WTF Art History

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 5 August 2024

Art State of Mind

One with Nature: Nude Paintings in Natural Settings

Depictions of the nude figurative form is a time-honored artistic tradition dating back to antiquity. Depending on the period in question, the...

Maya M. Tola 1 August 2024

Aleksandra Waliszewska, Untitled, 1997-2022, Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw, Poland. Contemporary Art

The Dark Arts of Aleksandra Waliszewska

Rather unsettling, quite macabre, and more than slightly erotic, the paintings and illustrations by Polish artist Aleksandra Waliszewska are...

Marta Wiktoria Bryll 1 August 2024

Artist Stories

Gustav Klimt and Emilie Flöge – The Everlasting Friendship

Gustav Klimt and Emilie Flöge were inseparable for years. Although it was never proven that there was something romantic between the two of them,...

Zuzanna Stańska 30 July 2024

Art History 101

Artist and Patron – Friend or Foe?

Since ancient times, patrons have played a vital role in art history. Patronage can be found almost everywhere – in Europe, feudal Japan, and...

Candy Bedworth 30 July 2024

Museum Stories

Social Media Giant Censors Leopold Museum Artworks

Vienna in Austria is currently the unlikely location of a David and Goliath battle, where the small (but perfectly formed) Leopold museum is taking on the global social media giant, Meta.

Candy Bedworth 29 July 2024

velazquez bodegon Dine & Wine

Spanish Bodegones of the 17th Century

Looking at a painting and getting hungry? It might be a bodegón! Here we define the genre of Spanish bodegones in the context of 17th-century...

Soledad Castillo Jara 29 July 2024

Expressionism

Anita Berber: Femme Fatale of the Weimar Republic

Born on 10 June 1899 in Dresden Germany, Anita Berber shocked and entertained the cabaret and bourgeois crowds of the Weimar Republic right up to her...

Kelly Hill 26 July 2024

Art Travels

See Monuments Turn into Sport Arenas for 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 25 July 2024

Love Story

Living in the Shadow – Marie and Peder Severin Krøyer

Marie and Peder Severin Krøyer were a 19th and early 20th-century artist couple. Although their marriage and lives were far from ideal, history has...

Pola Otterstein 23 July 2024

Surrealism

Spend Surrealist Summer with Salvador Dalí

Summer is on! If you’re still looking for a beach where you can show your artsy bikini, maybe you’ll be tempted to spend the summer with...

Magda Michalska 22 July 2024

Love Story

Wonderful Paintings Inspired by Famous Literary Couples

Art and literature have been a thing for centuries and they’re still at it. We have plucked a few worthy fruits of their union to show you how...

Giordana Goretti 22 July 2024