Artist Stories

Artist Stories

Lili Elbe – The First Known Transgender Female Artist

Lili Elbe – born Einar Wegener – was a Danish landscape painter of the early 20th century and the first known transgender woman in arts. She was...

Pola Otterstein 11 October 2023

Artist Stories

Frida Kahlo: The Suffering Behind Her Paintings

The image of Frida Kahlo has become very popular in our society: we can find her face or artworks on colorful and bright t-shirts, earrings, cups,...

Arianna Richetti 10 October 2023

Artist Stories

Art Saved My Life! An Alternative Look at Vincent van Gogh’s Mental Health

Post-Impressionist Vincent van Gogh is as famous for his mysterious death as for his iconic and expressive use of line and color. Did unbridled...

Candy Bedworth 10 October 2023

Horace Pippin: Horace Pippin, The Park Bench, Artist Stories

How Art Saved His Life: Story of Horace Pippin

It took Horace Pippin 43 years to complete his first oil painting. Why so long? Because poverty, hard physical work, war, and disabilities got in his...

Magda Michalska 10 October 2023

Women Artists

Augusta Savage: The Woman Who Defined 20th-Century Sculpture

Augusta Savage was a sculptress whose name is often missing from the list of illustrious Harlem Renaissance artists. Throughout her life, she merged...

Anastasia Tsaleza 9 October 2023

Love Story

A Capri Romance: John Singer Sargent and Rosina Ferarra

We are all dreaming of summer holidays, long walks along beaches, toes in the sand, and the sound of the waves crashing against the shore. Perhaps...

Charlotte Stace 7 October 2023

Surrealism

Marion Adnams: A Teacher Who Turned Into a Surrealist

Would you ever suspect one of your teachers to be a painter? Marion Adnams, a modern languages teacher from Derby, England turned out to be a hidden...

Magda Michalska 5 October 2023

Corita Kent, come alive, 1967, Corita Art Center. Pop art

Corita Kent: Pop Art Nun and Inspiring Art Teacher

Corita Kent was an artist, an educator, and a Roman Catholic nun. She created bold, colorful pop art posters to confront social injustice. Corita...

Candy Bedworth 5 October 2023

Art History 101

Meet Great Teachers of Famous Artists

September and October are the months when students return to school or university. The experience of education and our memories of it are shaped by...

Magda Michalska 5 October 2023

Caravaggio David with the Head of Goliath, c. 1610, Galleria Borghese, Rome, Italy. Artist Stories

How Did Caravaggio Die? The Answer Is Not Easy

Caravaggio was a great artist, no doubt about it, but he was also rowdy. An early published notice on him, dating from 1604 and describing his...

Zuzanna Stańska 28 September 2023

Love Story

Dorothea Tanning and Max Ernst – A Surreal Love Story

They fell in love while playing chess and stayed together for the rest of their lives. Read about the relationship between the famous German...

Magda Michalska 28 September 2023

Rothko's early art: Mark Rothko, Underground Fantasy, 1940 © 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel and Christopher Rothko/Bildrecht Wien, 2019. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, USA. Artist Stories

People, Subways, and Mystery: Rothko’s Early Paintings Will Surprise You

There is no doubt that when we think of Mark Rothko (1903 – 1970), we picture his large, abstract canvases with representations of human...

Zuzanna Stańska 25 September 2023