#Symbols

Painting

Rainbows in Art History: A Symbol of Hope for a Better Future

Let us look at the significance of rainbows in art history across different cultures. Even though we now know the scientific reason behind rainbows,...

Anuradha Sroha 3 April 2023

Aleksandra Waliszewska, Untitled, 1997-2022, Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw, Poland. Contemporary Art

The Dark Arts of Aleksandra Waliszewska

Rather unsettling, quite macabre, and more than slightly erotic, the paintings and illustrations by Polish artist Aleksandra Waliszewska are...

Marta Wiktoria Bryll 23 March 2023

Expressionism

The Amazing Midnight Sun in Paintings: Edvard Munch’s Summer Nights

Edvard Munch was fascinated by the Norwegian summer light which evokes both tranquillity and anxiety, two feelings that Munch tried to capture in his...

Magda Michalska 14 March 2023

Art History 101

The Complicated History of Norse Mythology in Art

Literally speaking, mythology is an old-school kind of storytelling. “Mythos” is a Greek word for “story” while “logia” means...

Lana Pajdas 14 March 2023

Jacob Peter Gowy, The Fall of Icarus, 1635-1637, Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain. Detail. Baroque

The Fall of Icarus: Drama in Baroque Painting

Imagine you’re standing in front of a painting that tells the tragic story of Icarus falling from the sky. The artist’s task was not only...

Lana Pajdas 11 March 2023

John William Waterhouse, The Soul of the Rose, 1908. Wikimedia Commons (public domain). Detail. Art State of Mind

Viva Floralia! All Flowers in Art

The Floralia festival was celebrated in Ancient Rome in honor of the goddess Flora. Because there is nothing more beautiful than flowers and,...

Andra Patricia Ritisan 28 February 2023

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Vase with Flowers by Rachel Ruysch

Let’s discuss one of the greatest still-life artists: Rachel Ruysch. Still-life paintings do not draw the crowds at museums. They are often...

James W Singer 28 February 2023

Women Artists

Dream-Like Artworks: Minnie Evans’ Divine Inspiration

Folk Art, Surrealist, Visionary, Americana, call it what you will. Minnie Evans’ (1892—1987) dream-like artworks speak of another world, a world...

Rachel Witte 25 February 2023

Balenciaga SS2022. Fashion

Royal Fashion: From Palace to Runway

Social status has always been signaled through fashion. The monarchs knew their garments needed to stand out in order to distinguish themselves from...

Errika Gerakiti 23 February 2023

Animals

Blue Faience Hippopotamuses of the World – Unite!

Blue faience hippopotamus was a popular statuette in ancient Egyptian art. They considered it to have positive traits associated with fertility and...

Zuzanna Stańska 15 February 2023

Fashion

Medusa Jewelry That Had the Power to Petrify

Since ancient times jewelry hasn’t only been a fashion detail or simple ornament, but a status symbol with a variety of meanings. On it, among...

Ana Djoric 9 February 2023

Jan van Eyck, The Arnolfini Portrait (detail), 1434, The National Gallery, London, England. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck

The Arnolfini Portrait is as enigmatic as it is iconic. Painted by Jan van Eyck in 1434, it spawns a lot of speculation – over half a millennium...

Vithória Konzen Dill 29 January 2023