#Portraits

Painting

Giovanni Boldini’s Beautiful Belles

Giovanni Boldini (1842-1931) was a popular society portrait painter in turn-of-the-century France and England. His elegant portraits are still much...

Alexandra Kiely 9 December 2024

Painting

Art and Science in Vermeer Paintings

As a scientist, I have always been attracted to images of science in works of art—whether a portrait of Newton, a depiction of Galileo using his...

Tom Anderson 28 November 2024

African Art

Martin Senkubuge: Fighting the Stigma of Vitiligo

At first glance, Martin Senkubuge’s drawings look like actual photographs. The artist is the founder of Part of Us, a visual campaign aimed to...

Vithória Konzen Dill 20 November 2024

Painting

Francis Bacon in 10 Paintings: Flesh and Distortion

Francis Bacon stands out as one of the most renowned postwar painters. His trauma fueled his emotions, crafting a disturbing world filled with dark,...

Errika Gerakiti 18 November 2024

Hanna Hirsch-Pauli, Friends, 1900-1907, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Sweden. Detail.  Women Artists

Hanna Hirsch-Pauli: Friendship Goals and Feminism in the 19th-Century Stockholm

Swedish artist Hanna Hirsch-Pauli (1864-1940) is best known for her genre scenes and portraits. She studied at the painting school of August...

Europeana 11 November 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Young Bacchus by Mary Beale

Mary Beale is a rarity: a prolific, well-documented, successful, 17th-century woman artist. Her painting of Young Bacchus perfectly illustrates how...

Catriona Miller 10 November 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Grace Dalrymple Elliott by Thomas Gainsborough

The Frick Collection has an amazing ensemble of European masters. For example, works by Vermeer, Fragonard, and Goya grace its walls. Every room has...

James W Singer 10 November 2024

Artist Stories

Powerful or Problematic? Robert Mapplethorpe’s Photographs

Photographer Robert Mapplethorpe shocked the world with his images of bondage, gay sex, female bodybuilders and naked black men. Technically brilliant or politically problematic, what do you think?

Candy Bedworth, Guest Author 4 November 2024

Baroque

10 Facts You Didn’t Know About Anthony van Dyck

Anthony van Dyck, a Flemish Baroque painter of remarkable skill, left an indelible mark on art history. His signature style of refined portraits and...

Jimena Aullet 24 October 2024

Painting

Famous Painters and Their Children

On June 1st, 1925, the World Conference for the Well-Being of Children held in Geneva, Switzerland, proclaimed June 1 to be International...

Magda Michalska 23 October 2024

Painting

These 4 Cute Children by Joshua Reynolds Will Make You Miss Childhood

Sir Joshua Reynolds, the first president of the British Royal Academy founded in 1768, was an exemplary painter. Having traveled to Italy on his...

Magda Michalska 23 October 2024

Ancient Egypt

The Bust of Nefertiti: Ancient Masterpiece or Genius Hoax?

On December 6, 1912, a team of excavators from the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft, led by Ludwig Borchardt, unearthed a wonderful work of art. They...

Montaine Dumont 18 October 2024