Special

Art reference to Lucas Cranach’s Adam and Eve in Dark, S03E04, 2017, Netflix. Netflix. Theater & Cinema

Art in the Netflix TV Series Dark

In June 2020 Netflix released the long-awaited third and final season of Dark. The German series, co-created by Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese, has...

Arianna Richetti 17 March 2023

John Singer Sargent in atelier Artist Stories

Six Things You Might Not Know About John Singer Sargent

There’s no question that John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) was an artistic superstar. Everyone knows his most famous painting Madame X, but do...

Alexandra Kiely 16 March 2023

Rosalba Carriera, The Allegory of Music, 1712 Bavarian National Museum, Munich, Germany. Wikimedia Commons (public domain). Rococo

Rosalba Carriera: The Accomplished Pastellist

Do you know the great Rococo portraitist Rosalba Carriera? She was one of the most famous painters of the early 18th century. Carriera became known...

Maia Heguiaphal 16 March 2023

WTF Art History

Famous People and Their Doppelgängers in Art

Doppelgänger is a word of German origin (doppel- meaning “double,” and -gänger meaning “goer”). In old German folklore, it was believed...

Vithória Konzen Dill 16 March 2023

Animals

Rosa Bonheur’s Magnificent Lions and the Portrait of Wildlife

Painting animals is part of a tradition in European art dating back to the 17th century when animal-specialized painters began contributing to...

Rute Ferreira 16 March 2023

Rosa Bonheur, The Horse Fair, 1852-1855, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA. Wikimedia Commons (public domain). Animals

Masterpiece Story: The Horse Fair by Rosa Bonheur

Today’s Masterpiece Story is that of The Horse Fair by French Realist painter Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899). The Horse Fair was the undisputed star of...

Alexandra Kiely 16 March 2023

Rosa Bonheur, Sheep by the Sea, 1865, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington DC, USA Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Sheep by the Sea by Rosa Bonheur

Rosa Bonheur was one of the most famous European artists of the 19th century, and she was definitely the most celebrated female artist of her time.

James W Singer 16 March 2023

Erotica

Erotic Art in Pompeii and Herculaneum (NSFW!)

Erotic art in Pompeii and Herculaneum is a phenomenon often omitted from textbooks about ancient history. These famous Roman cities destroyed by the...

Zuzanna Stańska 15 March 2023

Frederic Edwin Church aurora borealis: Frederic Edwin Church, Aurora Borealis, 1865, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC, USA. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Aurora Borealis by Frederic Edwin Church

Aurora Borealis is an American national treasure. It explores the relationship between the land, its viewer, and its destiny. It is a masterpiece of...

James W Singer 14 March 2023

Artist Stories

Meet Harald Sohlberg, A Solitary Genius

Harald Sohlberg was a Norwegian painter whose works can be described as Neo-Romantic. He is particularly known for his depictions of the mountains of...

Zuzanna Stańska 14 March 2023

Art History 101

The Complicated History of Norse Mythology in Art

Literally speaking, mythology is an old-school kind of storytelling. “Mythos” is a Greek word for “story” while “logia” means...

Lana Pajdas 14 March 2023

Feathers in Pre-Columbian Art:Juan Bautista Cuiris, Portrait of Christ, 1950s, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Detail. South American Art

All the Fuss and Feathers in Pre-Columbian Art

Artisans in pre-Columbian and colonial Mexico, as in Peru, used feathers to create exquisite adornments for nobles, fancy textiles for the elite, and...

Alicja Gluszek 13 March 2023