Masterpiece Stories

masterpiece-story-phoebe-anna-traquair-progress-soul Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Progress of a Soul by Phoebe Anna Traquair

Luminous and larger than life, The Progress of a Soul by Phoebe Anna Traquair elevated embroidery into the modern era. It also helped put the...

Emily Snow, 10 November 2025

Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, 1889, The Courtauld, London, UK. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear by Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh left behind a series of self-portraits that document his life—from an aspiring artist through stylistic change, all the way to the...

Sandra Juszczyk 9 November 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird by Frida Kahlo

The story of Frida Kahlo is narrated through her artworks. She left an indelible mark on the art world with her emotionally charged and...

Celia Leiva Otto 9 November 2025

Marie-Denise Villers, Self-Portrait, 1802, Musée du Louvre, Paris, France. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Self-Portrait by Marie-Denise Villers

Self-Portrait by Marie-Denise Villers showcases the genius of a leading female artist of Napoleonic...

James W Singer 9 November 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Self-Portrait at 28 by Albrecht Dürer

Albrecht Dürer loved self-portraits. In the first half of his life, he made a series of them. The earliest is from 1484, when the artist was a...

Zuzanna Stańska 9 November 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Self-Portrait in a Straw Hat by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun

Why is art history predominantly focused on male artists? Are there not enough female artists to fill textbooks? Of course, there are enough, but the...

James W Singer 9 November 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Judith Slaying Holofernes by Artemisia Gentileschi

Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–1656) was the most accomplished female painter of the Italian Baroque. She specialized in Biblical scenes of strong...

James W Singer 7 November 2025

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, At the Moulin Rouge, The Dance, 1890, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: At the Moulin Rouge, The Dance by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Tonight the Moulin Rouge is bursting at the seams. Men in dark coats and distinguished women dance and converse on the buzzing floor. Each has a...

Ruxi Rusu 6 November 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Aristide Bruant in His Cabaret by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

In the 1890s, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was part of a group of young avant-garde artists whose color lithography served as a vehicle for innovative...

Zuzanna Stańska 6 November 2025

manet bar at the folies bergere Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: A Bar at the Folies-Bergère by Édouard Manet

A Bar at the Folies-Bergère is considered Édouard Manet’s last major painting. Presented in the Paris Salon of 1882, just a year before the...

Anastasia Manioudaki 6 November 2025

Hieronymus Bosch, Death and the Miser, ca 1485-90, oil on panel, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, USA. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Death and the Miser by Hieronymus Bosch

Death and the Miser is a masterpiece of morbid curiosity. It reflects on the tension between the pursuit of wealth and the inevitability of death,...

James W Singer 2 November 2025

Frants Henningsen, Funeral, 1883, National Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Funeral by Frants Henningsen

Funeral by Frants Henningsen is a Danish masterpiece of emotions. It examines the different psychological reactions to love, loss, and...

James W Singer 2 November 2025