#france

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 7 October 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Aubette by Theo van Doesburg

Have you ever visited Strasbourg in Alsace, France? It’s a charming city full of picturesque narrow and tiny houses scattered along the canals.

Magda Michalska 5 October 2025

Jean-Henri Riesener, Bureau du Roi, 1760-1769, oak, rosewood, bronze, gold, porcelain, enamel, glass, leather, Château de Versailles, Versailles, France. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Bureau du Roi by Jean-Henri Riesener

Jean-Henri Riesener’s Bureau du Roi is a masterpiece of 18th-century French art. It was and still is a designer piece fit for a...

James W Singer 5 October 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Harmony in Red by Henri Matisse

Sergei Shchukin once said “If a picture gives you a psychological shock, buy it. It’s a good one.” And the Matisse painting I would like to...

Zuzanna Stańska 28 September 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Raft of the Medusa by Théodore Géricault

Théodore Géricault completed The Raft of the Medusa when he was 27, and the work has become an icon of French Romanticism. It is a direct precursor...

Clinton Pittman 26 September 2025

Photograph of a building with a lot of decoration and relief scultpures. Architecture

Masterpiece Story: Opéra Garnier

When we talk about the beautiful sights of Paris, many first think of the obvious ones—the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre Museum, and the Notre-Dame...

Nikolina Konjevod 26 September 2025

Sculpture

Auguste Préault in 10 Romantic Sculptures

People once thought Romanticism belonged only to painting, not sculpture. Auguste Préault challenged that belief with bold creativity. The...

Errika Gerakiti 26 September 2025

Romanticism

Eugène Delacroix in 10 Paintings: Poetry, Passion, and Power

Early 19th-century French art was a battle between cool, crisp, precisely observed Neoclassicism and Romanticism’s passion for emotion, drama,...

Catriona Miller 26 September 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Belley by Girodet

Although representations of Black people were overlooked in European art for a long time, current social and political movements participate to...

Amélie Pascutto 26 September 2025

Rose Arbour at Giverny Women Artists

The Overlooked Genius of Blanche Hoschedé-Monet—The Monet You’ve Never Heard Of

Claude Monet may be one of the most celebrated artists of our time, but working alongside this towering figure of Impressionism was another artist...

Natalia Iacobelli 25 September 2025

Katy Hessel, The Story of Art Without Men, Suzanne Valadon, The Blue Room, 1923, European Art

Suzanne Valadon: Model, Painter, Rebel

Throughout her inspiring life, Suzanne Valadon transitioned from an in-demand model to a successful artist. Along the way, she challenged societal...

Lauren Kraut 23 September 2025

Painting

Suzanne Valadon in 5 Paintings

To truly understand Suzanne Valadon, we must look at her art. Let’s explore five of her most compelling paintings, each a testament to how her...

Nikolina Konjevod 23 September 2025