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Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Little Girl in a Blue Armchair by Mary Cassatt

Mary Stevenson Cassatt was an American painter and printmaker. She lived much of her adult life in France, where she became friends with Edgar Degas...

Zuzanna Stańska 15 October 2025

Painting

Cute Babies in Art: From Rubens to Cassatt and Van Gogh

Who doesn’t like a cute baby? Lucky for us, history is full of cute babies in art. And while we could dedicate one whole article to babies in Mary...

Rachel Witte 15 October 2025

Women Artists

Maria Sibylla Merian—An Artist Who Changed Science Forever

In the 17th century, it has been widely believed that insects were just spontaneously born of mud, dirt, or rotting flesh, but that notion has been...

Nicole Ganbold 14 October 2025

Medieval Art

Nun, Scientist, Artist, Saint: Meet Hildegard von Bingen

Saint Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179), also known as the Sybil of the Rhine, is one of the most renowned figures from the European Middle Ages. She...

Iolanda Munck 14 October 2025

Painting

Art and Science in Vermeer Paintings

As a scientist, I have always been attracted to images of science in works of art—whether a portrait of Newton, a depiction of Galileo using his...

Tom Anderson 14 October 2025

Painting

10 Artists Who Painted Other Artists

Artists often paint portraits of their peers as gestures of admiration, friendship, or artistic dialogue. These works reveal more than stylistic...

Katerina Papouliou 13 October 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Tortoise Trainer by Osman Hamdi Bey

Osman Hamdi Bey’s The Tortoise Trainer shows an elderly man patiently working with a group of turtles. Drawing on his time in Paris and his...

Guest Author 13 October 2025

Women Artists

Agnes Martin: Grids, Silence, and the Language of Abstraction

Agnes Martin, often labeled a Minimalist, created serene grids and subtle abstractions that extended far beyond formal reduction. Her work, rooted in...

Carlotta Mazzoli 13 October 2025

Women Artists

Documenting the Internment Experience: Miné Okubo and Citizen 13660

Shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack, thousands of Japanese Americans were forcibly placed in concentration camps. Artist Miné Okubo was in two of...

Lauren Kraut 13 October 2025

Women Artists

Making Something Beautiful: An Introduction to Inuit Artist Kenojuak Ashevak

Kenojuak Ashevak (1927–2013) is the most globally recognized Inuit artist. Pioneering the way, she was among the first Inuit artists to garner...

Iolanda Munck 13 October 2025

Women Artists

Art for Climate Change: Emily Carr, Odds and Ends

Art has always had the power to communicate all kinds of emotions; some paintings convey a sense of peace and quiet, while others can make us feel...

Arianna Richetti 13 October 2025

Vincent van Gogh, Wheatfield with Cypresses, 1889, National Gallery, London, UK. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Wheatfield with Cypresses by Vincent van Gogh

Wheatfield with Cypresses expresses the emotional intensity that has become the trademark of Vincent van Gogh’s signature style. Let’s delve...

James W Singer 12 October 2025