The famous portrait, usually resident in France, is on a rare tour in the US. From looking at it, one might assume its subject had a tranquil, even monotonous, life. But one would be wrong.
David Wilkie, Chelsea Pensioners Reading the Waterloo Dispatch, 1822.
Criticism of Ohad Meromi’s ‘Sunbather’ has been swift and scathing. What does it say about our willingness to engage with art?
Drawings by male warriors – like Black Hawk’s ‘Dream or Vision or Himself Changed to a Destroyer or Riding a Bufalo Eagle (1880-1881)’ – often depicted visions perceived during meditation and fasting.
New York State Historical Association, Fenimore Art Museum/John Bigelow Taylor
With past controversies ranging from restoration to public toilets and present ones from oil sponsorship to selfie sticks, Gabriele Finaldi has a daunting task on his hands.
Some of the earliest applications of photography came in the fields of archaeology and botany. Pictured is a photograph from botanist Anna Atkins’ Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions (1843).
Artist Paul Gauguin is perhaps most famous for his colorful paintings of Tahitian life. But for years, art historians puzzled over his lesser-known prints: how did he form, layer and transfer images from one medium to another?
Marina Picasso is planning on selling a number of her grandfather’s works in the upcoming year.
AFP
Over the last nine years, more money has been spent on Picasso than on any other artist. How much does Picasso’s granddaughter stand to earn? And why are some in the art world concerned?
Graham Beal, the Director of the Detroit Institute of Arts, recently announced that he will be retiring after fifteen years at the helm. Two of his achievements particularly stand out. The first is his…
From where does opposition to depictions of Muhammad arise?
Bazuki Muhammad/Reuters
After the violent attacks on Charlie Hebdo – the French satirical weekly that routinely published caricatures of Muhammad – many are wondering: are depictions of Muhammad actually forbidden in Islamic…
Adolf Wölfli drawing from 1926: a prolific artist.
Wikimedia/Kulture Online
Organisations such as MIND work tirelessly to raise awareness of mental health problems and real progress has been made in destigmatising mental illness through campaigns such as Time to Change and Black…
The unfinished Crazy Horse memorial in Custer County, South Dakota.
Bernd00/Wikimedia Commons
More than a century after he died, the Lakota warrior Crazy Horse, who famously fought General Custer in the Battle of Little Bighorn, is thought of as transcendent force – attuned to the universe in a…
Honorary (Senior Fellow) School of Culture and Communication University of Melbourne. Editor in Chief, Design and Art of Australia Online, The University of Melbourne