Special

The Duchess of Alba and "la Beata" painted by Francisco Goya, 1795 Artist Stories

The Story Of Duchess of Alba – Francisco de Goya’s Muse

Few women in 18th-century Spain captured the imagination of contemporaries as thoroughly as Doña María de Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva Álvarez...

Zuzanna Stańska 1 July 2023

Review

On Ugliness by Umberto Eco – A Sublime Journey Through Horrid Texts and Faces of the Western World

This book stood on one of my shelves for far too long. The compelling ugliness of its cover attracted me each time I longingly glanced at it. Now...

Giordana Goretti 26 June 2023

South American Art

Djanira da Motta e Silva: Gentle Documentalist of Brazilian Life

Djanira da Motta e Silva (1914-1979) was born in a very humble family, in Avare, São Paulo state in Brazil. She started to paint in her twenties...

Alicja Gluszek 19 June 2023

Women Artists

Lygia Pape and Neo-Concretism: Art Is an Experience

Breaking with all the patterns of what had been art in Latin America up to then, Lygia Pape with Grupo Frente created a unique Brazilian artistic...

Dévra Taboada 19 June 2023

Women Artists

Violeta Parra, The First Latin American in the Louvre Palace

In April 1964 the Musée des Arts décoratifs in the north-western wing of the Louvre Palace hosted an extraordinary exhibition that went down in...

Magda Michalska 19 June 2023

Painting

The Dog Days Are Coming – 10 Beaches in Art for Summer Time

In the Northern Hemisphere, we will soon reach the height of summer. The time between 3 July and 11 August is also known as “the dog days.” And...

Joanna Kaszubowska 18 June 2023

Artist Stories

Did Goya Make a Career?

Goya’s paintings are often disturbing and very very dark. It’s because his activity coincided with the last period of the Enlightenment, the...

Magda Michalska 17 June 2023

Artist Stories

Francisco Goya: The First Modernist?

Renowned as one of the most influential Spanish artists, Francisco Goya’s artistic prowess continues to bewitch and intrigue art enthusiasts...

Wendy Gray 17 June 2023

WTF Art History

Wind in Paintings for a Breath of Fresh Air

Have you ever thought of the wind in a painting? How to capture something you can’t really see? It either reflects on the sitters or the...

Magda Michalska 15 June 2023

Architecture

The Louvre Pyramid and 5 Other Museums Designed by I. M. Pei

Ieoh Ming Pei (貝聿銘), known as I. M. Pei (1917-2019) was a Chinese American modernist architect with international acclaim. Exciting for art...

Isla Phillips-Ewen 8 June 2023

Artist Stories

A Song and a Prayer – Croatia’s Ivan Mestrovic

My favorite thing about Instagram is coming across new art and artists – scrolling and finding things that excite you and catch your eye. A...

Nadine Waldmann 7 June 2023

Art State of Mind

Why Is St Sebastian a Gay Icon?

One may think that Christian saints have little in common with gay culture, but there is an exception to every rule. If you see a handsome guy in his...

Magda Michalska 1 June 2023