art history

Two museum visitors are viewing a painting. The painting features a woman with a medium skin-tone wearing a dress and scarf and holding a piece of paper. It is framed by an arc with golden and floral ornamentation.
A Brief History of the First Women Artists With Solo Shows in the US

When thinking of women in the arts, names like Georgia O’Keeffe…

Tattooed inmate, post 1914. Charcoal print.
Mediterranean Tattoo Art and History Explored in Milan Exhibit

“Tattoo. Tales from the Mediterranean” is a captivating exhibition currently on display at the MUDEC— the Museum of Cultures in Milan, Italy— that invites visitors to investigate…

Unknown, Headdress Ornament, 1st–7th century. Made in Colombia, Calima (Yotoco). Gold. 8 1/2 × 11 1/2 ×1 1/4 in. (21.6 × 29.2 × 3.2 cm). The Met. Gift and Bequest of Alice K. Bache, 1966, 1977. 66.196.24.
A Brief Look at Sun Symbolism Through Art History
With the solar eclipse expected on April 8, we're feeling the importance of the sun. Here's a brief look at the sun as a symbol throughout art history.
French newspaper Excelsior proclaims,"The Mona Lisa has returned," January 1, 1914.
7 Shocking Incidents of Mona Lisa Vandalism & Theft
Towards the end of May 2022, a thirty-six-year-old man appeared to smear cake and icing across the lower half of the legendary Mona Lisa. Read on for more information about this attempted vandalism…
Made by the Cypriot culture in the Late Cypriot II period, ca. 1450–1200 B.C. Height is 8 3/16 in (20.80 cm). The Met Museum. The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by subscription, 1874–76.
10 Stunning Prehistoric Sculptures from The Met's Collection
This story particularly focuses on prehistoric sculptures from across the globe—which are often rather small and tend to depict humans, animals, or some combination of the two. The earliest…
Portable Camera Obscura, 1800s. Goethe Nationalmuseum, Weimar, Germany.
What You Don't Know About the World’s Oldest Photograph
Not the most impressive at first glance, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce's photograph from the window at Le Gras, with its blurred shadow-shapes of trees and buildings, was integral to the development of…
Hans Holbein the Younger, The Ambassadors, 1533. National Gallery of Art, London.
10 Terrifying Artworks from Art History
Here are ten great and significant artworks to put you in the Halloween spirit.
Venus of Willendorf as shown at the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria, in January 2020.
A Brief History of the Female Nude: From Willendorf to Kardashian
This list spans approximately 25,000 years of art-making and is by no means comprehensive. Although this history is complex, the manner in which the female nude appears through the ages is sometimes…
Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun
10 Fearless Women Artists Throughout History
With the opening of the exhibition, Making Her Mark: A History of Women Artists in Europe: 1400-1800, at the Baltimore Museum of Art, featuring the work of groundbreaking women artists across four…
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Art & Object Announces Rozalia Jovanovic as Its New Editorial Director

CHAPEL HILL, NC - Art & Object, the leading fine art news website, today announced a key change in editorial leadership. Co-founder Jeremy Howell, who served as the site's editor since…

Paul Gauguin, Femmes de Tahiti (Tahitian Women on the Beach), 1891. Oil on canvas. Musée d'Orsay, Paris.
Why People Hate Paul Gauguin
Many modern audiences, upon learning about the intricacies of Paul Gauguin’s life, adopt a distaste for him as a person. Even so, between bouts of deplorable behavior, Gauguin created art that many…
Frans Francken the Younger, Kunst- und Raritätenkammer (Chamber of Art and Curiosities), 1636. Oil on panel.
The Cabinet of Curiosities & Colonialism
Although such collections were kept by a wide range of groups and individuals—from Tsars to churches and apothecaries to scientific academies—a new wave of scholars have taken particular interest in…
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, At the Moulin Rouge, 1892:95, Oil on Canvas, The Art Institute of Chicago
Green in the 19th Century: A Cultural History
In many cultures, green is the color of rebirth and prosperity, a harbinger of life and spring. However, placed within the context of the nineteenth century, green begins to represent the…
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Schiaparelli’s Surrealism Lives On in New Collection
This past week, the fashion house of Schiaparelli debuted their couture collection featuring surrealist forms, realistic animal busts, and kitsch designs
John William Waterhouse painting of a woman in a white gown with long flowing red head looking distraught in a small boat
Meet the Femme Fragile, the Femme Fatale's Counterpart
The femme fragile was the product of its time: in the Victorian era, feminine weakness conveyed Godliness and mental purity.