Our growing archive of info about art, design, and culture.
The Le Nain brothers—Louis, Antoine, and Mathieu—were born in the early 1600s in Laon, a small town in northern France. Raised in a devout and hard-working family, the brothers moved to Paris…
The earliest art of the land that would become Turkey was not ornamental, illustrative, or decorative—it was spiritual architecture, cut from stone and earth to speak with gods. Perched on a windblown…
On October 16, 1869, two unsuspecting workers digging a well behind a barn in Cardiff, New York, stumbled upon what appeared to be a ten-foot-tall petrified man buried beneath the soil. The…
Few American paintings combine athleticism, artistry, and personal tribute as seamlessly as Max Schmitt in a Single Scull by Thomas Eakins. Completed in 1871, the work captures a solitary moment on Philadelphia’s…
The earliest human lives around what would become Helsinki unfolded in a landscape that barely resembles the modern capital—both in form and in scale. The Baltic Sea was a colder, more erratic…
Tucked into the rolling estates of Europe, you might stumble upon a miniature Roman temple, a weathered Gothic ruin, or even a pyramid, seemingly dropped into the middle of a manicured field.…
Albania’s artistic heritage occupies a peculiar position within the broader framework of European art history. It is both embedded in the great tides of Mediterranean civilization and curiously peripheral, often overlooked in…
Art has always been a mirror of civilization. From the cave paintings at Lascaux to Michelangelo’s David and Rembrandt’s stirring portraits, great works have reflected the values, faith, and aspirations of their…
The Palace of Westminster, more commonly known as the Houses of Parliament, stands as the heart of British political life and a defining symbol of constitutional monarchy. Nestled on the north bank…
Annibale Carracci (1560–1609) was a central figure in the reform of Italian painting in the late 16th century. Alongside his cousin Ludovico and brother Agostino, he co-founded the Accademia degli Incamminati in…
The White Mountains of New Hampshire, with their sweeping ridgelines, pristine valleys, and clear mountain light, captured the imagination of 19th-century American artists like few places ever had. These highlands, forming part…
Long before the chant of Buddhist monks echoed through the high plateaus and valleys of Tibet, the region bore witness to a rich spiritual and visual culture rooted in what is now…