#france

Museum Stories

10 Spectacular Hidden Gems at the Louvre Museum

The Louvre Museum in the heart of Paris is home to an incredible collection of artworks. Everyone knows it includes Mona Lisa, Nike of Samothrace,...

Camilla de Laurentis 16 June 2025

Nike of Samothrace, ca 200-175 BCE, Parian and Lartian marble, Paleopoli, Samothrace, Greece, Musée du Louvre, Paris, France. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Nike of Samothrace

Nike of Samothrace is the masterpiece of an unknown Hellenistic artist. While the artist’s story may be unknown, the statue’s story is as complex...

James W Singer 11 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

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: A Burial at Ornans by Gustave Courbet

Who nowadays doesn’t appreciate Gustave Courbet‘s striking realism? We all do, but as happens with many geniuses, Courbet was not appreciated by...

Magda Michalska 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

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Portrait of Gabrielle d’Estrées and One of Her Sisters

To a 21st-century viewer, the portrait of Gabrielle d’Estrées might seem homo-erotic. However, pictured with her sister, the Duchess of Villars,...

Anna Ingram 9 June 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Self-Portrait with Her Daughter by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun

Self-Portrait with Her Daughter, Julie by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun is a portrait masterpiece blending fashionable elegance and emotional naturalism.

James W Singer 1 June 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Madame de Pompadour by François Boucher

François Boucher (1703–1770) was the most celebrated French painter of the 18th century. His painting Madame de Pompadour captures the beautiful...

James W Singer 25 May 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: La Toilette by François Boucher

The soft rustle of silky cloth and the hard crackling of burning wood echo against the yellow-papered walls of the boudoir. The small room is...

James W Singer 25 May 2025

Cubism

Georges Braque – The Second Father of Cubism

Everyone knows Pablo Picasso and considers him the father of Cubism. Everyone also knows that success has many fathers. Today, let’s talk about...

Joanna Kaszubowska 23 May 2025

Pablo Picasso, Self Portrait, 1901, Musée Picasso, Paris, France. Cubism

Pablo Picasso in 8 Periods: Everything You Need to Know

Pablo Picasso, a prolific producer of paintings, prints, ceramics, and sculpture, his work has perhaps become over-familiar. Equally, in recent years...

Catriona Miller 23 May 2025

Dance

How Did Paris Fall in Love with Ballets Russes?

Ballets Russes was a ballet company founded by the famous impresario Sergei Diaghilev. No doubt, Ballets Russes made Russian ballet famous all around...

Guest Author 21 May 2025