WTF Art History

Art State of Mind

5 Gardens in Art That Make Every Gardener Envious

Doesn’t matter if you have a garden, a balcony, a terrace, or just a window sill on which you keep a small cactus. These gardens in art are like...

Magda Michalska 16 April 2024

Painting

A Day in the Garden: 10 Beautiful Gardens in Art

It is widely known that gardens of all shapes and sizes have provided tremendous inspiration to artists throughout time. Artists focused their gaze...

Maya M. Tola 16 April 2024

Painting

The Most Beautiful Gardens in Art

To help fight off the blues, here’s a guide to some of the most beautiful gardens in art. Both art and the outdoors offer solace and a calmness...

Charlotte Stace 16 April 2024

Art State of Mind

From Toys to Means of Transport: Balloons in Art

When we think of flying objects in art we might not put balloons at the top of our list, and yet they appear everywhere. As the words from Jethro...

Sarah Mills 15 April 2024

WTF Art History

Five Translation Mistakes That Changed Art History

Why did Michelangelo portray Moses with horns? Why are there monkeys in Giulio Romano’s Chamber of Giants? And why does the Nativity scene...

Arianna Richetti 15 April 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Swing by Jean-Honoré Fragonard

Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732–1806) was the most prolific French painter of the 18th century. He created over 550 paintings embodying the spirit of...

James W Singer 14 April 2024

Arthur Hughes April Love, 1855-1856, Tate Britain, London, UK. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: April Love by Arthur Hughes

Today’s Masterpiece Story is about April Love – Arthur Hughes’ most celebrated artwork that perfectly embodies the Pre-Raphaelite...

Arianna Richetti 14 April 2024

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