1900: The Year in Art
The year 1900 did not drift in quietly. It arrived with fanfare, fireworks, and a glowing Paris that seemed to proclaim itself the cultural axis of the world. Electric light had begun…
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Our growing archive of info about art, design, and culture.
Fortress and Crown: The Architecture of Windsor Castle
Standing on a chalk hill above the River Thames in the English county of Berkshire, Windsor Castle is one of the most architecturally complex and historically significant royal residences in the world.…
Unraveling the Mystery of the Nazca Lines
Scattered across the parched plains of southern Peru, the Nazca Lines are one of the world’s greatest archaeological enigmas. These vast drawings, or geoglyphs, span hundreds of square miles in the Nazca…
Inspiration: “William Bethune With Wife and Daughter,” by David Wilkie
David Wilkie, a pillar of Scottish painting, captured not only faces but the very soul of his people. His portrait William Bethune with Wife and Daughter, painted around 1824–1825, stands as a…
Annah la Javanaise: Gauguin’s Most Controversial Paris Model
In the grand story of 19th-century art, many names have been immortalized for their brushwork, color theories, and stylistic revolutions. Yet woven into this same history are the quiet, often heartbreaking stories…
Why Painters Used Egg Tempera Before Oil Paints Took Over
Egg tempera is one of the oldest known painting mediums, stretching back thousands of years to ancient Egypt. Artists would grind mineral pigments and mix them with egg yolk to create a…
The Enigma of the Voynich Manuscript
The Voynich Manuscript stands as one of history’s most tantalizing puzzles. Written in an unknown language and illustrated with strange, otherworldly drawings, it has defied all efforts at translation and explanation. Since…
“The Moderns: Midcentury American Graphic Design” by Steven Heller and Greg D’Onofrio
The Moderns: Midcentury American Graphic Design is a compelling tribute to a transformative era in American design history. Authored by Steven Heller, a prolific design critic, and Greg D’Onofrio, an educator and…
The Dollhouse as Art
At first glance, a dollhouse might seem like a child’s toy—an object of play, imagination, and nostalgia. But look closer, and you’ll find something far more complex. The dollhouse is a meticulously…
Biography: Vlaho Bukovac
Vlaho Bukovac was born on July 4, 1855, in the small seaside town of Cavtat, part of Dalmatia under the Austrian Empire at the time. His birth name was Biagio Faggioni, reflecting…
Inspiration: “Portrait of a Man” by Signorelli
Luca Signorelli, born around 1445 in the Tuscan town of Cortona, was one of the most inventive and skilled painters of the Italian Renaissance. He trained under the great Piero della Francesca,…
Architectural Holocaust: The Global War on Christian Churches
In recent decades, a disturbing and deliberate trend has emerged: the arson and destruction of Christian churches. While vandalism and property crimes have always existed, the spike in targeted acts of violence…
