Masterpiece Story: L.H.O.O.Q. by Marcel Duchamp
This masterpiece, L.H.O.O.Q. (La Joconde), is all about codes, reversals, play with conventions, and provocation. In other words, it’s an epitome...
Magda Michalska 13 October 2024
Masterpiece Stories
Masterpiece Story: Leonidas at Thermopylae by Jacques-Louis David
Whether you are within an academic environment or at a coffee shop, when the term “Neoclassicism” and its huge influence on the visual arts...
Erol Degirmenci 13 October 2024
Masterpiece Story: Amor Vincit Omnia by Caravaggio
Virgil’s famous saying amor vincit omnia means “love conquers all.” Famous Baroque painter, Caravaggio, clearly inspired by the famous sentence...
Zuzanna Stańska 8 October 2024
Masterpiece Story: The Tempest by Giorgione
Giorgione and his masterpiece The Tempest form the rare combination of a mysterious artist and a mysterious painting. This small canvas has puzzled...
Anastasia Manioudaki 29 September 2024
Masterpiece Story: Autumn Effects at Argenteuil by Claude Monet
Claude Monet painted Autumn Effects at Argenteuil in late 1873, which was the moment when the Impressionist movement started to roar on the Paris art...
Zuzanna Stańska 22 September 2024
Masterpiece Story: Monomaniac of Envy by Théodore Géricault
Théodore Géricault (1791-1824) was one of the most influential artists of French Romanticism. In Monomaniac of Envy, the artist tries to paint the...
James W Singer 8 September 2024
Masterpiece Story: Truth Coming Out of Her Well by Jean-Léon Gérôme
A fair-skinned woman, nude. Mouth open in either shock, rage, or maybe even disgust, as she emerges from a well. One leg is already draped over the...
Kristin Urban 14 July 2024
Masterpiece Story: Our Ancient Gods by Saturnino Herrán
Saturnino Herrán’s Our Ancient Gods is a masterful painting of Mexican Modernism from the early 20th century. It evokes the strength, dignity, and...
James W Singer 14 July 2024
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 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
George Rodrigue and His Blue Dogs
Hailing from New Iberia, Louisiana, George Rodrigue gained international acclaim for painting blue dogs—his favorite subject, as well as something...
Zuzanna Stańska 4 March 2024
Masterpiece Story: The Vision After the Sermon by Paul Gauguin
Paul Gauguin’s Vision after the Sermon is one of the most important works in the artist’s oeuvre. Painted in Brittany, its rich symbolism...
Zuzanna Stańska 4 March 2024
