Shelley's Art History Blog

Another great question from a reader popped up this week, and proved a welcome distraction. It was fun to delve into how we arrived at the phrase visual arts, as ... Read More

Louise Huebner, who deserves credit for getting the "Artists You Should Know" ball rolling, meant for all of us to see this image of her husband, Mentor Huebner. ... Read More

When the article on Dada was published, a polite and friendly gentleman wrote to inquire where the poet Tristan Tzara's name had gotten to. I had to agree that ... Read More

Deb Fuller, whom we should all thank profusely ("All hail Deb!"), has graciously given permission to reprint an article formerly on this site. In fact, she took the time, ... Read More

This was an excellent question from a reader, and one that I have endeavored to answer here, rather than send an individual reply. Representational art simply means that we ... Read More

This image is courtesy of the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Toronto Police Service. A collection of five 18th-century ivory sculptures by French artist David Le Marchand ... Read More

This week's suggested artist profile comes to us courtesy of Cindy Ellis, treasured friend (and aspiring Girl Detective), who wondered why it hadn't made an appearance here yet. "Get ... Read More

Let me admit right up front that I find the columnist Dave Barry hysterically funny. He's the only man on earth, besides my Beloved, who can make me aspirate coffee. ... Read More

Performance Art encompasses a lot of variables. (A lot!) And, since there's nothing concrete to analyze, after the fact (like a painting to look at, a sculpture to ... Read More

Gail Stiles Brown, a working artist from Texas, wrote to recommend a long look at Elisabet(h) Ney, an outrageous woman from the 19th-century. Why was she outrageous? Well, ... Read More

There is now a content submission form available, for your convenience, in the Art History Information Exchange. The form will accept anything you submit, whether it's an article for ... Read More

While making a valiant attempt to clear my email inbox (a task which is not quite [nor has it ever been] "there" yet), a news item leapt out and caught ... Read More

We couldn't wrap up the Italian Renaissance without paying special tribute to Venice, could we? The Venetian School of painting was remarkable, distinct and boasts some of the biggest ... Read More

One really wonderful aspect of being the About Art History Guide is hearing from nice people like Joe Dolice. Joe wrote to point me towards his father, Leon, an ... Read More

I tend to follow copyright infringement cases fairly closely when they involve visual artists incorporating something or another into their own works. Artists have been using "found objects" at least ... Read More

Here we have the artistic movement that was not a movement, founded by artists who were not artists creating art that was not art. (A person scratching his ... Read More