If you are an art lover or just an artistic painting enthusiast, you should explore our in-depth articles about famous artists, movements, painting styles and iconic artworks. Learn about the lives of some of the most famous artists, their inspirations, influences, the record-breaking sales prices of their works, and sometimes even about a specific piece of artwork.
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London, National Gallery Joseph Wright, as his suffix tells us was born in Derby and spent much of his life there, excepting spells in Liverpool, London, Bath and Italy. Derbyshire was one of the principal centres of the early Industrial Revolution and Wright knew many of those who helped to shape it. Some years after … Read more
New York, Hispanic Society of America María del Pilar Teresa Cayetena de Silva Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duchess of Alba (1762–1802), was, after Queen María Luisa, the first lady of Spain. She was also considered one of the most beautiful and captivating women of her day. British traveler Lady Holland wrote that she had it … Read more
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art In this painting we are party to a parade de cirque – a sideshow or taster designed to whet the appetite of passers by and persuade them to part with their entrance fee in order to see the full performance of the circus within. Our attention is caught initially … Read more
Minneapolis Institute of Art Colour is central to Bonnard’s art but his working methods are also key to understanding his output. Bonnard never painted in front of his subject. His art is about memory. For him, to stand in front of a motif was a distraction. As he told one visitor towards the end of … Read more
Otterlo, Netherlands, Kröller-Müller Museum This painting was inspired by visits to a cabaret, La Divan Japonais and might be considered as complementary to Parade du Cirque of 1888, illustrating Seurat’s interest in places of entertainment. While Parade du Cirque features a ‘taster’ designed to entice people to experience the full show, this painting takes you past the … Read more
London, National Gallery This picture was probably painted to celebrate a marriage, indeed its shape may point to its origins as part of a wedding chest (cassone). The subject was also appropriate for a Florentine wedding of the period; Venus, the goddess of Love gazes in a somewhat detached way in the general direction of … Read more
The Hague, Mauristhuis On entering Room 15 at the Mauritshuis Picture Gallery in The Hague, the visitor’s eye is immediately drawn to perhaps the most famous townscape in all of western art. Johannes Vermeer’s great work is one of only two paintings to have survived that are devoted to this subject (which was something of … Read more
New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art It is surprising to learn that Vermeer, today one of most widely admired artists in the western world, fell into obscurity after his death. Even in his own lifetime he was not as successful as many of his celebrated contemporaries, such as Rembrandt or Pieter de Hooch. We do … Read more
London, Courtauld Institute Gallery On 28 June 1895 Paul Gauguin boarded a train at the Gare de Lyon in Paris. A few days later he was on board ship, beginning his second voyage to Tahiti. He would not see France again. At the age of forty-nine he was already in very poor health suffering from … Read more
London, Courtauld Institute of Art Degas sent work to all but one of the Impressionist group exhibitions between 1874 and 1886. But although he was a radically innovative painter in terms of his constant experimentation with new techniques and media, as well as his strikingly original compositions, his work was nevertheless grounded in a rigorously … Read more