#19th Century

Art Travels

Traveling Artists in Mexico: The First Generation

The 19th century was a tumultuous time for Mexico, to say the least. In 1821, it achieved its independence. However, the war devastated the country...

Jimena Escoto 16 June 2025

Thomas Eakins, Wrestlers, 1899, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Wrestlers by Thomas Eakins

Thomas Eakins was one of the greatest Realist painters of 19th-century America. Wrestlers explores the interesting dynamic between sports and...

James W Singer 15 June 2025

Erotica

Let’s Talk about Courbet’s Origin of the World

In the 19th century, the display of the nude body underwent a revolution – and a massive critique. Gustave Courbet, one of the main scandalous...

Zuzanna Stańska 10 June 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Woman with a Parrot by Gustave Courbet

Gustave Courbet, the enfant terrible of French 19th-century art, did everything he could to save himself in the memory of the contemporary art...

Zuzanna Stańska 10 June 2025

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 10 June 2025

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 10 June 2025

Painting

A Botanical Affair: House Plants in Art

The recent resurgence of enthusiasm for indoor plants speaks to something deeply human: a longing for calm, connection, and beauty within our living...

Maya M. Tola 9 June 2025

Artist Stories

Whistler vs. Ruskin: How to Fling a Pot of Paint and Win a Trial

After paying a visit to the newly inaugurated Grosvenor Gallery in London, John Ruskin wrote a stinging review of the modernist exhibition. The...

Ruxi Rusu 2 June 2025

Jo Van Gogh Bonger, Vincent van Gogh, Olive Trees,1889 Post-Impressionism

5 Van Gogh Landscapes You Need to See

Vincent van Gogh is often celebrated for his expressive self-portraits, but his landscapes are equally powerful. He created some of his most vivid...

Anastasia Manioudaki, 2 June 2025

Louisine Havemeyer Mary Cassatt Impressionism

Louisine Havemeyer and Her Modern Art Collection

A great pioneering art collector, Louisine Havemeyer (1855–1929), was the first American to patronize the French Impressionists. Together with her...

Alexandra Kiely 28 May 2025

Henry Ossawa Tanner, Sand Dunes at Sunset, Atlantic City, 1885, White House, Washington DC, USA. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Sand Dunes at Sunset, Atlantic City by Henry Ossawa Tanner

Sand Dunes at Sunset, Atlantic City is a masterpiece of Black art and history. It was painted by Henry Ossawa Tanner during a time of incredible...

James W Singer 27 May 2025

Women Artists

Pre-Raphaelite Sisters: Five Female Painters to Know

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, an all-male artistic fraction active during the second half of the 19th century, has become synonymous today with...

Anastasia Tsaleza 23 May 2025