Our growing archive of info about art, design, and culture.
Karol Dominik Witkowski was born to a Polish family in Jazłowiec (Jaslowiec), near Buchach, Czortków (Podole, Poland, now Ukraine). As a child, he showed a precocious talent for drawing and his parents sent him to school in Chortkiv (12 miles…
Gone are the days when the humble pencil and sketchpad were the primary tools of artists, sculptors, and designers. The smell of graphite and the feel of paper under fingertips evoke a…
Jāzeps Grosvalds was born on 24 April 1891 in Riga as son of well-known Latvian lawyer Frīdrihs Grosvalds. His family was quite wealthy and their apartment in the center of Riga was a gathering…
Sculpture has been a cornerstone of artistic expression for centuries, capturing the human spirit in stone, metal, and other materials. But in today’s fast-paced, digital world, is traditional sculpture becoming obsolete? Or…
In 1989, a photograph titled “Piss Christ” by Andres Serrano sparked outrage across the United States. Funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the image of a crucifix submerged in the…
Nikolaos Gyzis, a prominent Greek painter and academic figure, was born on March 1, 1842, in the village of Sklavohori, Tinos, Greece. His life and artistic journey unfolded during a period of…
Jean-Louis Forain, born on October 23, 1852, in Reims, France, emerged as a versatile and perceptive artist whose work spanned the realms of painting, drawing, and caricature. His journey through the transformative…
The year 1896 did not announce itself with revolution, but it carried a tremor beneath its skin. It was a year that quietly gathered tensions, stylistic contradictions, and anxious visions of the…
Louise De Hem (1866-1922) was a notable Belgian painter and illustrator, whose work is recognized for its significant contribution to the fin-de-siècle art scene in Belgium. Born in Ypres, her full name…
Art installations are often mesmerizing, transporting us to new dimensions through their creativity and ingenuity. When we step into a gallery or a public space to witness these grand works, we are…
Carlos Schwabe, a Swiss symbolist painter and printmaker, stands as a luminary figure in the rich tapestry of the Symbolist movement that flourished during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born…
The Beaux-Arts façade and its deceptive grandeur There is something both familiar and uncanny about arriving at the Musée d’Orsay for the first time. From across the Seine, its symmetrical stone façade,…