In 1848, a secret society of artists took root in Victorian England. Known as the Pre-Raphaelites, members of this brotherhood believed that painting had blossomed before the Renaissance, citing Raphael's idealist approach to subject matter as the age-old discipline's downfall.
When listing famous Renaissance artists, it's impossible not to think of Raphael.
During the Renaissance, Michelangelo made a name for himself as a master of humanist sculpture.
In 1830, French artist Eugène Delacroix described an ambitious new project in a letter to his brother. “I have undertaken a modern subject, a barricade, and although I may not have fought for my country, at least I shall have painted for her,” he wrote. “It has restored my good spirits.” This work-in-progress would become Liberty Leading the People, a large-scale painting portraying a subject favored by forward-thinking artists: revolution.
If you’ve ever spent time in China during the summer, you probably recall seeing people on the streets waving their...
Every color has a story and the color green is no different. Today, it's most commonly associated with nature.
In the Middle Ages, religious worship reached heavenly new heights with the advent of the illuminated manuscript. A devotional text hand-decorated with intricate imagery and glistening gilding, this type of book became popular with Europe's literate elite. While many examples of this ethereal codex exist today, there is one that floats above the rest: the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. This 15th-century book of hours is among the world's most celebrated illuminated manuscripts.
In 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, American morale was at an all-time low.
Birds have long been a source of fascination for artists, but perhaps no artist has had more of an influence...
In the 1870s, forward-thinking artists in France set modern art into motion when they established Impressionism. By the turn of the 20th century, several modernist movements were in full-swing across the country, including Art Nouveau and Post-Impressionism. By 1905, Fauvism had also found its footing, putting color-minded artists like Raoul Dufy on the map. While Dufy got his start as a watercolorist, his polychromatic practice evolved over his 50-year-career.
In the middle of the 20th century, the Civil Rights Movement brought much-needed change to the United States of America.
No performing art is quite as fascinating as puppetry.
