Masterpiece Stories

Sculpture

Masterpiece Story: Perseus with the Head of Medusa by Benvenuto Cellini

Benvenuto Cellini’s Perseus with the Head of Medusa is a sculpture that is commonly overlooked. In fact, it could be the most regularly overlooked...

James Wray 17 January 2025

Sculpture

Donatello’s Mary Magdalene: Penitence and Salvation

Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, better known as Donatello, was a sculptor born around 1386 in Florence, which is also the city in which he died in...

Soledad Castillo Jara 17 January 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Saint George and the Dragon

There is a skirmish between the hero and the villain. Fabrics whip about, horse hoofs trample, and a dying scream erupts as Saint George slaughters...

James W Singer 16 January 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Simplon Pass: The Lesson by John Singer Sargent

Many people know John Singer Sargent for his beautiful oil paintings of turn-of-the-century high society. However, he also made many lovely...

Alexandra Kiely 12 January 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Madame X by John Singer Sargent

Dear John Singer Sargent, the world has changed substantially since the year 1856 when you were born, however, your legacy has stood enduringly. You...

James W Singer 12 January 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth by John Singer Sargent

On December 29th, 1888, John Singer Sargent went to the Lyceum Theatre in London to watch the premiere of Shakespeare’s Macbeth starring Henry...

Catriona Miller 12 January 2025

John Singer Sargent, Lady Agnew of Lochnaw, 1892, Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, UK. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Lady Agnew of Lochnaw by John Singer Sargent

Lady Agnew of Lochnaw is a masterpiece by John Singer Sargent. It portrays a Victorian woman in a bold, modern manner. Sargent combined masterful...

James W Singer 12 January 2025

John Singer Sargent, Nonchaloir, 1911, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, USA. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Nonchaloir (Repose) by John Singer Sargent

John Singer Sargent’s Nonchaloir (Repose) is a masterpiece of American Impressionism. It explores a poetic moment of aristocratic...

James W Singer 12 January 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Woman Combing Her Hair by Władysław Ślewiński

Władysław Ślewiński was a leading artist of the Young Poland movement—a modernist period in Polish arts at the turn of the 19th century. Today,...

Zuzanna Stańska 10 January 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Breakfast of Birds by Gabriele Münter

Gabriele Münter (1877–1962) was a German Expressionist painter born in Berlin and most known for her landscapes and use of color. She developed a...

Heidi Werber 5 January 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Eagle by Alexander Calder

American sculptor, Alexander Calder, most famous for his kinetic moving, suspended mobile sculptures, also created a number of massive stationary...

Nadine Waldmann 5 January 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump by Joseph Wright of Derby

An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump is not only a masterpiece from the Age of Enlightenment but also a monumental artistic achievement of Joseph...

Maya M. Tola 5 January 2025