#19th Century

Art Nouveau

Loïe Fuller the Magical Dancer of Art Nouveau

Today we meet the performer Loïe Fuller, one of Art Nouveau’s most celebrated performers. She was a dancer and actress best known for her...

Europeana 27 March 2024

Art Nouveau

Ethel Reed – When a Meteor Crossed the Night Sky of Art Nouveau

If you’ve heard of Ethel Reed, you are probably either a devotee of late-19th-century American poster art or an art history student. After the...

Wen Gu 27 March 2024

Women Artists

From St. Petersburg to Hamburg: The Artistic Odyssey of Elena Luksch-Makowsky

Elena Luksch-Makowsky was a trailblazing painter and sculptor whose work traversed the cultural landscapes of St. Petersburg, Vienna, and Hamburg. In...

Marija Canjuga 27 March 2024

WTF Art History

The Pre-Raphaelites and the Wombat

Many people are obsessed with cute cats, penguins, pandas, koalas, and all sorts of animals. However one rarely hears about the wombat, especially in...

Joanna Kaszubowska 26 March 2024

Women Artists

The Fabulous Sculpture and Mysterious Life of Edmonia Lewis

Edmonia Lewis (c. 1844-1907) was quite a force of nature. She was an African American and Native American woman who became an...

Alexandra Kiely 25 March 2024

Women Artists

The Divine Sarah: Sarah Bernhardt, The First Artist Superstar

While we are all familiar with celebrity culture and can recognize all of the Kardashians by their silhouettes, the idea of ‘celebrity’ is not a...

Wendy Gray 24 March 2024

Photography

Theodore Marceau – The Genius Pioneer of Photographic Studios

Theodore Christopher Marceau (1859-1922) was an American photographer who pioneered the creation of a national chain of photographic studios in the...

Zuzanna Stańska 22 March 2024

Photography

Capturing Light: The Pioneers of Photography in France

It all officially began in 1839 in two countries at the same time: in the UK, the Royal Academy announced the discovery of a method of capturing...

Magda Michalska 22 March 2024

Photography

Julia Margaret Cameron – The Queen of Pre-Raphaelite Photography

The English Victorian artist Julia Margaret Cameron (who was actually born in India and raised in France) was an irreplaceable representative of...

Rute Ferreira 22 March 2024

Animals

The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau

Henri Rousseau was a French artist who painted in a Naïve or Primitive manner. He was also known as Le Douanier (the customs officer), which was a...

Zuzanna Stańska 20 March 2024

Hermenegildo Bustos. Hermenegildo Bustos, Self-portrait, 1891, Museo Nacional de Arte, Mexico City, Mexico. Detail. Artist Stories

Hermenegildo Bustos: Self-Taught Painter of the People

Hermenegildo Bustos was one of Mexico’s most renowned painters of the 19th century. Despite the lack of Academic training, his portraits stood out...

Jimena Escoto 20 March 2024

Love Story

Unhappily Ever After: Unequal Marriage by Vasili Pukirev

Vasili Pukirev’s painting, Unequal Marriage, has a legend surrounding it. Allegedly, after looking at it all the elderly grooms refused to marry...

Elizaveta Ermakova 19 March 2024