European Art

Contemporary Art

How Roman Opałka Envisioned Infinity

In 1965 a French-born Polish painter Roman Opałka came to an important decision. While sitting at the Café Bristol in Warsaw waiting for his wife...

Caroline Galambosova 30 January 2023

Jan van Eyck, The Arnolfini Portrait (detail), 1434, The National Gallery, London, England. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck

The Arnolfini Portrait is as enigmatic as it is iconic. Painted by Jan van Eyck in 1434, it spawns a lot of speculation – over half a millennium...

Vithória Konzen Dill 29 January 2023

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Madame de Pompadour by François Boucher

François Boucher (1703–1770) was the most celebrated French painter of the 18th century. His painting Madame de Pompadour captures the beautiful...

James W Singer 29 January 2023

Surrealism

Erna Rosenstein – Surrealist in the Country Where the Movement Didn’t Exist

Erna Rosenstein was born Jewish. This fact weighed on her whole life because Rosenstein’s family lived in Lviv, Ukraine, and to complicate things...

Magda Michalska 27 January 2023

Women Artists

Rebecca Solomon: Success and Prejudice in the Victorian World

Rebecca Solomon was a Jewish woman who overcame contemporary prejudices to become a successful artist in mid-Victorian London. In 2022, Princeton...

Catriona Miller 27 January 2023

Artist Stories

Broncia Koller-Pinell: An Artist Lost to Time

If you are like me, it is entirely probable that you have never heard of Broncia Koller-Pinell (1863–1934). It has nothing to do with the quality...

Rachel Witte 27 January 2023

Yves Klein, Peinture de Feu sans titre, 1961 Artist Stories

7 Not Just Blue Masterpieces by Yves Klein

Although he only lived 34 years, it could seem that Yves Klein lived more than one life. This French artist initially devoted himself to the...

Camilla de Laurentis 26 January 2023

Women Artists

Outside the Bloomsbury Group: Dora Carrington

The members of the British art and literature group commonly known as The Bloomsbury Group came and went; love triangles, professional relationships,...

Wendy Gray 25 January 2023

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Portrait of Virginia Woolf by Vanessa Bell

Rebellious, creative and productive. Three of the so many adjectives to depict the two very intelligent artists sisters Vanessa Bell and Virginia...

Merve Parla 25 January 2023

Amedeo Modigliani, Jeanne Hébuterne, 1919 Love Story

The Tragic Story of Jeanne Hébuterne and Modigliani

Jeanne Hébuterne is best known for being a frequent sitter and common-law wife of the Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani. However, the story of her...

Zuzanna Stańska 24 January 2023

Amedeo Modigliani, Reclining Nude, 1917, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Erotica

Amedeo Modigliani and His Nude Series

Amedeo Modigliani has always been one of my favorite portraitists because of his delicate lines with which he masterfully rendered the deepest depths...

Magda Michalska 24 January 2023

Painting

The History of Amedeo Modigliani’s Portraits

Amedeo Modigliani painted so many portraits of women – especially nude ones – that people began to see him as a reckless playboy, an image that...

Pola Otterstein 24 January 2023