Art History: Most Popular Articles

The Last Supper
Ten common questions answered, about one of the world's best-loved religious paintings.

The Sistine Chapel Ceiling
Answers to seven common questions about the most famous ceiling frescoes on the planet.

Roy Lichtenstein - The Kiss - 1962
Roy Lichtenstein (American, 1923-1997). The Kiss, 1962. Roy Lichtenstein (American, 1923-1997) The Kiss, 1962 Oil on canvas 80 x 68 in. Private Collection of Paul G. Allen Image © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein

Art History Jobs - Fellowship and Internship Postings
Art history job openings, Fellowships and Internships, stipends and grant competitions are updated each weekend. The most recent entries are at the top of the page. Listings are deleted when stated deadlines fall within the coming week or, if no deadline is mentioned, after roughly four weeks have passed. In other words, check back often!

Dada 101
Dada was, officially, not a movement, its artists not artists and its art not art. That sounds easy enough, doesn't it? Of course, there is a bit more to the story of Dadaism than this simplistic explanation.

Art History Quiz: Know Your French Impressionists
Art History Quiz: Know Your French Impressionists. 8 Artists, 20 Questions.

What is Art?
What is art? 6.3 billion different things, strictly speaking. When writing a paper, however, you should probably stick with "Art is form and content."

About Art History - Outline of Art History - Modern Art Movements
Outline of Art History - Modern Art Visual Arts Movements - 1880-1970 After Impressionism proved it only

Willem de Kooning - Untitled XII - 1975
Willem de Kooning (American, born Netherlands, 1904-1997). Untitled XII, 1975. Oil on canvas 79 3/4 x 69 3/4 in. Private Collection of Paul G. Allen © 2006 The Willem de Kooning Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Michelangelo
Michelangelo Buonarroti - Italian Sculptor, Painter, Architect and Poet. Michelangelo was arguably the most famous artist of the Italian Renaissance, and inarguably one of the greatest artists of all time. He considered himself a sculptor, primarily, but is equally well known for the paintings he was induced (grudgingly) to create. He was also an architect and an amateur poet.

Special Exhibition Preview - Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise
Lorenzo Ghiberti's achievements in art clearly reflect his firm grasp of a new and progressive visual vocabulary that emerged in Renaissance Florence, one that distinguished him from his city's medieval predecessors. The High Museum of Art's upcoming special exhibition, devoted to three panels from Ghiberti's famed Gates of Paradise, amply demonstrates this point.

What is "Contemporary" Art?
Art from the 1960's or 70's up until this very minute.

Art History 101 - Op Art
In October of 1964, in an article describing this new style of art, Time Magazine coined the phrase "Optical Art" (or "Op Art", as it's more commonly known). The term referenced the fact that Op Art is comprised of illusion, and often appears - to the human eye - to be moving or breathing due to its precise, mathematically-based composition.

Artists in 60 Seconds Index - Visual Artist Bios From A to Z
In this large index, famous (and not-so-famous) names from the world of art are arranged alphabetically by last name. Also known as Artists in 60 Seconds, each profile contains pertinent facts about an individual name and links to further resources whenever applicable.

What are the Elements of Art?
The elements of art are both fun and useful. Remember: line, shape, form, space, texture, value and color. Knowing these elements will allow you to analyze, write and chat about art, as well as create it yourself.

Early Renaissance Art
The "Early Renaissance" was all about Florence. Firenze, as it's known to those who live there, was the place in which to launch one's artistic career in 15th-century Italy.

What is Representational Art?
What is representational art? The word "representational," when used to describe a work of art, means that the work depicts something easily recognized by most people.

Picasso
Pablo Picasso, also known as Pablo Ruiz y Picasso, was singular in the art world. Not only did he manage to become universally famous in his own lifetime, he was the first artist to successfully use mass media to further his name (and business empire). He also inspired or, in the notable case of Cubism, invented, nearly every art movement in the twentieth century.

