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
#Portraits
Anita Malfatti: The First Modernist of Brazil
Portraits of women made by other women are always worthy of attention. The representation of a woman by another is often less idealized or...
Rute Ferreira 22 May 2025
Fifty Shades of Dr. Pozzi
There he is, a handsome gynecologist in a portrait entitled Dr. Pozzi at Home painted by John Singer Sargent. Pozzi was a dandy, a gynecologist, and...
Zuzanna Stańska 20 May 2025
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
What Is a Tronie? Famous Examples of Tronies in Dutch and Flemish Baroque
Everyone knows The Girl with a Pearl Earring. She is the icon of European painting and considered one of the most famous female portraits – but is...
Anastasia Manioudaki, Nicole Ganbold 19 May 2025
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
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
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 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
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
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
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
