Masterpiece Story: Young Bacchus by Mary Beale
Mary Beale is a rarity: a prolific, well-documented, successful, 17th-century woman artist. Her painting of Young Bacchus perfectly illustrates how...
Catriona Miller 10 November 2024
#Self-portraits
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, Guest Profile 4 November 2024
Masterpiece Story: Self-Portrait by Faith Ringgold
Self-Portrait by Faith Ringgold is a masterpiece of 1960s portraiture, feminist art, and Black...
James W Singer, 3 November 2024
Masterpiece Story: Self-Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria by Artemisia Gentileschi
Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–c. 1656) was “one of the best Italian Baroque painters.” Despite this, you won’t find any of her works in...
Chris Dobson 1 November 2024
Masterpiece Story: Self-Portrait in a Straw Hat by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun
Why is art history predominantly focused on male artists? Are there not enough female artists to fill textbooks? Of course, there are enough, but the...
James W Singer 13 October 2024
Pontormo: The Neglected Mannerist Painter
Pontormo was a Renaissance painter, admired by both Michelangelo and Raphael. His first apprenticeship was in Leonardo da Vinci's workshop. His work is treasured by The National Gallery and The Uffizi. His luminous work is truly magnificent, so why is he so neglected?
Guest Profile 7 October 2024
Léon Spilliaert: Symbolism and Longing in His Art
A literary fan of Edgar Allan Poe with a Symbolist approach to painting, Léon Spilliaert thrives in the disenchantment, emotion, and decadence that...
Yasmin Ozkan 3 October 2024
Rare Photographs by Edgar Degas
On August 19, 1839, the French government acquired the patent for the daguerreotype and made it the first publicly available photographic process. As...
Zuzanna Stańska 27 September 2024
Hermenegildo Bustos: Self-Taught Painter of the People
Hermenegildo Bustos was one of Mexico’s most renowned painters of the 19th century. Despite the lack of Academic training, his portraits stood out...
Jimena Escoto 2 September 2024
Masterpiece Story: Tamara de Lempicka’s Autoportrait (Tamara in a Green Bugatti)
Heralded as one of the greatest Polish artists of all time, Tamara de Lempicka (1898-1980) painted the aristocracy in France and the United States in...
Isabella Hill 29 August 2024
10 Most Famous Self-Portraits by Female Artists
Although known as a modern day invention, selfies have actually been around for centuries, albeit in the more traditional form of self-portraits.
Charlotte Stace 26 August 2024
