WTF Art History

Erotica

Let’s Talk about Courbet’s Origin of the World

In the 19th century, the display of the nude body underwent a revolution – and a massive critique. Gustave Courbet, one of the main scandalous...

Zuzanna Stańska 10 June 2025

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 10 June 2025

Erotica

The Scandalous Nudes of Gustave Courbet

In the 19th century, French painter and rebel Gustave Courbet generated outrage with his scandalous nudes. What exactly was so scandalous about his...

Kelly Hill 10 June 2025

Titian, Bacchus and Ariadne, 1520-23, National Gallery, London, UK. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Bacchus and Ariadne by Titian

Titian’s Bacchus and Ariadne captures the vibrancy of a Greco-Roman myth through the lens of an Italian Renaissance painter. Learn about the...

James W Singer 9 June 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Portrait of Gabrielle d’Estrées and One of Her Sisters

To a 21st-century viewer, the portrait of Gabrielle d’Estrées might seem homo-erotic. However, pictured with her sister, the Duchess of Villars,...

Anna Ingram 9 June 2025

Art State of Mind

Boys with Plants in Art (Hotties Alert!)

Boys and men posing with plants and flowers is a popular theme in art. The concept was revisited on Instagram, a social media platform on the account...

Anuradha Sroha 9 June 2025

Literature

12 Art Books for Your Summer Holidays

Summer is finally here, and if you are looking for some vacation reading to accompany you while you laze by the pool of your villa or soak up the sun...

Charlotte Stace 9 June 2025

Jeff Koons, Balloon Dog (Magenta), 1994-2000, Château de Versailles, Versailles, France. Photo by Marc Wathieu via Versailles' website. Contemporary Art

Jeff Koons and His Balloon Dogs

What do Jeff Koons, Jay-Z, Christie’s, and clowns have in common? Balloon dogs. Koons is a controversial figure in the contemporary art world,...

Zuzanna Stańska 5 June 2025

Art State of Mind

From Toys to Means of Transport: Balloons in Art

When we think of flying objects in art we might not put balloons at the top of our list, and yet they appear everywhere. As the words from Jethro...

Sarah Mills 5 June 2025

Art State of Mind

Wind and Fun: Kites in Art

So far we’ve had balloons and celestial bodies as part of this series. Now we move to kites as our flying objects in art, but where do we start?...

Sarah Mills 5 June 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Sympathy by Remedios Varo

Sympathy is a fascinating painting by Catalan artist Remedios Varo. It presents a lady with a cat in a most unusual and Surrealist situation. You...

Alicja Gluszek 4 June 2025

Cats

Meet Beautiful Cats by Charles Frederick Tunnicliffe

Charles Frederick Tunnicliffe, a British engraver, illustrator, and painter is perhaps best known for his paintings of birds. He painted many other...

Sarah Mills 4 June 2025