Latest

Expressionism

The Frieze of Life by Edvard Munch

By 1902, Edvard Munch’s life had seen a pattern of chaos within his professional life, his health, and his love life. While his life had become...

Wendy Gray 11 May 2026

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Desperate Man (Self-Portrait) by Gustave Courbet

In The Desperate Man (Le Désespéré), Gustave Courbet presents a powerful self-portrait filled with psychological tension, where intense expression...

Katerina Papouliou 11 May 2026

Artist Stories

What Art Has to Do with Politics: Gustave Courbet and the Paris Commune

The painter Gustave Courbet, a central figure of Realism, is known for his paintings in which he reveals the true lives of peasants and ordinary...

Rute Ferreira 11 May 2026

Theater & Cinema

Movie Scenes Staged as Famous Paintings

In 1911 the Italian film theoretician Ricciotto Canudo defined cinema as “the seventh art”. So it’s quite natural that from its birth cinema...

Arianna Richetti 11 May 2026

Erotica

The Scandalous Nudes of Gustave Courbet

In the 19th century, French painter and rebel Gustave Courbet generated outrage with his scandalous nudes. What exactly was so scandalous about his...

Kelly Hill 11 May 2026

Gedovius. Germán Gedovius, La Tehuana, ca. 1917, National Museum of Art, Mexico City, Mexico. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: La Tehuana by Germán Gedovius

Around 1917, the Mexican painter Germán Gedovius created La Tehuana (Woman from Tehuantepec), a warm and intimate moment between a mother and her...

Jimena Escoto 10 May 2026

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Whistler’s Mother by James McNeill Whistler

Whistler’s 1871 painting Arrangement in Grey and Black No 1 might not sound familiar. As Whistler’s Mother, on the other hand, it has entered...

Catriona Miller 10 May 2026

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Reclining Mother and Child II by Paula Modersohn-Becker

Does any image say primal love more than this powerful painting by Paula Modersohn-Becker? It is an artwork that includes not just children but also...

Candy Bedworth 10 May 2026

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Madonna and Child with Two Angels by Fra Filippo Lippi

On the surface, Fra Filippo Lippi’s Madonna and Child with Two Angels appears to be another typical Renaissance painting of the Virgin Mary and the...

James W Singer 10 May 2026

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Queen Mother Idia of Benin

Africa is a beautiful continent filled with sweeping landscapes and mighty rivers. Its history is filled with great kingdoms and large empires. Its...

James W Singer 10 May 2026

Quiz

QUIZ: Test Your Knowledge About Female Artists

Isla Phillips-Ewen 9 May 2026

Quiz

QUIZ: What Is Missing from These Paintings? Part 2

Szymon Jocek 9 May 2026