from Kitnæs on Roskilde Fjord, 1843, National Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: View from Kitnæs on Roskilde Fjord by Johan Thomas Lundbye

View from Kitnæs on Roskilde Fjord by Johan Thomas Lundbye is a masterpiece of 19th century Danish landscape painting. It set a new standard for the...

James W Singer 5 November 2023

Romanticism

Philipp Otto Runge: The Seer of the Mysteries of God

Philipp Otto Runge died of consumption at the same age as Christ, which to those who believe in signs might be crucial since Runge was a mystic who...

Magda Michalska 26 October 2023

Romanticism

Caspar David Friedrich in 10 Paintings

Caspar David Friedrich’s paintings changed the face of landscape painting with his intense and emotional focus on nature and he became a key member...

Zuzanna Stańska 22 October 2023

Art State of Mind

The Allure of Ruins – Architectural Decay in Art

There is a haunting beauty in architectural ruins. War or the passage of time has ravaged the magnificent feats of earlier civilizations. But in...

Maya M. Tola 11 September 2023

Artist Stories

The Mysterious Pinturas Negras Reveal Goya’s Darkest Secrets

There are already several articles that treat in detail the life and works of Francisco Goya. If you want to learn about his career or most famous...

Magda Michalska 10 September 2023