#Death

Bizarre

James Ensor’s Fighting Skeletons

Do you know the late Victorian and avant-garde painter James Ensor? Often likened to Edvard Munch is his ability to convey the miseries of human...

Sarah Mills 11 April 2024

Vincent van Gogh - Self-portrait with bandaged ear (1889, Courtauld Institute) Artist Stories

The Mystery of Vincent van Gogh’s Death

Vincent van Gogh’s death occurred in the early morning of 29 July 1890, in his room at the Auberge Ravoux in the village of Auvers-sur-Oise in...

Zuzanna Stańska 30 March 2024

Bizarre

Chilling Beauty: Exploring Europe’s Bone Churches

From the ancient period through the 18th century, European Catholics and Orthodox Christians displayed and maintained bones of the deceased to honor...

Julia Bourbois 28 March 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Aeneas Taken by the Sibyl to the Underworld by Jacob van Swanenburgh

Aeneas Taken by the Sibyl to the Underworld is one of only 11 known surviving works by Jacob van Swanenburgh. It is a rare gem of late Renaissance...

James W Singer 9 March 2024

Bizarre

Vile Bodies? Anatomy in Art

Are you ready to journey into the fascinating world of anatomical art? Read on, as we reveal flesh and blood art through the...

Candy Bedworth 4 March 2024

Alexandre Cabanel, Cleopatra, 1887, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp, Belgium. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Cleopatra by Alexandre Cabanel

Queen Cleopatra is a popular subject today – as she was in the late 19th century. Alexandre Cabanel’s Cleopatra explores a single moment of her...

James W Singer 3 March 2024

Queen Nefertari & Goddess Isis, New Kingdom, Dynasty 19, ca 1279-1213 BCE, pigment on plaster, QV66 Tomb of Nefertari, Valley of the Queens, Luxor, Egypt. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Queen Nefertari and Goddess Isis

Queen Nefertari and Goddess Isis is a fabulous masterpiece of ancient Egyptian art. The wall painting in the queen’s tomb captures the dream of...

James W Singer 3 March 2024

Artist Stories

The Dystopian Surrealism of Zdzislaw Beksinski

There are many fans of gruesome and gore art who are attracted to the dystopian surrealism of Zdzisław Beksinski. After all, he created such a...

Errika Gerakiti 21 February 2024

Frants Henningsen, Funeral, 1883, National Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Funeral by Frants Henningsen

Funeral by Frants Henningsen is a Danish masterpiece of emotions. It examines the different psychological reactions to love, loss, and...

James W Singer 18 February 2024

Aaron Douglas, Judgment Day, 1939, oil on tempered hardboard, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, USA. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Judgement Day by Aaron Douglas

Judgment Day by Aaron Douglas is a masterpiece of Black history. It encapsulates the dynamic culture of the Harlem Renaissance through its striking...

James W Singer 4 February 2024

Art History 101

A Small Guide to Still Life Symbols

You may think that all those marvelous Dutch still lifes from the 16th and 17th centuries were just some random sets of fruits, vegetables, and...

Zuzanna Stańska, Nicole Ganbold 20 January 2024

Baroque

The Best of Dutch Still Life: 6 Famous Painters

In the art world, it is commonly agreed upon that still life painting as a genre rose in the Netherlands in the last quarter of the 16th century. The...

Irina Diana Calu 20 January 2024