Regions

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

Painting

Together Apart: Kandinsky and Malevich’s Paths to Abstraction

Though Kandinsky and Malevich came from different backgrounds, their paths converged in shaping the Russian avant-garde. Each developed a radically...

Catherine Razafindralambo 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

Asian Art

Yūrei-zu: Japanese Horror in Art

Some Asian cultures are notorious for their rich horror culture, showcasing exceptional horror movies and artistic expressions that continually...

Errika Gerakiti 5 November 2025

Ishikawa Toyonobu, Tomoe Gozen Killing Uchida Saburo Ieyoshi at the Battle of Awazu no Hara, ca. 1750, woodblock print, ink and color on paper. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA. Asian Art

Onna-Musha: The Female Samurai Warriors

Feudal Japan experienced many social upheavals and turbulences. This highlighted the need to be combat-ready for everyone, including women. Hence,...

Errika Gerakiti 5 November 2025

Asian Art

10 Incredible Japanese Woodblock Prints You Need to See

Step into the captivating world of Japanese woodblock prints, where intricate designs and vibrant colors combine to tell stories of tradition,...

Joanna Kaszubowska 5 November 2025

Asian Art

Japan’s Greatest Masterpiece: (Thirty) Six Views of Mount Fuji by Hokusai

Everyone knows The Great Wave off Kanagawa, the print created by the Japanese ukiyo-e artist Katsushika Hokusai. But not everyone knows that The...

Zuzanna Stańska 5 November 2025

Erotica

All You Must Know About Japanese Erotic Art, Shunga

Ukiyo-e art, pictures of the “floating world,” are famous among those interested in art history. Everyone knows Hokusai’s Great Wave. Ukiyo-e...

Zuzanna Stańska 5 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