Although the style implies a rapid or even slipshod painting process, Open Window, Collioure was carefully orchestrated in every aspect.
Location: National Gallery of Art
Though at first glance this nude seems plucked from classical antiquity, it actually alludes to modern politics.
Hiram Powers, The Greek Slave
Frankenthaler doesn’t paint the landscape per se, but offers an intuitive response to Cape Breton in Nova Scotia.
Helen Frankenthaler, Mountains and Sea
Sartre described Giacometti’s figures as “halfway between nothingness and being,” but “very skinny” works too.
Alberto Giacometti, Walking Man II
This canvas was rolled, varnished, reworked, and revised again. A classical scene, it once hung in a study.
Giovanni Bellini and Titian,The Feast of the ...
Can you paint a portrait of place? Constable makes a case for it with this idyllic depiction of a country estate.
John Constable, Wivenhoe Park, Essex
As the low candles and late hour suggest, Napoleon is short on time. David captures the twilight of his reign.
David, The Emperor Napoleon in His Study ...
Professional female artists were few in the Dutch Republic. Here, Leyster cultivates confidence in her abilities.
Judith Leyster, Self-Portrait
With honesty and directness, Rembrandt paints a “selfie.” His marked face captures aging—and the painting process.
Rembrandt, Self-Portrait (1659)
Is it a cautionary tale of vanity? A prompt for introspection? Art historians are still weighing the evidence.
Johannes Vermeer, Woman Holding a Balance
Have print, will travel. New technologies of mechanical reproduction allowed Dürer to circulate his artistic ideas.
Albrecht Dürer’s woodcuts and engravings
Quiet and meditative, two kneeling shepherds set the painting’s tone—and allow the viewer to join them in worship.
Giorgione, The Adoration of the Shepherds
The subject of this painting is breaking almost as many taboos as the artist who painted it.
Édouard Manet, Plum Brandy
This modest painting never feels cramped in its circular frame. For all her humility, Mary has a monumental grace.
Raphael, The Alba Madonna
Depicting his subject in motion was a departure from the norm, making this painting the talk of the town.
Gilbert Stuart, The Skater
The violence and physicality of this boxing match reflect contemporary racial tensions in pre-WWI New York.
George Bellows, Both Members of This Club
Nothing says “I love you” like depicting your girlfriend as a “prop” without mood, personality, or expression!
Whistler, Symphony in White, No. 1: The ...
Church was the child star of nineteenth-century landscape painting; these astonishing canvases show us why.
Frederic Edwin Church, Niagara and Heart of ...
This dignified portrait of a Native leader belies the cruel treatment he endured at the time of its painting.
George Catlin, The White Cloud, Head Chief ...
A former orphan, Watson became a wealthy and influential man—after surviving a near-fatal shark attack.
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