Trace Bradley

Trace is an amateur painter who turned her hobby into a lovely obsession. She is keen to learn everything about the most famous artworks ever created and aims to apply their techniques to her works. She documents her findings on Art-Facts to help you understand every aspect of paintings and other forms of art and gets back to her easel shortly after.

Henri Matisse (1869-1954) was one of the most influential French artists in history. Although he is famously known for his colorful paintings, he was also a renowned draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor. Many art historians place Matisse at the same level as Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), his contemporary and colleague, albeit over a decade younger. He was …

When an artist produces preparatory drawings that are at the same level as some of his most famous works, then you know it’s one of the greatest masters in history. Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863) was one of the leading Romantic artists of the 19th century and produced numerous monumental Romantic paintings. Color and emotion were the …

We don’t know all that much about the training of Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675), one of the greatest Dutch artists of the 17th century. His rather small oeuvre of delicate paintings was largely forgotten after the death of the Baroque artist. It was only rediscovered in the 19th century and features some of the most iconic …

The career of one of the greatest Dutch artists in history only spanned a decade. During this period, Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) painted at least 36 self-portraits. Produced in his distinctive vibrant and colorful style of the Post-Impressionist artist, many of these are now considered to be some of the most significant masterpieces in his …

One of the greatest artists in Austrian history made a rather drastic career switch in the late 19th century. Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) was one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement which was related to the ideals of the Art Nouveau artists. He initially started as an academic painter who admired the …

When Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) was in his early twenties, he earned a commission from a French Cardinal. The sculpture is now simply referred to as the Pietà (1498-1499) and became one of the greatest artworks in history. It’s still on display at St. Peter’s Basilica today and turned the Renaissance master into one of the …

The exact whereabouts of Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (1483-1520) in the early 16th century are a bit hazy. The Renaissance master probably lived a nomadic life as he traveled from one Italian city to another to complete his commissions. Despite this notion, some art historians still refer to the period between 1504 and 1508 as …

When you are a genius, you have an extremely active mind. One of the greatest geniuses in history suffered from this as he tried to solve multiple problems at once. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) is best known for his famous paintings and drawings, but he was a lot more. This polymath was also an inventor, …

One of the greatest Baroque artists in history spent nearly his entire life in Rome. Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) was a child prodigy who dreamed of creating monumental works of art for the most famous church in the city. That’s exactly what he did, and one of these works was a marvelous decoration for a …

One of the most renowned artists in Dutch history was already an incredible talent when he was still a teenager. He became a master in his early twenties and opened his studio in his hometown of Leiden in the 1620s. As he gained recognition, Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) produced one of the most remarkable artworks …