WTF Art History

Artist Stories

Too Much Love Will Kill You – The Death of Raphael

Raphael Santi, one of the greatest Renaissance painters died on Good Friday in 1520. He was only 37 years old and at the peak of his artistic powers.

Zuzanna Stańska 31 August 2023

Mannerism

The Fantasy World of Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s Portraits

Giuseppe Arcimboldo was the king of Mannerism. If you see a portrait made of plants, vegetables, books, animals and generally speaking, stuff – you...

Zuzanna Stańska 28 August 2023

Sport

Modern Sports Played in Ancient China

The history of Chinese sports can be traced back thousands of years, revealing many achievements, innovations, and surprises. While some sports may...

Marina Kochetkova 23 August 2023

Love Story

The Artists Are Present – Marina and Ulay

Balkan performing artist Marina Abramovic was born in 1946 in Belgrade, Serbia. Ulay (Frank Uwe Laysiepen) was born on the same day as she, a few...

Caroline Galambosova 18 August 2023

WTF Art History

10 Times When Egon Schiele Mastered Hip Hop Hand Gestures

Art is a serious thing. But sometimes some associations once they pop up in your head just can’t disappear. I didn’t find any scientific evidence...

Zuzanna Stańska 12 August 2023

Surrealism

How To Become a Surrealist – A Manual to Psychic Automatism

In 1924, André Breton defined a completely new word – Surrealism – in his First Manifesto of Surrealism. It wasn’t a trend in art or...

Magda Michalska 10 August 2023

Feathers in Pre-Columbian Art:Juan Bautista Cuiris, Portrait of Christ, 1950s, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Detail. South American Art

All the Fuss and Feathers in Pre-Columbian Art

Artisans in pre-Columbian and colonial Mexico, as in Peru, used feathers to create exquisite adornments for nobles, fancy textiles for the elite, and...

Alicja Gluszek 5 August 2023

History

The International Dispute over Moctezuma’s Headdress

Throughout Mexico’s rich history, two significant milestones have shaped its identity: the fall of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec city that laid the...

Magda Michalska 5 August 2023

Art State of Mind

It’s Too Hot to Move – Paintings for the Heatwave

As the heatwave rolls across Europe, it is certainly becoming too hot to move. And when we’re not moving, nothing is more pleasant than to lie...

Joanna Kaszubowska 27 July 2023

john singer sargent capri Art State of Mind

We Love Museums! Discover the Best Spots Local to Our Staff and Contributors

Can you believe it? DailyArt Magazine is turning seven! To celebrate this exciting milestone, we asked our incredible staff and talented contributors...

Ania Kaczynska 12 July 2023

Bizarre

The Intriguing Tale of Shocking Sheela Na Gig and Its Art References

Everyone remembers their first sighting of a Sheela Na Gig. Wandering around an old church, breathing in the architecture, the history, the silence.

Candy Bedworth 3 July 2023

The Duchess of Alba and "la Beata" painted by Francisco Goya, 1795 Artist Stories

The Story Of Duchess of Alba – Francisco de Goya’s Muse

Few women in 18th-century Spain captured the imagination of contemporaries as thoroughly as Doña María de Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva Álvarez...

Zuzanna Stańska 1 July 2023