Leonardo da Vinci (Italian, 1452-1519). Mona Lisa (La Gioconda), ca. 1503-05.
Leonardo da Vinci (Italian, 1452-1519). Mona Lisa (La Gioconda), ca. 1503-05. Oil on poplar wood. 77 x 53 cm (30 3/8 x 20 7/8 in.). © Musée du Louvre, Paris

Paul Gauguin - Maternité II - 1899
Paul Gauguin (French, 1848-1903). Maternité [II], 1899. Oil on burlap. 37 3/8 x 24 1/16 in. Private Collection of Paul G. Allen.

A Brisk Walk Through the Eras
A quick overview of the entirety of Art History, also known as "32,000 Years in 16,000 Characters or Less".

Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci, often referred to by just his first name, was the epitome of the term "Renaissance man". Any subject - and there were many - toward which he directed his insatiable curiousity, artistic talent and keen scientific mind found itself dissected, improved upon and catalogued for posterity. Leonardo, truly, was a man before his time.

Northern Renaissance
When we talk about the Northern Renaissance, what we actually mean is "Renaissance happenings that occurred within Europe, but outside of Italy." Because the most innovative art was created in France, the Netherlands and Germany during this time, and because all of these places are north of Italy, the "Northern" tag has stuck.

Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh lived a short, deeply tormented life, throughout which he sought (in vain) his place in the world. He died, by his own hand, feeling his life was a miserable failure. Unbeknownst to Vincent, the work he did pioneered the Expressionistic style and, 150 years after his birth, his name would be world famous.

Special Report - Raphael's Portrait of Lorenzo de' Medici
Raphael's Lorenzo de' Medici, a portrait of Catherine de' Medici;s father, reflects the rich history of Italian Renaissance culture from which the Florentine ruler's privileged daughter emerged.

Francisco de Goya
A profile of Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828), Spanish painter, engraver and political satirist.

The Renaissance in Venice
During the Renaissance Venice gave birth to a distinct school of painting. There was just something about the light there that begged to be captured on canvas.

10 Favorite Mothers in Art
Art loves us mothers. We've been depicted countless times in every culture. Sometimes we are as goddesses, sometimes we're seen enjoying a tender moment - a sweet memory, really - from when our all-too-quickly-grown children were very young, and sometimes it's clear that motherhood is grueling, if rewarding, work. In my modest, but heartfelt, attempt to salute fellow mothers everywhere, these following favorites are offered in reverse order.

Late Renaissance Art
Mannerism, a phrase coined in the 20th-century, is what happened artistically during the "Late" Renaissance (otherwise known as the years between Raphael's death and the beginning of the Baroque phase in 1600).

The High Renaissance
Bidding Florence both huge thanks and a fond farewell, let's get right down to defining the who-s, what-s and when-s of the "High" Renaissance.

Outline of Art History - Renaissance to Early Modern Art
Outline of Art History - Renaissance to Early Modern Art 1400 - 188

Art History - A List of Artists Who Committed Suicide
About Art History - A List of Artists Who Committed Suicide

Renaissance Explained
We all know what the Renaissance was: Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael and company created some fabulous paintings and sculptures that we continue to marvel over many centuries later and so on and so forth. Was it really that simple?

Lucian Freud
A profile of Lucian Freud (born 1922), German-born British painter.

About Art History - Outline of Art History - Contemporary Art Movements
Outline of Art History - Contemporary Art Visual Arts Movements - 1970s-Present 1970 Post-Modernism - 1970s-mid

Definition: "form"
Form is an element of art. At its most basic, a form is a three-dimensional geometrical figure. In a broader sense, form, in art, means the whole of a piece's visible elements and the way those elements are united. In this context, form allows us, as viewers, to mentally capture the work, and understand it. Finally, form refers to the visible elements of a piece, independent of their meaning.

John vs. Mary Magdalene
In Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper, the figure at Jesus' right arm does not display an easily identified gender. He's not bald, or bearded, or anything we visually associate with "masculine". In fact, he looks feminine. Fine. We all can, and should, agree on this. The Burning Question seems to be: Is this figure a woman? My answer: No.

