This work is an example of provocation with a purpose.
A-level themes
Divinity in stone, an early Buddha from Mathura.
A-level: A Buddha from Mathura
Like a disaster movie, Turner’s painting transforms a natural catastrophe — with death a near-certainty — into entertainment.
A-level: J.M.W. Turner, Snow Storm
How would you paint a picture of something that’s not quite representable… like the sound of voices chanting, a spiritual vision, a childhood memory, or a dream that you can’t remember?
A-level: Ibrahim El-Salahi, Reborn Sounds of Childhood ...
Sheltered by the sea, a study in place and feeling
A-level: Sheltered by the sea, Barbara Hepworth’s ...
How to impress your courtiers: a lesson from the Kingdom of Benin
A-level: Benin Plaques
In the suburbs, Parisians escaped the pressures of modern life. Monet painted their sun-drenched pleasures.
A-Level: Monet, The Basin at Argenteuil
With its almost sculptural surface and dazzling range of textures, this painting once reduced van Gogh to tears.
A-Level: Rembrandt, The Jewish Bride
What lies beneath the surface? Research into a “crusty” buildup of paint reveals Rembrandt’s editing process.
A-Level: Rembrandt, Aristotle with a Bust of ...
Whether responding to events in ancient Rome or contemporary Iraq, these artworks all take war as their theme.
A-Level: Sample set of works for War
Made for a sultan, this unusual automaton emblematizes the fierce hostility between British and Indian rulers.
A-Level: Tipu’s Tiger
These works explore questions of divinity, gender identity, ethnicity, and the urban environment.
A-Level: Sample set of works for Identities
Artists throughout history have engaged with the natural world, whether capturing coastlines or planting landfills.
A-Level: Sample set of works for Nature
These expressive funerary objects evolved from simple clay cylinders into animal, human, and building forms.
A-Level: Haniwa Warrior
Complete mayhem! The violent scenes of this remarkable handscroll meld grisly horror with morbid humor.
A-Level: Night Attack on the Sanjô Palace
Britain was at war, and its artists and writers represented a broad range of experiences.
A-Level: British Art and Literature During WWI
The Nazis organized two exhibitions in 1937: one glorified “Aryan” art, and the other condemned everything else.
A-Level: Art in Nazi Germany
A sinister tale of bloodlust and nepotism led to the tragic events Goya depicts in “the first modern painting.”
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