#Portraits

Rococo

How to Look Fabulous: Rococo Women Beauty Guide

How to look fabulous? That is the question! Let’s refer to the most splendid and opulent period of history: the 18th century. The Enlightenment era...

Kateryna Martynova 10 August 2023

Cats

Women with Cats in Art: Crazy Cat Ladies or Independent Individualists?

Within arts, cats can have a symbolic meaning, and that meaning may vary depending on the period of time. Their nocturnal habits gave them a negative...

Lauren Kraut 8 August 2023

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 7 August 2023

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 7 August 2023

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Two Sisters (On the Terrace) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

This beautiful painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir is known under two titles. The first one – Two Sisters (in French: Les Deux Sœurs) was given to...

Zuzanna Stańska 1 August 2023

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Portrait of Gabrielle d’Estrées and One of Her Sisters

To a 21st-century viewer, the portrait of Gabrielle d’Estrées might seem homo-erotic. However, pictured with her sister, the Duchess of Villars,...

Anna Ingram 1 August 2023

Painting

Sisterhood in Art: Portraying Sisters

It’s not surprising that many artists with sisters painted their portraits, especially early in their careers. They were probably easily available...

Europeana 1 August 2023

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Madame X by John Singer Sargent

Dear John Singer Sargent, the world has changed substantially since the year 1856 when you were born, however, your legacy has stood enduringly. You...

James W Singer 27 July 2023

John Singer Sargent, Lady Agnew of Lochnaw, 1892, Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, UK. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Lady Agnew of Lochnaw by John Singer Sargent

Lady Agnew of Lochnaw is a masterpiece by John Singer Sargent. It portrays a Victorian woman in a bold, modern manner. Sargent combined masterful...

James W Singer 27 July 2023

Painting

Beyond Madame X: Portraits by John Singer Sargent

John Singer Sargent is one of art history’s most famous portrait painters. He was born in Italy to American parents and received his formal...

Alexandra Kiely 27 July 2023

Johannes Vermeer, Girl With a Pearl Earring, c. 1665, Mauritshuis, Hague, The Netherlands. Wikimedia Commons (public domain). Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer

The Girl with a Pearl Earring is usually the first image that comes to mind when we think of Johannes Vermeer. It has inspired multiple references in...

Soledad Castillo Jara 23 July 2023

* 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 23 July 2023