Masterpiece Stories

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

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, 1647-1652, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Roma, Italia. Masterpiece Stories

Ecstasy of Saint Teresa by Gian Lorenzo Bernini: Divine Bliss or Pure Erotic Pleasure?

Among the works of the famous sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680), the sculptural group called Ecstasy of Saint Teresa remains...

Montaine Dumont 24 October 2024

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, The Rape of Proserpina Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Rape of Proserpina by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Sail into the world of antiquity through the eyes of the Baroque artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. In the Borghese Gallery in Rome, you can find Rape of...

Ana Djoric 24 October 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Children Eating Grapes and a Melon by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo

Children Eating Grapes and a Melon, currently located in the Alte Pinakothek, is one of the most famous paintings by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. This...

Vithória Konzen Dill 23 October 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Pieter Bruegel’s Children’s Games Explained

Children’s Games is one of Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s most famous paintings. Just like in other works of his, it is debatable whether it was just...

Irina Diana Calu 23 October 2024

Wang Ximeng, One Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains, Song dynasty, 1113, ink and color on silk scroll, Palace Museum, Beijing, China. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: One Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains by Wang Ximeng

Wang Ximeng’s One Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains is a masterpiece of the Northern Song dynasty and of the larger history of traditional...

James W Singer 21 October 2024

manet monet quiz Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Luncheon on the Grass by Édouard Manet

Édouard Manet’s The Luncheon on the Grass (Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe) (1863) was one of the first works that broke away from established...

Catriona Miller 21 October 2024

Utagawa Hiroshige, Wind-tossed Waves at Seven-Mile Beach in Sagami Province, View No. 13 from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, 1852, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji by Hiroshige

Hokusai and his Wave have practically become symbols of Japan. It was first published in 1831 as a part of a larger series focusing on Mount Fuji, or...

Ledys Chemin 21 October 2024