Performance Art
The term "Performance Art" got its start in the 1960s in the United States. It was originally used to describe any live artistic event that included poets, musicians, film makers, etc. - in addition to visual artists.

Art History - A Selected List of Op Artists
Selected Op Artist

What is "Modern" Art?
Modern Art began in the 19th-century, and ran through a whole slew of "-isms" up until the end of the 1960's.

Outline of Art History - Ancient Art
Outline of Art History - Ancient Art 30,000 BC - c. 400 A

Frida Kahlo
A biographical profile of Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (1907-1954), Mexican painter.

Special Exhibition Review: Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh
Through magnificent examples of sculpture, reliefs, exceptionally crafted jewelry, ceremonial objects and those of everyday use, Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh poignantly describes the artistic innovations of Egypt's Early Eighteenth Dynasty. Despite the damnatio memoriae that her unconventional pharaonic images suffered after her death, their resurrection and reassembly by diligent scholars have allowed us to recognize and fully admire the diverse and splendid achievements that marked Hatshepsut's reign.

Donatello
A profile of Donatello (1386 - 1466), Italian Early Renaissance sculptor.

Art History - A Selected List of Dada Artists
Selected Dada Artist

Mona Lisa Coloring Page - Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa to Print and Color
A line drawing of Leonardo's Mona Lisa for your coloring page fun. You are free to save and print this image for personal, educational and non-commercial purposes.

All the Young Dudes
The Florentine School had a long tradition of often depicting young males as sweet, pretty, rather effeminate persons. Why? Well, it was simply how it was done. It was tradition, and at least partly so because young men were frequently objects of desire.

01_KingsAsCollectors-Raphael-P
Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio) (Italian, 1483-1520) Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione, 1514-1515 Oil on canvas 32 1/4 x 26 3/8 in. Musée du Louvre

Glossary: "crizzling"
Crizzling is the unhappy state wherein old glass is afflicted with a fine network of cracks on its surface.

Henri Rousseau
A biographical profile of Henri Rousseau, also known as "Le Douanier" (1844-1910), French Naive painter.

Proto-Renaissance Art
When studying the Pre- or "Proto"-Renaissance period, three important factors should be considered: Where this happened, what people were thinking and how art started to change.

Museum and Special Exhibition Review: The Expanded Morgan Library
The Morgan's approach to art collecting was, from the very beginning, eclectic. Its assemblage of artworks was never intended to be encyclopedic. Masterworks from the Morgan amply demonstrates that fact. Artifacts from the Fertile Crescent are followed rapidly by objets d'art from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance through the Twentieth Century. The special exhibition is displayed on more than one floor of the Morgan's reinvigorated environs. While not historically comprehensive, the show spans the last three millennia of recorded human history. It starts in ancient Mesopotamia and climaxes with American songwriter Bob Dylan (b. 1941).

Worst Museum Gifts of 2005
Please, don't get me wrong: I love browsing through museum gift stores and have found many wonderful items therein. What I'm talking about here are a few - a very few - specific choices. The sort of small, yet grievous errors in taste we all make. In that spirit, and in no particular order, here are my Top 10 Picks for Least Impressive Museum Merchandising Ideas of 2005.

Glossary: "balance"
As a basic principle of art (specifically of design), balance refers to the ways in which the elements (lines, shapes, colors, textures, etc.) of a piece are arranged.

Special Exhibition Review - In Stabiano: Exploring the Ancient Seaside Villas of the Roman Elite
In Stabiano is absolutely worth visiting, full of treasures that easily rival earlier Pompeiian exhibitions, and its extensive itinerary through the U.S. ensures that it should reach a wide and appreciative audience.

Sleeping Gypsy Coloring Page - Henri Rousseau's Sleeping Gypsy to Print and Color
A line drawing of Henri Rousseau's Sleeping Gypsy for your coloring page fun. You are free to save and print this image for personal, educational and non-commercial purposes.

Art History Information Exchange - Calls for Papers
Art History Information Exchange - Calls for Papers

Johannes Vermeer
A profile of Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675), Dutch Baroque painter.

