WTF Art History

Erotica

The Many Rebirths of Venus

Sandro Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus is iconic in Western art. Alongside the Mona Lisa, it is probably a contender for “most famous...

Isla Phillips-Ewen 2 May 2023

Art State of Mind

We Are All Summertime Venuses: Beach Bodies in Art

Venus, who wouldn’t envy her? She is the embodiment of beauty, sexuality, and love. She is perhaps the most often depicted woman in art history.

Magda Michalska 2 May 2023

Contemporary Art

Damien Hirst’s Butterflies: From Tea-trays to Mandalas

Damien Hirst – a prominent Young British Artist (YBA) and now a billionaire – creates sculptures, paintings, and drawings. In all of...

Isla Phillips-Ewen 30 April 2023

Bizarre

Trompe L’oeil: How Artists Deceived Our Eyes Throughout the Ages

Without knowing, you have more than likely seen an example or two of trompe l’oeil in art. It is a term that encompasses many art forms in its...

Rachel Witte 13 April 2023

Museum Stories

History of Medicine in Art: 12 Weird Artworks to See at Wellcome Library in London

London is a great place to be for the curious and inquisitive. Public museums, galleries, and libraries are homes to a vast collection of wonderful...

Bolor Jargalsaikhan 7 April 2023

WTF Art History

Attention, Dangerous Art! How Art Can Hurt You

Every once in a while, an accident involving an artwork happens. Usually, it is the artwork that ends up damaged, but sometimes it is the audience...

Joanna Kaszubowska 3 April 2023

Ancient Greece

Alexander the Great and His Mermaid Sister in Greek Folklore

There is no need for a long introduction to Alexander the Great’s place in history; he is one of the most famous military leaders and he has...

Errika Gerakiti 29 March 2023

Animals

See a Man About a Dog: Dogs in Paintings

The title sentence is a charming English euphemism, usually used to apologize for one’s imminent departure or absence—generally to conceal...

Joanna Kaszubowska 23 March 2023

Painting

Finest Lake Paintings in Art History

I’m guessing we all have a happy memory that took place on or near a lake. Look at the sumptuous color in the James Dickson Innes (1887-1914)...

Candy Bedworth 22 March 2023

WTF Art History

Famous People and Their Doppelgängers in Art

Doppelgänger is a word of German origin (doppel- meaning “double,” and -gänger meaning “goer”). In old German folklore, it was believed...

Vithória Konzen Dill 16 March 2023

Ancient Greece

Persephone and the Pomegranate: Art in Ancient Greece

How has a simple, yet beautiful fruit, been the center of attention throughout history? The pomegranate is symbolic in many cultures and religions,...

Rachel Witte 11 March 2023

Johannes Vermeer, A Girl Asleep, 1656–1657, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA. Baroque

Vermeer’s Desperate Housewives

Johannes Vermeer was a master of ambiguity. His silent and calm interiors, and beautiful Dutch women, although innocent at first glance, seem to be...

Magda Michalska 2 March 2023