#france

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Still Life with Mackerel by Anne Vallayer-Coster

Anne Vallayer-Coster was one of the foremost still-life painters in 18th-century France. She was enormously prolific and extremely popular. Her works...

James W Singer 9 March 2025

Katy Hessel, The Story of Art Without Men, Suzanne Valadon, The Blue Room, 1923, European Art

Suzanne Valadon: Model, Painter, Rebel

Throughout her inspiring life, Suzanne Valadon transitioned from an in-demand model to a successful artist. Along the way, she challenged societal...

Lauren Kraut 5 March 2025

Women Artists

Female vs. Male Gaze: Suzanne Valadon’s Reclining Nude

Female nudes are prevalent throughout art history. There are ancient mythological goddesses, the Biblical Eves and Susannas, and then there are the...

Lauren Kraut 5 March 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Self-Portrait in a Straw Hat by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun

Why is art history predominantly focused on male artists? Are there not enough female artists to fill textbooks? Of course, there are enough, but the...

James W Singer 2 March 2025

Post-Impressionism

Vincent van Gogh’s Iconic Sunflowers

Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers are probably among the most famous paintings of all time. The artist loved these yellow flowers and painted them...

Anastasia Manioudaki 28 February 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Two Sisters (On the Terrace) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

This beautiful painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir is known under two titles. The first one – Two Sisters (in French: Les Deux Sœurs) was given to...

Zuzanna Stańska 25 February 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Theatre Box by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Entertainments such as cabarets, theatres, and the circus were popular themes among the Impressionist painters whose mission was portraying modern...

Zuzanna Stańska 25 February 2025

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette, 1876, Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette is a masterpiece of French Impressionism and a celebration of happiness and...

James W Singer 25 February 2025

Painting

A Fire in His Soul: How Paris Changed Vincent van Gogh

In his new book A Fire in His Soul, Miles J. Unger gives us Vincent van Gogh as we’ve never seen him before—abrasive, intransigent, egotistical,...

Ledys Chemin 21 February 2025

Artist Stories

Henri Rivière: Parisian Master Printmaker

Henri Rivière was a painter, printmaker, and designer. He had a unique aesthetic that combined an Impressionist sensibility, Japanese printmaking...

Louisa Mahoney 21 February 2025

Impressionism

Gustave Caillebotte’s Paris: Modern, Middle Class, and Masculine

Some of Gustave Caillebotte’s most famous paintings show the Parisian boulevards with an Impressionist aura. Yet what exactly he chose to...

Catriona Miller 21 February 2025

Artist Stories

Stroll Through Paris with Edward Hopper

Edward Hopper is known as one of the premier recorders of American mid-century life. Or mid-century malaise might be a better way to put it:...

Louisa Mahoney 21 February 2025