Masterpiece Stories

George Grosz, Manhattan, 1946, Harn Museum of Art, Gainesville, USA. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Manhattan by George Grosz

Manhattan is a masterpiece by George Grosz that expresses the grandeur and struggle of 1940s New York...

James W Singer, 26 July 2024

anna ancher Vaccination: Anna Ancher, A Vaccination, 1899. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: A Vaccination by Anna Ancher

Anna Ancher’s painting A Vaccination underlines the importance of vaccines for the community and how children are key elements in public health. It...

Camilla de Laurentis 23 July 2024

Lily Furedi, Subway, 1934, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC, USA. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Subway by Lily Furedi

Subway by Lily Furedi is a masterpiece of New Deal art that expresses the excitement of modern transportation. It is populated with commuting workers...

James W Singer 21 July 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Street, Dresden by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

The swirling crowds and electric lights of the modern city. This is the subject of today’s Masterpiece Story, created by one of the greatest...

Zuzanna Stańska 21 July 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Tables for Ladies by Edward Hopper

Indeed, when we look at this painting, everything is very Hopper-ish – the circulating sensation of sadness and loneliness, the weariness of...

Zuzanna Stańska, 21 July 2024

Sofonisba Anguissola, The Game of Chess, 1555. Women Artists

Masterpiece Story: The Game of Chess by Sofonisba Anguissola

Sofonisba Anguissola is known for her self-portraits and portraits of Spanish royalty. But her most provocative painting is perhaps The Game of...

Anna Ingram 19 July 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: A Glass Compote with Peaches, Jasmine Flowers, Quinces and a Grasshopper by Fede Galizia

Fede Galizia’s beautiful A Glass Compote with Peaches, Jasmine Flowers, Quinces and a Grasshopper is one of Italy’s first-ever still life...

Alexandra Kiely 18 July 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: A Burial at Ornans by Gustave Courbet

Who nowadays doesn’t appreciate Gustave Courbet‘s striking realism? We all do, but as happens with many geniuses, Courbet was not appreciated by...

Magda Michalska 17 July 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Two African Men by Rembrandt van Rijn

In the discourse on the Black presence in Western history, it is taken for granted that Africans in art represented solely enslaved people, and their...

Nicole Ganbold 15 July 2024

Rembrandt, Abduction of Ganymede, 1635, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden, Germany. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Abduction of Ganymede by Rembrandt

Rembrandt is less known for his mythological paintings, but their visual impact matches any of his religious images and secular portraits. The...

James W Singer 15 July 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Woman with a Parrot by Gustave Courbet

Gustave Courbet, the enfant terrible of French 19th-century art, did everything he could to save himself in the memory of the contemporary art...

Zuzanna Stańska 14 July 2024

Masterpiece Stories

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