Art History Glossary
Words, Terms, Lingo and Jargon in Art

Claude Monet - Le Bassin au Nympheas - 1919
Claude Monet (French, 1840-1926). Le Bassin au Nympheas, 1919. Oil on canvas 39 3/9 x 78 7/8 in. Private Collection of Paul G. Allen.

Proto-Renaissance Artists
An annotated alphabetical listing of visual artists from the Proto-Renaissance period (ca. 1100-ca. 1400) in Italy. This page covers artists whose surnames begin with the letters A through F.

Leonardo da Vinci - Self-Portrait - ca 1512
Leonardo da Vinci (Italian, 1452-1519). Self-Portrait, ca. 1512. Red chalk on paper. 33.3 x 21.3 cm (13 1/8 x 8 3/8 in). © Biblioteca Reale, Turin

A New Portrait of Leonardo da Vinci
New Portrait of Leonardo da Vinci Found! By Maike Vogt-Lüersse

Art History 101 - Paleolithic
For the purposes of Art History, when we refer to "Paleolithic" art, we're talking about the Late Upper Paleolithic period. This began roughly around 40,000 years ago and lasted through the Pleistocene ice age, the end of which is commonly thought to have occurred near 8,000 B.C. (give or take a few centuries). This period was marked by the rise of Homo Sapiens and their abilities to create tools and weapons.

Friedensreich Hundertwasser
A profile of Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928-2000), Austrian painter, printmaker, designer, writer and activist.

A Double Special Exhibition Review: Peter Paul Rubens
Double Special Exhibition Review: Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640): The Drawings, and Drawn by the Brush: Oil Sketches by Peter Paul Rubens. The Met's 115-piece retrospective spanning the artist's entire career is not scheduled to travel. The Bruce Museum's show will be on view later this year at the Berkeley Art Museum, University of California. It'll conclude its U.S. tour this Summer at the Cincinnati Art Museum in Ohio. Both shows include major loans from American and foreign museums and private collections.

Image Gallery: 13 Paintings by Leonardo: Madonna Litta
Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519, Madonna Litta, (ca. 1490-91)

Pablo Picasso - Quatre Baigneuses - 1921
Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973). Quatre Baigneuses, 1921. Egg tempera on vellum, mounted on wood panel 4 x 6 in. Private Collection of Paul G. Allen.

Art History Quiz - 20 Questions: Jackson Pollock
To test your knowledge of this artist that everyone supposedly knows, here is a quiz on Jackson Pollock's life and work. The twenty questions range from truly trivial to that which you'd be expected to know for an Art History survey class. All correct answers are based on documented fact.

Special Exhibition Review: The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult
Photography gracefully meets the seemingly paranormal in this unconventional, small-scale special exhibition at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Glossary: "texture"
Texture, another element of art, is used to describe either the way a three-dimensional work actually feels when touched, or the visual "feel" of a two-dimensional work.

American Gothic Coloring Page - Grant Wood's American Gothic to Print and Color
A line drawing of Grant Wood's American Gothic for your coloring page fun. You are free to save and print this image for personal, educational and non-commercial purposes.

Outline of Art History - Medieval to Early Renaissance Art
Outline of Art History - Medieval to Early Renaissance Art 400 - 140

What are the Functions of Art?
Try to remember four main points if required to describe "the functions of art": (1) context and (2) personal, (3) social and (4) physical functions.

Ancient Greek Art
Because so many centuries and different phases encompass "ancient Greek art" what we'll try to do rather briefly, here, is to break it down into some managable chunks, thus giving each period its due. Sort of like Greek Art giving an acceptance speech at an awards ceremony, in which it thanks all of "the little people" for helping it to become eternally memorable.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir - La Liseuse - The Reader - 1877
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French, 1841-1919) La Liseuse (The Reader), 1877 Oil on canvas 25 3/4 x 21 1/2 in. Private Collection of Paul G. Allen Image © Experience Music Project; Used with permission.

