#Portraits

* Johannes Vermeer, Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid (c. 1670–71), National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin, Ireland. Artist Stories

5 Things You Should Know About Johannes Vermeer

Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch painter who lived and worked during the Dutch Golden Age. Along with Rembrandt and Frans Hals, he is considered one of...

Anastasia Manioudaki 19 May 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Whistler’s Mother by James McNeill Whistler

Whistler’s 1871 painting Arrangement in Grey and Black No 1 might not sound familiar. As Whistler’s Mother, on the other hand, it has entered...

Catriona Miller 11 May 2025

Painting

Mothers Who Became Muses: Portraits of Artists’ Mothers

Every great person has a prominent woman standing behind them, and that is true as every remarkable person was a child once. The woman standing...

Valeria Kumekina 9 May 2025

Painting

Habemus Papam! The Most Famous Portraits of Popes in Art History

For ages, the Catholic Church has been a hugely important patron of the arts. As the Papal States (which predated Vatican City) were enormously...

Zuzanna Stańska 8 May 2025

Contemporary Art

Amy Sherald: American Sublime at the Whitney Museum

Amy Sherald (b. 1973) has identified herself as “an American realist painter painting American people.” The current retrospective of her work...

Tom Anderson 5 May 2025

Fashion

Fashion Icons in Art

Art and fashion are often intertwined, and isn’t fashion a form of art after all? Not only can visual arts represent the fashion icons that marked...

Vithória Konzen Dill 5 May 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Is This Unicorn a Dog? Uncovering the Mysteries of Raphael’s Masterpiece

Portrait of a Young Woman with Unicorn by Raphael is one of the gems from the Galleria Borghese in Rome, currently on loan to the Gallerie...

Ela Bobek 1 May 2025

Photography

Watch Nicole Kidman as John Singer Sargent’s Sitters

In June 1999, Nicole Kidman was featured on the cover of Vogue. She was photographed and posed in a number of John Singer Sargent re-imaginings by...

Zuzanna Stańska 29 April 2025

Contemporary Art

Faces of Fame: 6 Lucian Freud Portraits of Celebrities Unfiltered

Lucian Freud stripped his subjects bare, both literally and metaphorically. Over his long career, the British painter captured the likenesses of...

Elizabeth Provost 29 April 2025

Contemporary Art

Official Portraits of Michelle and Barack Obama

In 2018, the official portraits of former U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama were unveiled, becoming part of the Smithsonian...

Karolina 29 April 2025

British royal portraits European Art

Power and Propaganda—The British Royal Portraits

Royal portraiture is a centuries-old tradition, but it might be called the forerunner of the posed selfie—an artfully curated image that is meant...

Candy Bedworth 29 April 2025

WTF Art History

Famous People and Their Doppelgängers in Art

Doppelgänger is a word of German origin (doppel- meaning “double,” and -gänger meaning “goer”). In old German folklore, it was believed...

Vithória Konzen Dill 29 April 2025