#Victorian Era

Women Artists

A House of Their Own: The Red Rose Girls

In an old house in Philadelphia at the turn of the 20th century, four women made their home and their art together. Three decades before Virginia...

Guest Author 8 January 2026

Women Artists

Elizabeth Thompson: The Most Disrespected Artist in Military History

Elizabeth Thompson was born in 1846 in Switzerland, 31 years after the country began its now two-century-long policy of military neutrality. In 1922...

Guest Author 25 December 2025

Women Artists

Rebecca Solomon: Success and Prejudice in the Victorian World

Rebecca Solomon was a Jewish woman who overcame contemporary prejudices to become a successful artist in mid-Victorian London. In 2022, Princeton...

Catriona Miller 15 December 2025

Art Nouveau

Masterpiece Story: The Climax by Aubrey Beardsley

Aubrey Beardsley’s legacy endures, etched into the contours of the Art Nouveau movement. His distinctive style, marked by grotesque imagery and...

Lisa Scalone 14 December 2025

Love Story

Women in Rossetti’s Life and Art: Muses and Lovers

Anyone who knows of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood will remember their style by the representation of a very particular type of woman—those with...

Bolor Jargalsaikhan 10 December 2025

A Victorian Christmas card featuring a robin in a top hat and a robin in a bonnet. The text reads: ‘Happy returns. Christmas comes but once a year.’ History

Victorian Christmas Cards: Strange or Timeless?

It’s thanks to the Victorians that the tradition of sending Christmas cards exists. The very first commercial Christmas card was sent in 1843, and...

Jenna Burns 2 December 2025

John F. Francis, Dessert, 1872, Godel & Co., Bedford, NY, USA. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Dessert by John F. Francis

The Dessert by John F. Francis is a masterpiece of still-life painting. Its colorful and elaborate composition reflects 19th-century American and...

James W Singer 28 October 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Flaming June by Sir Frederic Leighton

We have prepared a story about this truly warm painting that can leave you in flames…  Ladies and Gentlemen, Flaming June by Sir Frederic...

Joanna Kaszubowska 26 October 2025

James Tissot, The Gallery of HMS Calcutta (Portsmouth), 1876, Tate, London, UK Painting

James Tissot in 10 Paintings

James Tissot was a 19th-century French painter, mostly known for depicting the life of high society in London and Paris. Painting in mostly an...

Anastasia Manioudaki 29 September 2025

Artist Stories

Evelyn De Morgan, The Pre-Raphaelite Sister You May Not Know

Welcome to the work of Evelyn De Morgan. Jewel rich colors, gorgeously draped figures, and a feminist message—what’s not to like? But why is her...

Candy Bedworth 18 September 2025

Fashion

Get Inspired: Jewelry in Rossetti’s Paintings

Each piece of jewelry in Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s paintings worn by his models wasn’t invented but copied from actual accessories from the...

Bolor Jargalsaikhan 16 September 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse

Elaine, the white lady of Shalott, was portrayed in a painting by John William Waterhouse escaping a tower where she was only able to see the world...

Guest Author 12 September 2025