Animals

Jacques-Louis David, Napoleon Crossing the Alps, 1802, Château de Versailles, France. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Napoleon Crossing the Alps by Jacques-Louis David

Jacques-Louis David’s Napoleon Crossing the Alps is one of the most famous and politically iconic images of European art history. However, it is a...

James W Singer 26 January 2025

Print with large white hare with red eyes presented frontally on pink background. The body of a hare is rounded. Asian Art

10 Cutest Rabbits in Asian Art You Need to See (For the Lunar New Year)

In the Chinese lunisolar calendar, 2023 was the Year of the Water Rabbit. Celebrated in late January or February, the Lunar New Year (or Spring...

Ela Bobek 21 January 2025

Medieval Art

Here Be Medieval Dragons

Dragons are everywhere in popular culture. People make movies about them, collect stuffed animals of them, and dress up as them for Halloween. They...

Alexandra Kiely 16 January 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Threatened Swan by Jan Asselijn

Swans are normally characterized as graceful birds. They are magnificent and majestic. However, Jan Asselijn displays another side of these elegant...

James W Singer 5 January 2025

Animals

Franz Marc: The Painter Who Loved Horses

The German Expressionist movement had many faces. One of the most interesting ones was that of the painter Franz Marc. Marc looked to the natural...

Zuzanna Stańska 3 January 2025

North American Art

Inflating Art: Special Balloons in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade holds as much tradition in America as football, turkey and stuffing itself. Over the past 9 decades, it has only...

Rachel Witte 28 November 2024

Medieval Art

The Unicorn Tapestries – Allegory of Christ, or a Happy Husband?

The Unicorn Tapestries are a set of medieval tapestries depicting a hunt for a unicorn, a popular motif at the time. They’re probably the most...

Alexandra Kiely 4 October 2024

Anguish August Friedrich Schenck Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Anguish by August Friedrich Schenck

Surrounded by menacing crows, a mother sheep wails in anguish as her lifeless young lamb rests on a snowy bed. This scene, painted by August...

Montaine Dumont 18 September 2024

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 4 September 2024

Sir Edwin Landseer, Monarch of the Glen, ca 1851, Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, UK. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Monarch of the Glen by Edwin Landseer

Monarch of the Glen by Edwin Landseer is one of the most famous British paintings of the 19th century. It is a Victorian melodrama at its most...

James W Singer 4 September 2024

Masterpiece Stories

George Rodrigue and His Blue Dogs

Hailing from New Iberia, Louisiana, George Rodrigue gained international acclaim for painting blue dogs—his favorite subject, as well as something...

Zuzanna Stańska 4 March 2024

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 5 August 2023