Art Movements

Artist Stories

Francisco Goya: The First Modernist?

Renowned as one of the most influential Spanish artists, Francisco Goya’s artistic prowess continues to bewitch and intrigue art enthusiasts...

Wendy Gray 17 June 2023

Artist Stories

Did Goya Make a Career?

Goya’s paintings are often disturbing and very very dark. It’s because his activity coincided with the last period of the Enlightenment, the...

Magda Michalska 17 June 2023

Romanticism

Francisco Goya’s Tapestry Cartoons

Francisco Goya’s work is well-known as dark and pessimistic. This reaction to his work is not uncommon, mostly due to the circumstances of his...

Anna Ingram 17 June 2023

Nicaise de Keyser, William II (1792-1849), King of the Netherlands, when Prince of Orange, 1846, Royal Collection, UK. History

Willem II: The Queer King of the Netherlands

Willem II ruled the Netherlands from 1840 to 1849. In modern terms he would be considered a bisexual man, as he had relationships with both women and...

Jimena Escoto 14 June 2023

King Louis XIV painted by Hyacinthe Rigaud, 1701 European Art

The Sun King’s Reflection: Portraits of Louis XIV

Louis XIV was definitely a great arts patron but sadly a slightly less great king. However, that didn’t stop him from being self-indulging,...

Magda Michalska 14 June 2023

Rococo

7 Things You Need to Know About Jean-Honoré Fragonard

Before reading on, you should know that Jean-Honoré Fragonard was a Rococo master. One can say that Fragonard was Rococo. The works of this French...

Zuzanna Stańska, Matthew Vazquez 14 June 2023

Art History 101

Essential Facts About François Boucher

François Boucher (1703-1770) was a French artist well-known for his Rococo-style artworks. His artworks are synonymous with the blossom of color and...

Kateryna Martynova 14 June 2023

Rococo

Everything You Need to Know About Venetian Rococo

Venetian Rococo played an important role in the 18th-century European art. Rococo covers the period from 1700 to 1799, also called settecento. Many...

Kateryna Martynova 14 June 2023

Herstory

The Hundred Faces of Kiki de Montparnasse

Kiki de Montparnasse was an actress, singer, and muse of Man Ray. Known as the “Queen of Montparnasse,” she influenced the trajectory of...

Zuzanna Stańska 12 June 2023

Lucas Cranach The Elder, The Suicide of Lucretia, 1525-30, Staatliche Museen, Kassel, Germany. Wikimedia Commons (public domain). Ancient Rome

A Woman with A Knife: The Story of Lucretia

If you see a woman with a knife in a painting – think of Lucretia. She was an ancient Roman heroine whose fate played a vital role in the...

Zuzanna Stańska 11 June 2023

Ancient Rome

The Portrait of Rome’s Decline: Bust of Decius

The turmoil of Rome’s decline in the 3rd century enclosed the 21-month reign of Decius. His tenure as emperor was not exceptionally short for the...

Guest Profile 11 June 2023

Renaissance

Masterpiece Story: The Calumny of Apelles by Sandro Botticelli

Botticelli’s final painting with a mythological subject is based on a lost painting by an ancient Greek painter Apelles. He ventured to...

Magda Michalska 11 June 2023