Articles

Sacred Heart. Unknown artist and date via Substack.

Rebecca Levenson

How the Sacred Heart Became an Icon in Art History

Every June, the Sacred Heart returns to public view, carrying a visual history shaped by centuries of artists, mystics, and devotion.

Joshua Johnson, Family Group, c. 1800 via National Gallery of Art

Eleanor Brooks

Underrated Portraits from the 15th to the 21st ...

These underrated portraits reveal how, over time, artists transformed portraiture through psychology, intimacy, symbolism, and identity.

Fra Angelico, Saint Anthony Tempted by a Lump of Gold, 1436 via Obelisk Art History

Jack Lowry

Defining Depictions of Saint Anthony in Art His...

Explore how and why Saint Anthony emerged as one of art history’s most enduring symbols of temptation, hallucination, asceticism, and psychological struggle.

Francesco del Cossa, Saint Peter (detail), 1472–1473 via Artsy

Margaret Allen

How Renaissance Painters Created Psychological ...

Through geometry, gesture, light, and devotional space, Renaissance painters developed forms of psychological stillness that shaped European art.

Jacques-Louis David, The Death of Socrates, 1787 via The Met/Public Domain.

Eleanor Brooks

This is What Actually Defines a Movement in Art...

From the Renaissance to modernism, art movements emerge through shared ideas, place, and time, shaped by artists, critics, and institutions.

Ugo Mulas, Jasper Johns in his studio, 1967, © Ugo Mulas Heirs. All rights reserved.

Taylor Grant

Rare Archival Images of Artists & The Role of P...

Archival photography shaped how artists are remembered, preserving selective moments that define artistic identity, authorship, and historical memory.

Natalia Goncharova, Nature morte aux fruits, c. 1913–14, via Sotheby’s

Samuel Reed

Russian Avant-Garde: From Folk Tradition to Abs...

Russian artists redefined painting through structure, abstraction, and material practice, shaping modern art across interconnected avant-garde movements.

Friedrich Vordemberge-Gildewart, Composition No. 142, 1943 via The Guggenheim

Taylor Grant

The Modernism Network Around Mondrian and His C...

A chronological network around Mondrian reveals how abstraction spread across Europe through exhibitions, travel, and exchange between artists and disciplines.

Pedro Berruguete, Annunciation via Wikipedia

Samuel Reed

Renaissance Art: Angels, Demons, and Sacred Dev...

Renaissance artists transformed sacred belief into vivid visual drama, shaping Europe’s imagination of angels, demons, and devotion.

Alejandro Piñeiro Bello, El Misterio de La Noche, 2024,© Alejandro Piñeiro Bello via Pace Gallery

Taylor Grant

Contemporary Painting and the New Cosmic Surrea...

Contemporary painters revive cosmic surrealism through celestial symbolism, psychic landscapes, and bodies transformed into metaphysical space.