Artists

Johannes Vermeer, Girl with a Pearl Earring, c. 1665 Mauritshuis Collection, The Hague, Netherlands. Digital image: Wikimedia Commons. Everybody loves a good mystery. That may explain why, for generations, art lovers have sought to learn the identity of the unknown subject in Johannes Vermeer’s masterpiece, Girl with a Pearl Earring (1665–67). Her ineffable pose (looking …

The Enduring Mystery of Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring Read More »

Clara Peeters, Still Life of Fish and Cat, after 1620 Collection of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington DC. For a coterie of early modern women artists spanning the 15th to 18th centuries, the past decade has marked a whirlwind of rediscovery. Unlike many contemporary women artists who have experienced elusive or …

Interest in Early Modern Women Artists Continues to Grow Read More »

Jeff Koons in his studio, New York, 2024. Courtesy Gagosian and the artist Gagosian will once again represent Jeff Koons, the star sculptor who left the mega-gallery to join Pace’s roster in 2021. Wednesday’s announcement completes a return that began in May with a solo presentation held by Gagosian at the Frieze New York fair. …

Jeff Koons Returns to Gagosian After Leaving the Gallery Four Years Ago Read More »

Martin Beck, equilibrium: Dawn/Dusk in the Okefenokee Swamp (detail), 2023. Photo Manuel Carreon Lopez If you like the idea of zoning out and luxuriating in the sounds of a “Psychologically Ultimate Seashore” or an “Optimum Aviary,” you are not alone—and in fact are part of a lineage that traces back to a series of mind-altering …

Martin Beck’s ‘Environments’ Art Summons New Age Sights and Sounds Read More »

James McNeill Whistler, Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 (Whistler’s Mother), 1871 Collection of the Musée d’Orsay, Paris. Digital image: Wikimedia Commons. Until the advent of Abstract Expressionism, after World War II, American artists who wanted to be taken seriously were obliged to live and work in Europe, primarily in Paris and London. This …

Why Is Whistler’s Mother So Important? Read More »

Sandra Poulson. Photo Dami Vaughan When Sandra Poulson was growing up in the Angolan capital of Luanda, her father used to tell her off by saying, in Portuguese, “Este quarto parece uma República!” The phrase, which translates to “This bedroom looks like a Republic!,” was an indirect order for her to clean up her room, …

For Sculptor Sandra Poulson, Every Object Contains ‘Micro-Stories’ About Its Making Read More »

Louvre Palace, Paris. Getty Images The Louvre, France’s most famous museum, which welcomes some nine million visitors a year, is on the verge of an immense renovation. After director Laurence des Cars mentioned the institution’s deteriorating condition in a memo, French president Emmanuel Macron announced that the revamp will see Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, …

30 Must-See Masterpieces at the Louvre Read More »

Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1893 National Museum of Norway, Oslo. Digital image: Wikimedia Commons. Two paintings vie for the top spot in Western art history, earning them pride of place on countless postcards, posters, and tote bags among other forms of merchandise and mass media incarnations. One is Leonardo’s Mona Lisa, the other, Edvard Munch’s …

Why Edvard Munch’s The Scream May Be the First Modern Painting Read More »