Artist Stories

Frans Post, View of Olinda, Brazil, 1662, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands Baroque

Frans Post, First Landscape Painter of the Americas

Frans Post has gone down in art history as the first trained landscape painter to work in the Americas. In 1636, as a young man of just 24, he...

Nicole Ganbold 27 December 2021

Artist Stories

Kandinsky’s World of Russian Fairy Tales

155 years ago today, Wassily Kandinsky was born in Moscow! He is chiefly associated with Der Blaue Reiter, an international group of avant-garde...

Magda Michalska 16 December 2021

Women Artists

Lady in Blue: Yelizaveta Martynova, Ill-Fated Russian Female Artist

Can you name some female artists, and from Russia in particular? It’s difficult even for those who are really into art. This article tells the...

Guest Profile 10 December 2021

Women Artists

Zinaida Serebriakova, First Famous Female Russian Artist

Zinaida Serebriakova (1884–1967) is mostly known for her painting At the Dressing-Table (Self-Portrait). The artist, looking from the...

Elizaveta Ermakova 10 December 2021

julian stanczak Artist Stories

Julian Stanczak and His Abstract Life

You may think that experiences such as forced labor in Siberia, losing the nerves in his dominant arm, or ending up in a refugee camp would have...

Magda Michalska 3 December 2021

European Art

Sir William Orpen: The Official Artist of the First World War

Initially known for society portraits, Sir William Orpen (the knighthood came after the end of the war) became an official artist of the First World...

Wendy Gray 11 November 2021

Artist Stories

Living in the Shadow – Marie and Peder Severin Krøyer

Marie and Peder Severin Krøyer were a 19th and early 20th century couple, and, while their marriage and lives were far from ideal, history has...

Pola Otterstein 8 September 2021

Erotica

Scandalous World of Hans Bellmer: Dolls, Ropes, and Erotic Photography

“I am human, and I think nothing human is alien to me”, said Terence, Roman playwright sometime in the 2nd century BCE. I think that art...

Magda Michalska 18 August 2021

Still Lifes Too Vivid to Be Real – Imagined Realism in Luigi Lucioni’s Art

For some people, realism is defined by painting what they see. For Luigi Lucioni, it meant painting what he thought was there. Luigi Lucioni’s...

Anthony de Feo 15 August 2021

Symbolism

Symbolism Special: Jacek Malczewski’s Dates with Death

Jacek Malczewski is one of the most important Polish symbolist painters. Malczewski is associated with the Young Poland movement (Młoda Polska), a...

Magda Michalska 15 July 2021

Contemporary Art

On the Road with Visual Artist Jock McFadyen

We spoke to artist Jock McFadyen as he prepares to celebrate his 70th birthday, and awaits the opening of, not one, but four major exhibitions of his...

Candy Bedworth 19 June 2021

Artist Stories

Garlands of Greatness for the Astonishing 20th Century Chinese Artist Zhang Daqian

Zhang Daqian is considered the foremost Chinese artist in the last 500 years. If this is true, then what is it that makes Zhang Daqian so important?...

Barry Russell 18 June 2021