Art Forms

Painting

The Most Beautiful Gardens in Art

To help fight off the blues, here’s a guide to some of the most beautiful gardens in art. Both art and the outdoors offer solace and a calmness...

Charlotte Stace 16 April 2024

plakatstil Lucian Bernhard, Manoli, 1910, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA. Design

Plakatstil in the 20th Century: Modern Poster Design from Germany

By the beginning of the 20th century, young designers had moved on from the intricate forms of Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts. The first golden age...

Wen Gu 15 April 2024

House in Akashi, Hyogo Prefecture, Arbol, 2019. Image credit: Photo © Yasunori Shimomura (pages 38-39) Asian Art

Japanese Interiors: An Ode to Exterior Within Interior

In an essay included in his book Design as Art, published in 1966, artist and designer Bruno Munari lauded the simplicity, luminosity, and...

Ania Kaczynska 15 April 2024

Women Artists

Marion Mahony Griffin: No Apology in the World of Men

The name Marion Mahony Griffin (1871–1961) may not ring any immediate bells for you, but she was responsible for creating the unique look and feel...

Joanna Kaszubowska 15 April 2024

Design

The Last Craftsman. Exploring Henry van de Velde and the Passage of Modernism

Until 1972, the Museen zu Berlin exhibited, among other things, a teapot and its accompanying set. From above, the teapot is around 22 centimetres...

Geoffrey Bunting 15 April 2024

Long Read

Khon – The Art of Thai Dance

As an art form, Thai dance has been honed over many centuries. It is one of the great wonders of the human imagination. We can enter a theater, enjoy...

Marina Kochetkova 15 April 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Swing by Jean-Honoré Fragonard

Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732–1806) was the most prolific French painter of the 18th century. He created over 550 paintings embodying the spirit of...

James W Singer 14 April 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Madame de Pompadour by François Boucher

François Boucher (1703–1770) was the most celebrated French painter of the 18th century. His painting Madame de Pompadour captures the beautiful...

James W Singer 14 April 2024

François Clouet (School), Portrait of Louise de Lorraine, ca. 1575, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, USA. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Louise de Lorraine by François Clouet (School)

Portrait of Louise de Lorraine is a French Renaissance painting that exudes the artistic ideas of its time and captures the queen’s personal and...

James W Singer 14 April 2024

Arthur Hughes April Love, 1855-1856, Tate Britain, London, UK. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: April Love by Arthur Hughes

Today’s Masterpiece Story is about April Love – Arthur Hughes’ most celebrated artwork that perfectly embodies the Pre-Raphaelite...

Arianna Richetti 14 April 2024

WTF Art History

Forbidden Art – 10 Scandalous Cases of Censorship in Art

Art history is painted with shades of prohibition—works banned, artists silenced, and masterpieces under attack. From centuries past to the cutting...

Celia Leiva Otto 12 April 2024

Review

Rebel, Rebel: Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore

If I asked for your top 10 political artists, does Claude Cahun spring to mind? Marcel Moore? No, I guessed as much. But these two art activists had...

Candy Bedworth 12 April 2024