Sources tell us that painting was the Greek’s finest art form: is this a hint at what we’re missing?
A-Level: War or revolution in 2D works
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?
Ibrahim El-Salahi, Reborn Sounds of Childhood Dreams
1066—William the Conqueror crossed the sea, invaded England, and became king. Language and art changed forever.
The Art of Conquest in England and ...
This screen offers an idealized bird’s eye view of Mexico City on one side, and depicts the Conquest on the other.
Biombo with the Conquest of Mexico and ...
Complete mayhem! The violent scenes of this remarkable handscroll meld grisly horror with morbid humor.
Night Attack on the Sanjô Palace
Painted for a divided US, people from North and South could identify with this image—others remain marginalized.
Richard Caton Woodville, War News from Mexico
Japanese objects came through Mexico on their way to Spain, and had a lasting impact on the arts of the New World.
Screen with the Siege of Belgrade and ...
The Italian city-states were constantly at war, but this battle is between surface decoration and deep space.
Paolo Uccello, Battle of San Romano
Time collapses in this ambitious painting. As the Greeks battle the Persians, the West fends off the Ottoman East.
Albrecht Altdorfer, The Battle of Issus
Napoleon masterfully manipulated his image, and this painting meant for Parisian audiences is pure propaganda.
Baron Antoine-Jean Gros, Napoleon Bonaparte Visiting the ...
On this marriage chest, domestic duties meet political concerns as Florence casts a wary eye on a changing East.
Cassone with the Conquest of Trebizond
Bare-breasted with a bayonet? Liberty leads a revolution that won’t be televised but will be seen in the Paris Salon.
Eugène Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People
Think of the children! In contrast to David’s earlier paintings, this scene extols the strength of women.
Jacques-Louis David, The Intervention of the Sabine ...
Delacroix’s scene of Greek survivors is anything but heroic and offers no relief to the suffering depicted.
Eugène Delacroix, Scene of the Massacre at ...
Delacroix paints an anti-hero who presides over a chaotic, violent scene of corruption and luxury.
Eugène Delacroix, The Death of Sardanapalus
Painted in front of MOMA visitors in 1940 as WWII waged on, Orozco’s mural depicts the triumph of war over humanity.
José Clemente Orozco, Dive Bomber and Tank
A visit to Paris, after preparing a study for this painting, changed Carrà’s whole approach for the final canvas.
Carlo Carrà, Funeral of the Anarchist Galli
Paintings of this size had historically exalted war, but this one suggests that war is anything but heroic.
Pablo Picasso, Guernica
Neshat’s series examines the complexities of women’s identities in the Middle East’s changing cultural landscape.
Shirin Neshat, Rebellious Silence, Women of Allah ...
This gigantic canvas is one of the most famous in the history of American art, but it wasn’t made in the USA.
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