WTF Art History

WTF Art History

Forbidden Art—10 Scandalous Cases of Censorship in Art

Art history is painted with shades of prohibition—works banned, artists silenced, and masterpieces under attack. From centuries past to the cutting...

Celia Leiva Otto 9 December 2024

Jan Havicksz Steen, Woman at her Toilet, 1655-60, oil on panel, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Woman at Her Toilet by Jan Steen

Jan Steen’s Woman at Her Toilet is a provocative masterpiece of genre paintings because of its visual complexity and seductive allure, inviting...

James W Singer 8 December 2024

North American Art

Ed Wheeler’s Santa Classics: Santa Claus and Masterpieces

Photographer Ed Wheeler has been dressing up as Santa Claus for years and posing in hilarious compositions. He started over  20 years ago with...

Zuzanna Stańska 6 December 2024

Contemporary Art

Owning Digital Art—What Is the Environmental Cost?

While digital NFT art has experienced a boom and is one of the most widely discussed topics in the art world, this success has also brought attention...

Agnieszka Cichocka 2 December 2024

Special

10 Surprising Masterpieces You Can Find in DailyArt App

Aiming to give joy, inspiration, and a small dose of art history every day, 12 years ago we launched the DailyArt app—a small mobile app which...

Zuzanna Stańska 29 November 2024

Art State of Mind

The Ultimate Question: Why Should You Learn About Art?

Art creates emotions and, generally, you either like a certain piece of art or you don’t. But despite that, what is valid for everything else is...

Petra Dragasevic 29 November 2024

North American Art

Inflating Art: Special Balloons in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade holds as much tradition in America as football, turkey and stuffing itself. Over the past 9 decades, it has only...

Rachel Witte 28 November 2024

Dine & Wine

All You Need to Know About Thanksgiving Turkey Preparation—With Pictures!

Happy Thanksgiving! Have the most enjoyable time with your family and friends celebrating this holiday season! Whether you enjoy turkey or something...

Joanna Kaszubowska 28 November 2024

Erotica

All You Must Know About Japanese Erotic Art, Shunga (18+)

Ukiyo-e art, pictures of the “floating world” are famous among those interested in art history. Everyone knows Hokusai’s The Great Wave off...

Zuzanna Stańska 27 November 2024

Art History 101

A Small Guide to Still Life Symbols

You may think that all those marvelous Dutch still lifes from the 16th and 17th centuries were just some random sets of fruits, vegetables, and...

Zuzanna Stańska, Nicole Ganbold 26 November 2024

"3. Marian Henel, Big Butts (excerpt), 1981, 240x480 cm, photo by A. Podstawka.jpg" Bizarre

Marian Henel—Tapestries and Madness

Marian Henel’s tapestries are huge. The largest one measures over 6 m in length and 3 m in width (19 ft. 8 in. by 9 ft. 10 in.). Created in the...

Zuzanna Stańska 25 November 2024

Quiz

QUIZ: Magnificent Muses! Can You Guess the Artists and People Who Inspired Them?

Candy Bedworth 23 November 2024