You will hardly find a painting that reflects a painter’s career better than this 18th-century masterpiece by a renowned English artist. Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) managed to intertwine the type of painting he produced to get paid with the type of painting that he loved. This remarkable combination makes Mr and Mrs Andrews one of the …
Artworks
Very few artists in history have lived through 3 different art movements. This makes the career of Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun (1755-1842) quite special. She became the favorite portraitist at the French court during the final years of the Ancien Régime. The Rococo artist produced dozens of portraits of the royal family during this period. …
When a young French artist produced some of the most controversial paintings of the 19th century, it radically changed the direction of modern art. Édouard Manet (1832-1883) was never supposed to become a painter. His family was affluent and he could have easily built a career in either law or the navy as his father …
If you want to discover some of the most intriguing paintings ever produced, then the oeuvre of this Early Netherlandish painter from the Low Countries will surely fascinate you. Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516) produced some of the most fantastic paintings of the 15th and 16th centuries. The nature of its contents has been debated by art …
The early 14th century was an exciting time in the history of art and culture in Europe in general. A sense of naturalism emerged that revived the ideals of Classical antiquity. Many Gothic artworks produced during this era already showed signs of this transformation that would develop into the Renaissance, including the one described in …
The transition between the Dark Ages and the Romanesque era happened around 1000 A.D. Romanesque Artworks were produced all around Europe during this phase of the Middle Ages. The exact moment that the transition between Romanesque art and Gothic art happened remains a bit obscure. Gothic art emerged in northern France in the 12th century. …
There’s a cloud of mystery that surrounds one of the most amazing Romanesque artworks ever produced. Despite the fact that this incredible tapestry is virtually intact, we still know very little about the exact details of its creation. Let’s take a closer look at some of the most interesting facts about the Bayeux Tapestry, one …
When an aspiring French artist moved to Paris as a young man, he never managed to find his artistic breakthrough. He did, however, see the amazing paintings produced by Renaissance artists and Baroque artists in Italy. This motivated Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) to try his luck in Rome where he painted this work. In this article, …
Whether or not “Peasant Bruegel”, the nickname of Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525-1569), was a peasant himself or whether he simply romanticized peasant life remains unknown. What we do know is that this Renaissance artist loved to depict the common man as he was. This gives us a remarkable view of working-class life in the …
The Dark Ages is a term that emerged in the 14th century to describe the cultural decline of Western Europe following the Fall of the Western Roman Empire. This decline included the stop of monumental construction projects and the creation of artworks. Europe gradually crawled out of this dark hole and as certain regions such …