Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Iron Rolling Mill (Modern Cyclopes) by Adolph Menzel

The 19th century, the age of steel and steam, witnessed not only the developments of the industry but also the new themes in painting. Now, simple...

Kate Wojtczak 1 May 2022

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Artist’s Studio–The Dance by Roy Lichtenstein

Roy Lichtenstein was a famous American Pop artist, most well known for his original technique of mixed media on canvas, which was meant to remind the...

Magda Michalska 29 April 2022

Carl Gustav Carus, Woman on the Balcony, 1824, oil on canvas, Galerie Neue Meister, Dresden, Germany. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Woman on the Balcony by Carl Gustav Carus

Woman on the Balcony is an intimate portrait of a person lost in thought. There is no action and no obvious story to interpret. However, its quiet...

James W Singer 25 April 2022

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Ognissanti Madonna by Giotto

Giotto di Bondone is known as the artist who, in the 13th century, began to paint in a way that led art history to the Renaissance. This Florentine...

Zuzanna Stańska 15 March 2022

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Virgin of Guadalupe by Sebastián Zalcedo

The Virgin of Guadalupe depicts the narrative of the Christian Virgin Mary who allegedly appeared multiple times in December 1531 before a Mexican...

James W Singer 15 March 2022

Art Nouveau

Painting Human Desire for Happiness – Klimt’s Beethoven Frieze

When we think of Gustav Klimt we imagine beautiful portraits of women, sensual and dangerous compositions, gold and decorative motifs. However, if...

Zuzanna Stańska 10 March 2022

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Capturing the Moment by Joaquín Sorolla

The Spanish artist Joaquín Sorolla spent most of his summers with his family in French Biarritz, 35 kilometers from the border with Spain. The beach...

Zuzanna Stańska 27 February 2022

Adam Elsheimer, Flight into Egypt, 1609, oil on copper, Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Flight into Egypt by Adam Elsheimer

Flight into Egypt is a masterpiece found in the collection of the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, Germany. Human dramas are depicted with vivid...

James W Singer 30 January 2022

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Children Eating a Melon and Grapes, c. 1650, Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Children Eating Grapes and a Melon by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo

Children Eating Grapes and a Melon, currently located in the Alte Pinakothek, is one of the most famous paintings by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. This...

Vithória Konzen Dill 30 January 2022

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Ruins of the Château de Pierrefonds by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

Soon after Château de Pierrefonds was displayed, Emperor Napoleon III restored the actual Château de Pierrefonds in the 1850s under the direction...

James W Singer 18 January 2022

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Henri Matisse, Harmony in Red

Sergei Shchukin once said “If a picture gives you a psychological shock, buy it. It’s a good one.” And the Matisse painting I would like to...

Zuzanna Stańska 29 December 2021

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Peasant Wedding, 1567 Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Peasant Wedding by Pieter Bruegel the Elder

The Kunsthistorisches Museum, meaning the Museum of Art History, is located in Vienna, Austria. It is the largest art gallery in the country, housing...

Anastasia Manioudaki 19 December 2021