#Portraits

Artist Stories

Alec Soth’s American Landscapes and Global Interiors

Alec Soth is a contemporary American photographer who specializes in capturing his native US. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, he traveled across all...

Magda Michalska 4 November 2025

Photography

Theodore Marceau—The Genius Pioneer of Photographic Studios

Theodore Christopher Marceau (1859-1922) was an American photographer who pioneered the creation of a national chain of photographic studios in the...

Zuzanna Stańska 4 November 2025

Women Artists

Rediscovering Catharina van Hemessen: The Story of a Renaissance Artist in 6 Paintings

Do you know which artist created the very first self-portrait depicting themselves at work? Let me introduce you to Catharina van Hemessen. She was...

Anna Ingram 30 October 2025

Neoclassicism

Angelica Kauffman in 10 Paintings

Angelica Kauffman (1741–1807) was a Swiss Neoclassical painter. Despite the prevalent misogyny in the 18th-century art world, Kauffman gained fame,...

Jimena Escoto 30 October 2025

John Singer Sargent, Nonchaloir, 1911, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, USA. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Nonchaloir (Repose) by John Singer Sargent

John Singer Sargent’s Nonchaloir (Repose) is a masterpiece of American Impressionism. It explores a poetic moment of aristocratic...

James W Singer 26 October 2025

Photography

Salvador Dalí and Philippe Halsman: 37 Years of Collaboration

Salvador Dalí and Philippe Halsman’s 37-year collaboration challenged viewers and revealed connections between the traditionally realistic medium...

Theodore Carter 24 October 2025

Derrick Adams Monography. Derrick Adams Book Cover. Publisher's website. Review

Derrick Adams Monograph: A Celebration of Black Life

The Derrick Adams monograph, one of Monacelli’s newest releases, offers an in-depth look at the celebrated artist’s remarkable career. Organized...

Errika Gerakiti 23 October 2025

Music

Farinelli—The Best Castrato in Portraits

Castrati were male singers who had been castrated before puberty to retain the so-called voce bianca, that is unmutated voice, which therefore was...

Magda Michalska 23 October 2025

Artist Stories

Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun Travels Across Europe

Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun was a French portrait painter working in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. While her subject matter and color palette...

Natalia Iacobelli 23 October 2025

History

Joanna of Castile: Story of a Misunderstood Queen in Portraits

Joanna of Castile, also known as Joanna the Mad, was never expected to inherit the throne of Castile and Aragon in the 16th century. Due to her...

Anna Ingram 23 October 2025

Sor Maria Francisca de San Pedro, Juan Patricio Morlete Ruiz, 1760 Painting

An Instant Becomes Eternity: Nuns’ Profession Portraits in the 18th Century New Spain

At the beginning of the 18th century in New Spain (colonial Mexico), portraits of local elites became an essential genre. In a society with a strong...

Wen Gu 23 October 2025

Women Artists

Julia Beck—A Swedish Painter in Paris

Better known in France than in her home country, Julia Beck was a successful artist able to earn a living by producing art at the end of the 19th...

Natalia Tiberio 21 October 2025