WTF Art History

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: La Toilette by François Boucher

The soft rustle of silky cloth and the hard crackling of burning wood echo against the yellow-papered walls of the boudoir. The small room is...

James W Singer 14 April 2024

Artist Stories

Powerful or Problematic? Robert Mapplethorpe’s Photographs

Photographer Robert Mapplethorpe shocked the world with his images of bondage, gay sex, female bodybuilders and naked black men. Technically brilliant or politically problematic, what do you think?

Candy Bedworth 12 April 2024

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 12 April 2024

Review

Rebel, Rebel: Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore

If I asked for your top 10 political artists, does Claude Cahun spring to mind? Marcel Moore? No, I guessed as much. But these two art activists had...

Candy Bedworth 12 April 2024

Asian Art

Yūrei-zu: Japanese Horror in Art

Some Asian cultures are notorious for their rich horror culture, showcasing exceptional horror movies and artistic expressions that continually...

Errika Gerakiti 11 April 2024

James Ensor, Masks Confronting Death, 1888, Museum of Modern Art, New York, United States of America Expressionism

James Ensor: What the Mask Hides

Do you know who James Ensor was? James Ensor (1860-1949) was a scandalous, rebellious, and revolutionary Belgian painter with a style that could be...

Andra Patricia Ritisan 11 April 2024

Bizarre

James Ensor’s Fighting Skeletons

Do you know the late Victorian and avant-garde painter James Ensor? Often likened to Edvard Munch is his ability to convey the miseries of human...

Sarah Mills 11 April 2024

Art Travels

Art and Sports: En Route to the Paris 2024 Olympics

The forthcoming Paris 2024 Summer Olympics will bridge the worlds of art and sport, with equestrian competitions at the Palace of Versailles, fencing...

Ledys Chemin 9 April 2024

Sport

Swing, Succeed, Repeat – Golf in Paintings

Did you know golf was born in Scotland? Well, not exactly, but Scotland, especially the town of St. Andrews, is known worldwide as the “home of...

Magda Michalska 9 April 2024

Sport

Football in Art and Art in Football

The spheres of art history and football may not seem inherently connected. Yet, football holds a cherished place within culture, serving as both a...

Isla Phillips-Ewen 9 April 2024

Sport

Art History Reveals: Women in Sport

In the annals of history, sport has predominantly been perceived as a male endeavor, a bias that art’s historical narrative often mirrors. Yet,...

Nina Relf 9 April 2024

Ancient Greece

Timeless Beauty: Ancient Greek Athletes in Art

The idea of timeless beauty is fascinating. Also, it’s a great concern for lovers of art history. Conceptions of beauty in Western art history...

Isla Phillips-Ewen 9 April 2024