Latest

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Pilgrims Going to Church by George Henry Boughton

Today’s Masterpiece Story is about Pilgrims Going to Church by George Henry Boughton (1833-1905). Even though Boughton grew up in America, he was...

Alexandra Kiely 6 December 2023

History

Yes, Santa Claus Is Real! His Name Is St. Nicholas

Who dressed in winter robes, bestowed gifts under the cover of night, and became a hero to children? This describes Nicholas of Myra, a Middle...

Helen Jeffery 6 December 2023

History

Vintage Claus Is Coming to Town

Today is Saint Nicholas Day, a holiday children across the world love because they get little treats if they are good (look up the Dutch version of...

Magda Michalska 6 December 2023

North American Art

The Man, The Myth, The Legend: Thomas Nast’s Santa Claus

Santa Claus, St. Nicholas, Old St. Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, Papa Noel, Weihnachtsmann. Whatever your culture is, he is a man of many...

Rachel Witte 6 December 2023

North American Art

Haddon Sundblom: The Artist Behind the Coca-Cola Santa Claus

Various illustrated depictions of the old St. Nicholas, or Bishop of Myra, have existed for centuries, bringing to life his story. Yet, in the end,...

Maria Frazzoni 5 December 2023

North American Art

Ed Wheeler’s Santa Classics: Santa Claus and Masterpieces

Photographer Ed Wheeler has been dressing up as Santa Claus for years and posing in hilarious compositions. He started over  20 years ago with...

Zuzanna Stańska 5 December 2023

Painting

Giovanni Boldini’s Beautiful Belles

Giovanni Boldini (1842-1931) was a popular society portrait painter in turn-of-the-century France and England. His elegant portraits are still much...

Alexandra Kiely 5 December 2023

Striding Lion, 604-562 BCE, glazed clay bricks, Processional Way, Babylon, Iraq, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Striding Lion from the Ishtar Gate

Striding Lion is a masterpiece of Mesopotamian art with monumental size and composition. It symbolizes the strength of King Nebuchadnezzar II and the...

James W Singer 5 December 2023

Artist Stories

Vive la Belle Époque! The Story of Giovanni Boldini and Franca Florio

The history of the Belle Époque reveals many scandalous stories. Behind the elegant portraits interesting lives of grand dames and adventurous...

Giordana Goretti 5 December 2023

Jacques-Louis David, Napoleon Crossing the Alps, 1802, Château de Versailles, France. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Napoleon Crossing the Alps by Jacques-Louis David

Jacques-Louis David’s Napoleon Crossing the Alps is one of the most famous and politically iconic images of European art history. However, it is a...

James W Singer 4 December 2023

Artist Stories

Painting a Woman: The Story of Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener Through Their Art

The Danish landscape artist Lili Elvenes (1882-1931), born Einar Wegener and better known as Lili Elbe, and her spouse, the Art Deco portrait artist...

Iolanda Munck 4 December 2023

Women Artists

Anne Vallayer-Coster: A Life of Still Life

The still life genre often seems less interesting than other art forms, so perhaps it is unsurprising that 18th-century French painter Anne...

Catriona Miller 4 December 2023