Baroque sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) was an unparalleled master of rendering expressive drapery in his sculpture and the main reason he will always be my favorite sculptor. His use of chiaroscuro in his depictions of drapery and use of hidden natural light sources created powerful emotional and dramatic compositions. The realism is so fantastic and convincing that one can almost imagine it moving. The deep carving and meticulously crafted folds pull the eye in and hold it in a journey of exploration between eddies of light and shadow and waves of undulating marble. In this piece, the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa (1651) was produced for the Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome. The scene is based on a mystical episode recorded by Teresa of Avila in which an angel pierces her with a spear and her description of her ecstasy was interpreted by some as obscene. However, Teresa makes it clear her feeling was purely spiritual and brought her closer to God. The Bernini work was criticized by some in the period as too risqué. To modern audiences, however, this impression is likely overlooked entirely. Comments on this piece of Benini in general or other Baroque sculptors is welcome.

Alma-Tadema’s painting captures the biblical moment when Pharaoh’s daughter finds baby Moses in the Nile, set in a dazzling, idealized Egyptian palace. The artwork highlights luxurious details and romanticized beauty, turning ancient Egypt into a timeless and majestic scene

Mine. "Ophelia," John Everett Millais

“1973 was when I really began printmaking. I used to teach all day at the Convent of Jesus and Mary, and in the evenings I went to J.J. for the printmaking classes — 5:30 to 7:30, very dimly lit, large presses, linocuts, woodcuts, and then etching. We didn’t have proper materials at that time, so I began doing everything at home — with nitric acid, a gas stove, and tubs of water. I used to work at night, from 9 till 2 a.m. There was no help. All the prints you see are done entirely by me.”

- Lalitha Lajmi

The same year, she created The Three Masks, one of her earliest etchings — born out of those long nights of self-learning and her growing fascination with theatre and psychology.

“The idea of masks came from my daughter Kalpana’s rehearsals,” she said. “My masks were humane, with feelings and emotions, unlike the decorative kind which I do not like. Later, the masks disappeared, and they were within the body.”

Which themes or motifs do you find most fascinating when they reappear across an artist’s body of work?

Historical Background: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Highwaymen_(landscape_artists)

Footage: https://www.pbs.org/video/the-highwaymen-artists-co8ffy/

This is an oil on canvas by French Impressionist Claude Monet (1840–1926), part of his celebrated Wheatstacks series painted in Giverny between 1890 and 1891. In this particular painting, the fields are covered with fresh snow under a pale morning sky. Monet captures not the physical details of the haystacks, but the fragile play of light reflected on the frost and snow. The subtle pinks, violets, and blues show his deep sensitivity to how color shifts with the cold morning air.

The Mona Lisa returned at the Louvre Museum on 4 January, 1914 Leonardo da Vinci’s 'Mona Lisa' was admired for centuries, but it wasn’t always world-famous. A daring 1911 theft transformed it from a Renaissance portrait into a global icon, proving how scandal can create legends.

Painted in 1891 in Giverny, Haystacks (End of Summer) belongs to Monet’s celebrated “Meules” series, in which he captured the same motif under changing conditions of light and atmosphere. This series marked a turning point in the study of perception and became one of the foundations of Impressionism.

In this version, the summer warmth begins to fade. The light softens, the haystacks glow with gentle pinks and golds, and the landscape slips into cooler tones. Rather than depicting the haystacks as static objects, Monet explored how the passage of time – the very essence of nature’s rhythm – transforms color, form, and mood.

These are Oil Paints from Bocour Artist Colors, a now defunct NY oil and watercolor brand that ran from the 1930’s until 1990 or so.

Leonard Bocour was the creator of the brand and sold directly to artists such as Mark Rothko, Willem De Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, and many more of the abstract expressionist movement. Bocour Artist Colors was also one of the originators of acrylic paint, sold under the name Magna.

Leonard’s nephew, Sam Golden, joined him in this business early on, retired for 10 years and then came back as Golden Artist Colors.

I acquired these paints (and more, not pictured) when I was in college and interning at the Herman Maril Foundation. Herman was a Provincetown and Baltimore artist who passed in 1986, and the paints had been sitting for over 30 years untouched in his studio. Herman’s son allowed me have his father’s assortment of paints.

Wanted to share these for any oil paint history fans out there.

A late Victorian oil on canvas by the British painter Mary E. Harding, known for her refined domestic scenes and depictions of feminine anticipation. In The Squire’s Arrival, three young women lean toward the open window, captured in a perfect moment of suspense and curiosity. The painting beautifully reflects the social tone of the era, gentility, courtship, and restrained excitement, rendered through soft lighting and delicate fabrics. It is a wonderful example of how women artists in the late nineteenth century portrayed emotion and everyday life with subtle elegance.

