European Art

Art History 101

The Most Pioneering Painters of the Venetian Renaissance

The Venetian School refers to the painters of the Venetian Renaissance. It developed in Venice in the late 15th century and lasted until around 1580.

Charlotte Stace 5 March 2024

Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Empress Elisabeth of Austria (detail), 1865. Oil on canvas. The Hofburg Palace, Vienna, Austria. Herstory

Empress Sisi: What Art Doesn’t Show Us

Elizabeth of Austria, more commonly known as Sisi, was Empress of the Austrian-Habsburg Empire from 1854 until 1898. Captivating paintings and...

Errika Gerakiti 4 March 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Vision After the Sermon by Paul Gauguin

Paul Gauguin’s Vision after the Sermon is one of the most important works in the artist’s oeuvre. Painted in Brittany, its rich symbolism...

Zuzanna Stańska 4 March 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Saint George and the Dragon

There is a skirmish between the hero and the villain. Fabrics whip about, horse hoofs trample, and a dying scream erupts as Saint George slaughters...

James W Singer 4 March 2024

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 4 March 2024

Theater & Cinema

Dreams That Money Can Buy? Dadaist Cinema at Its Best

Dreams That Money Can Buy (1947) is a Dadaist portmanteau movie, an unknown cinematographic masterpiece combining surrealistic and experimental...

Caroline Galambosova 4 March 2024

Alexandre Cabanel, Cleopatra, 1887, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp, Belgium. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Cleopatra by Alexandre Cabanel

Queen Cleopatra is a popular subject today – as she was in the late 19th century. Alexandre Cabanel’s Cleopatra explores a single moment of her...

James W Singer 3 March 2024

Sculpture

A Visit to Anish Kapoor’s Studio

Anish Kapoor is one of the most prolific and influential sculptors of his generation. He is best known for his public installations which combine...

Zuzanna Stańska 2 March 2024

Expressionism

5 Expressionist Artists You Should Know

The purpose of art for a group of avant-garde individuals at the turn of the 20th century was no longer the realistic rendition of the natural world,...

Guest Profile 29 February 2024

Sofonisba Anguissola, Self-Portrait Painting the Madonna, 1556, 66 x 57 cm, Lancut Museum, Poland. ArtStor digital library. Women Artists

Sofonisba Anguissola: The Life of a Rule-Breaker Painter

During the Italian Renaissance, women artists did not have the same access to artistic education as men. Sofonisba Anguissola, however, was very...

Nina Relf 29 February 2024

Bizarre

14 Weirdest Paintings by René Magritte

I love to watch people looking at his art for the first time. René Magritte’s art became well-known for a number of witty and thought-provoking...

Zuzanna Stańska 29 February 2024

WTF Art History

5 Weird Portraits from Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna

The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, one of the foremost museums in the world, owns rich holdings comprising artworks from seven millennia –...

Zuzanna Stańska 29 February 2024