#france

Realism

Gustave Courbet in 10 Paintings

Gustave Courbet was the bad boy of 19th-century French art. A political and artistic radical, he was imprisoned after the failed 1871 Commune and...

Catriona Miller 11 May 2026

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 11 May 2026

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 11 May 2026

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Monet’s Garden at Giverny

Claude Monet loved gardening almost as much as he loved painting. When he finally settled in Giverny, he created a natural masterpiece which acted as...

Catriona Miller 3 May 2026

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Meules by Claude Monet

Claude Monet, the master of Impressionism, loved to paint in series. The one with haystacks (in French called meules) is his most well-known, and was...

Zuzanna Stańska 3 May 2026

Impressionists, Claude Monet, Water Lilies, 1906 Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Water Lilies by Claude Monet

Water Lilies is a masterpiece of Impressionism. It blends the artist’s objective world and subjective...

James W Singer 3 May 2026

Claude Monet, Impression Sunrise, 1872, Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris, France. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Impression, Sunrise by Claude Monet

Claude Monet’s Impression, Sunrise is a masterpiece of Impressionism that captures the elusiveness and the impermanence of an autumn...

James W Singer 3 May 2026

Impressionists, Gustave Caillebotte, The Floor Planers, 1875 Painting

Jobs in Art Which Don’t Exist Anymore (or Seem Not To)

I think the following motto perfectly fits today as we celebrate all the workers of the world (students count too!). On this occasion I would like to...

Magda Michalska 1 May 2026

Fauvism

Circus and Jazz of Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse (1869-1954) was a renowned French artist celebrated for his bold use of color. One of his lesser-known masterpieces, The Circus, is a...

Isla Phillips-Ewen 30 April 2026

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, At the Moulin Rouge, The Dance, 1890, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: At the Moulin Rouge, The Dance by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Tonight the Moulin Rouge is bursting at the seams. Men in dark coats and distinguished women dance and converse on the buzzing floor. Each has a...

Ruxi Rusu 29 April 2026

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette, 1876, Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette is a masterpiece of French Impressionism and a celebration of happiness and...

James W Singer 29 April 2026

Edgar Degas, Blue Dancers, 1899, Pushkin Museum, Moscow, Russia Impressionism

Edgar Degas and His Most Beautiful Ballerinas

Edgar Degas was one of the founding artists of Impressionism, however, he didn’t like the term and preferred to call it “Realist” or...

Zuzanna Stańska 29 April 2026