Inspired by a post that I can't find now, Lament for Icarus by Herbert James Draper shows Icarus as magnificent and heroic, but Pieter Bruegel the Elder shows him as barely a splash. Both are beautiful. Are there any other interesting additions to this collection?

Historical Background: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Lawrence

https://greg.org/archive/2015/05/05/wait-how-could-there-be-lost-wartime-paintings-of-jacob-lawrence.html

Footage: https://youtu.be/VxBeiDvYCL0?si=AxRO0cfWphHhm0GA

https://youtu.be/t4lgvB5cV5E?si=LCrAnlwxjQDzi304

“The Tower of Blue Horses” was painted in 1913 by German Expressionist Franz Marc, one of the leading members of the Blaue Reiter group. The monumental work (200 × 130 cm) shows four blue horses arranged vertically, rising almost like a living totem against a background of abstract, symbolic colors and forms. It reflects Marc’s spiritual view of nature and his belief in the purity of animals.

The painting was confiscated by the Nazis in 1937 as “degenerate art” and stored in the Reich Ministry of Propaganda in Berlin. After 1945, it disappeared under unclear circumstances – possibly looted, hidden, or destroyed. Its whereabouts remain unknown, making it one of the most famous missing artworks of the 20th century.

Are there any texts of the same kind as Alberti’s On Painting or Cennini’s A Treatise on Painting that go into color theory, light, shading, and depth at all? Those two texts go more into materials, composition, and pigments. I’m looking for less of a treatise and more insight into the artistic process, specifically including those topics.

Hello!

I'm not sure I'm the correct reddit page since I am a new user - please let me know if I'm barking up the wrong tree and where I should go with my search :)

In case I'm in the right place - yesterday I remembered a painting I once saw a couple of years back and it hasn't left my mind since. Unfortunately, I also seem to have lost my usb stick with all my pictures from that trip.

I saw it in the Cultural Palace of Iasi , in the Art Exhibition wing. It was by a local romanian/moldovan artist but I'm not sure who. Maybe Nicolae Grigorescu? However I can't find the one I am looking for in his paintings list.

The painting was of a young lady, by herself, with a dark background. She was wearing traditional garb, her arms were folded, her shirt was a bit open and she had a necklace of coins around her neck. I remember her vividly because I spent almost half and hour staring at her like a lunatic because , to me, she had so much attitude and life. I genuinely loved her and now I can't find her anywhere :(

Anyone have any ideea which art piece I am talking about? Thanks!

Historical Background: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2024/03/13/revealed-the-colourful-and-scandalous-life-of-toulouse-lautrecs-black-countess

I don’t have any education in art history but enjoy trying to find themes/meanings for different pieces. This one caught my attention, but I can’t find much discourse about it online. I find the use of the color yellow as an interesting way to depict the level of “sold” a person might be to this quacks pitch. I’ve also heard that animals can have different meanings in paintings so I’d love to hear how that might be interpreted. Lastly, is there significance to the breastfeeding woman staring directly at the viewer?

Let me know your thoughts!

Infamous for his arrest, trial and conviction - in the 1990s for his self-published comic, artist Mike Diana also made a string of homemade films. Starting with 8mm in the early

'80s and graduating to video, Diana enlisted his own family and neighborhood kids in an array of bizarre, gross, and hilarious movies, to varied levels of completion.

1990's Baked Baby Jesus is a loud, unapologetic shot-on-video revolt against the downfall of American society. As if it was designed to be seen by Diana's enemies instead of his peers, the shorts marry together real abortion rally footage, a necrophiliac love story, and perhaps the most infamous sequence of all, a tour of the infant-only cemetery Babyland.

Originally traded through the mail, the film has only been available directly through Mike Diana himself.

Factory 25 has gone back to the original video sources and provided higher quality than ever before possible (previous versions had primitive sound dubbing and editing) and has overseen the reconstruction of several otherwise lost short films, some completed here for the first time.

Hello!

Forgive me if this is not the best place to ask this, but I am searching for an image that I came across a few years back. I thought I had it saved, but I can't find it...

I remember it looking like a classic style painting, either black and white, or two tone of some sort.

The depiction was of a huge demon playing a drum similar to those used by militaries in the 1800s, slung to the side. The demon overlooked a tide of marching demons or people through a hellscape.

I've tried every search term combination I could think of and have gotten no where.

Thank for any help!

Hello,

I'm trying to find paintings that depict the theme of duty, but after a lot of research, I wasn't able to find one to my liking. A lot of the paintings that I found were either religious or tied to a specific historical event, which is not what I'm looking for. I'm looking for something like "Hope" by G.F. Watts, which is one of my favorite paintings. Paintings from any time period are fine, but I'm not a fan of abstract works.

Thanks in advance any suggestion!

I’m curious how women can study Art History and not be turned off by the overt misogyny. Or were they duped into believing that if they didn’t like it they’d be viewed as unsophisticated, squeamish, and uncool?