Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Wanderer above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich

Autumn is nipping at the leaves, and summer’s light is waning. Grab your favorite sweater and get ready to introspect like a Romantic because...

Coleman Richards 4 November 2024

Faith Ringgold, Self-Portrait, 1965, Brooklyn Museum, New York City, NY, USA. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

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 Stories

Masterpiece Story: Officer of the Hussars by Kehinde Wiley

Let’s talk about the Officer of the Hussars by Kehinde Wiley. Wiley is a Nigerian artist, based in New York, with studios in China and Senegal. He...

Joanna Kaszubowska 3 November 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Two African Men by Rembrandt van Rijn

In the discourse on the Black presence in Western history, it is taken for granted that Africans in art represented solely enslaved people, and their...

Nicole Ganbold 3 November 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando by Edgar Degas

Feats of strength, super flexibility, the ability to hold one’s breath for long periods of time, combine all that with lions, clowns, and a...

Rachel Witte 3 November 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The African King Caspar by Hendrik Heerschop

White subjects have dominated the Western art tradition for millennia, while people of color have been vastly underrepresented and misrepresented.

James W Singer 3 November 2024

Artemisia Gentileschi, Self Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria Masterpiece Stories

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

Andrew Wyeth: Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Christina’s World by Andrew Wyeth

Sometime between 1948 and today, Christina’s World evolved from a painting into an icon. There are only a handful of American paintings that have...

Guest Profile 27 October 2024

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 27 October 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Aeneas Taken by the Sibyl to the Underworld by Jacob van Swanenburgh

Aeneas Taken by the Sibyl to the Underworld is one of only 11 known surviving works by Jacob van Swanenburgh. It is a rare gem of late Renaissance...

James W Singer 27 October 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Abbey in the Oakwood by Caspar David Friedrich

Sadness and desolation fill this scene like an oppressive melancholy. The sun is dying behind the horizon as fog enshrouds the ground. Skeletal trees...

James W Singer 27 October 2024

Romanticism

Masterpiece Story: The Disasters of War Series by Francisco Goya

Francisco Goya (1746-1828) is considered to be the founder of the national genre in Spain. He was talented in many areas: portraits, historical...

Elizaveta Ermakova 27 October 2024