Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Metlac Ravine by José María Velasco

The painting The Metlac Ravine looks just like a huge postcard from the past. It captures the monumental nature of the southern, coastal state of...

Alicja Gluszek 7 April 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Red Tower by Robert Delaunay

When people speak of Paris, the Eiffel Tower is probably the first thing that flashes into the imagination. It is the iconic symbol of Paris. Robert...

James W Singer 2 April 2024

Gerhard Richter, Betty Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Betty by Gerhard Richter

An unconventional portrait where the sitter looks away. The striking colors and flawless technique. A photo or a painting? Let’s dive into the...

Natalia Tiberio 31 March 2024

Correggio, Jupiter and Io, 1530, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Jupiter and Io by Correggio

Jupiter and Io by Correggio is a masterpiece of the Northern Italian Renaissance. It explores sensual nudity through the lens of a Roman...

James W Singer 24 March 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Isenheim Altarpiece – Polyptych About Pain and Passion

Isenheim Altarpiece by Matthias Grünewald is a polyptych about pain and passion. It’s a complex piece consisting of several parts and sections,...

Magda Michalska 21 March 2024

Jan van Eyck, Ghent Altarpiece, 1432, detail Masterpiece Stories

Ghent Altarpiece: The Charmed Life of the Mystic Lamb

Come with us to visit the Van Eyck brothers, their monumental Ghent Altarpiece, and explore 500 years of intrigue, theft and revolutionary painting techniques.

Candy Bedworth 21 March 2024

Reluctant Bride. Auguste Toulmouche, The Reluctant Bride, 1866, Private collection. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Reluctant Bride by Auguste Toulmouche

Have you ever seen a bride more… angry? Should this not be the happiest day of her life? The Reluctant Bride or The Hesitant Fiancée by Auguste...

Jimena Escoto 19 March 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Major’s Marriage Proposal by Pavel Fedotov

When you think of 19th-century Russia, images of Anna Karenina with black furs and white diamonds may come to mind. The lives of the wealthy...

James W Singer 19 March 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Três Orixás by Djanira da Motta e Silva

Djanira da Motta e Silva pictured a very unusual Holy Trinity made of three deities from the Afro-Brazilian Pantheon. They are accompanied by...

Alicja Gluszek 17 March 2024

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 17 March 2024

Alvar Aalto, Church of the Three Crosses (Vuoksenniska Church), 1958, Imatra, Finland, photo taken from “Cuadernos de arquitectura, 39” (1960), Elara Fritzenwalden Architecture

Modernizing the Sacrum? The Church of the Three Crosses by Alvar Aalto

When we hear the word “church” the image it evokes is typically either a striking, tall gothic structure or an opulent baroque façade and...

Joanna Kaszubowska 7 March 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Charles Demuth and the Figure 5

This one-sentence poem by the American poet William Carlos Williams was the inspiration for an incredible abstract work by American artist, Charles...

Wendy Gray 4 March 2024