Regions

Love Story

Paint Me Like One of Your French Girls: The Life and Business of Agostina Segatori

Agostina Segatori’s face is most widely recognized in the works of famous artists between 1860 and 1887. Her Italian features inspired many...

Yasmin Ozkan 22 October 2024

Love Story

Flaming June or Dorothy Dene? A Muse of Frederic Leighton

In 1879, Frederic Leighton’s biographer and neighbor (that’s handy, isn’t it?), Mrs. Barrington, noticed “a young girl with a lovely white...

Magda Michalska 22 October 2024

Wang Ximeng, One Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains, Song dynasty, 1113, ink and color on silk scroll, Palace Museum, Beijing, China. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: One Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains by Wang Ximeng

Wang Ximeng’s One Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains is a masterpiece of the Northern Song dynasty and of the larger history of traditional...

James W Singer 21 October 2024

Artist Stories

Between Word and Image: The Creative Mind of David Jones

David Jones (1895–1974) was an artist, poet, writer and craftsman; a name synonymous with the Modernist era but one that still remains lesser known...

Guest Author 21 October 2024

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 21 October 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Travelers Among Mountains and Streams by Fan Kuan

The Song dynasty ruled China for over three centuries from 960 to 1279. At this time, Song China was the most technologically advanced society in the...

James W Singer 21 October 2024

Love Story

Masterpiece Story: Beata Beatrix by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Read the story of Beata Beatrix by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, one of the key members of the Pre-Raphaelites movement. Discover the fascinating meanings...

Bolor Jargalsaikhan 20 October 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse

Elaine, the white lady of Shalott, was portrayed in a painting by John William Waterhouse escaping a tower where she was only able to see the world...

Guest Author 20 October 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Ophelia by John Everett Millais

Here she is, Ophelia from Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, gracefully descending into a stream while collecting wildflowers. Overwhelmed by grief...

Zuzanna Stańska 20 October 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Miranda by John William Waterhouse

The subject of this eerie painting by John William Waterhouse is Miranda, a character from William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. She was detained on...

Guest Author 20 October 2024

Queen Nefertari & Goddess Isis, New Kingdom, Dynasty 19, ca 1279-1213 BCE, pigment on plaster, QV66 Tomb of Nefertari, Valley of the Queens, Luxor, Egypt. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Queen Nefertari and Goddess Isis

Queen Nefertari and Goddess Isis is a fabulous masterpiece of ancient Egyptian art. The wall painting in the queen’s tomb captures the dream of...

James W Singer 18 October 2024

Ancient Egypt

The Bust of Nefertiti: Ancient Masterpiece or Genius Hoax?

On December 6, 1912, a team of excavators from the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft, led by Ludwig Borchardt, unearthed a wonderful work of art. They...

Montaine Dumont 18 October 2024