Special Exhibition Review: Samuel Palmer: Vision and Landscape
Despite artists and poets such as W.B. Yeats and Lucien Freud claiming Samuel Palmer's work as a source of inspiration, he has, unfortunately, been assigned to a cycle of neglect and rediscovery with each generation. Let's hope that this exhibition sees an end to this cycle and ushers in a more permanent appreciation for one of England's greatest landscape painters.

Special Exhibition Review - Raphael at the Met: The Colonna Altarpiece
The Metropolitan Museum of Art's presentation of Raphael's Colonna Altarpiece and accompanying works by other Italian Renaissance masters aptly describes the young artist's early years in Perugia and Florence. During this period, he readily learned the lessons of Perugino, Fra Bartolommeo and Leonardo da Vinci, having incorporated them into his artistic vocabulary while developing a style of painting uniquely his own.

Mentor Huebner: One Artist Show - Painting #5: Sexi Beach Bar
This Exhibit is a special tribute to Mentor as a gift for his birthday. He shares July 19 with Edgar Degas and the Cancer Sun Sign with Rembrandt Van Rijn. This Internet Exhibit consists of some 12 images of paintings Mentor created during one particular decade. The image of his Self Portrait (above), painted when he was 43, was included to show his 'look' during that same decade he had created these 12 paintings.

Sandro Botticelli
A profile of Sandro Botticelli (Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi) (1444-1510), 15th century Italian Renaissance painter.

Frida Kahlo - Self-Portrait with Necklace - 1933
Frida Kahlo (Mexican, 1907-1954). Self-Portrait with Necklace, 1933. Oil on metal. 13 1/2 x 11 1/2 in. (34.3 x 29.2 cm). The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection of Modern and Contemporary Mexican Art: Courtesy The Vergel Foundation; Muros; Costco / Comercial Mexicana. © 2007 Banco de México, Trustee of the Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo Museums Trust. Av. Cinco de Mayo No. 2, Col. Centro, Del. Cuauhtémoc 06059, México, D.F.

Painted Pottery Tomb Guardian - Han Dynasty - 206 BC-220 AD
Chinese tomb guardian statues were used during the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.) to protect the soul of the deceased and the objects included in one's burial from evil. With large and angry eyes wide open and a horn protruding between them, this powerful winged sculpture displays its fierce demeanor by means of its bared teeth and flared nostrils.

Marcel Duchamp
A profile of Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), French-born American painter, sculptor and conceptual artist.

Leonardo da Vinci - Madonna Litta - ca 1490-91
Leonardo da Vinci (Italian, 1452-1519). Madonna Litta, ca. 1490-91. Tempera on canvas, transferred from panel. 42 x 33 cm (16 1/2 x 13 in.). © The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

Beatrix Potter
A biographical profile of Helen Beatrix Potter (1866-1943), English illustrator.

Definition: "contrast"
A principle of art, contrast refers to the arrangement of opposite elements (light vs. dark colors, rough vs. smooth textures, large vs. small shapes, etc.) in a piece so as to create visual interest, excitement and drama.

Art History Information Exchange - Symposia, Conferences, Seminars and Workshops
Art History Information Exchange - Symposia, Conferences, Seminars and Workshops

What is visual art?
What are the visual arts? The visual arts are those creations we can look at, such as drawing or painting. If you care to know how we arrived at this term, read on.

Christian Imagery and Witchcraft in Prints by Hans Baldung Grien
Hans Baldung Grien took the art of printmaking to a new height during the first half of the Sixteenth Century. This wealthy artist incorporated unusual themes, such as witchcraft, into his work, making his imaginative paintings and prints a veritable record of life in sixteenth-century Germany.

Quick Tips on Photographing Your Works of Art - How to Photograph Paintings, Drawings and Sculptures
There are numerous reasons that a work of art's owner might require a photograph of the painting, drawing or object in question. Assuming you do not own a high-end SLR or DSLR camera, or professional lighting equipment, release cables and tripods, there remain at least four steps anyone can take to ensure reasonably good pictures of art.

Claude Monet
A profile of Claude Monet (1840-1926), French Impressionist painter.

Leonardo da Vinci - Water - Codex Leicester - 1506-1510
Leonardo da Vinci (Italian, 1452-1519). Water, 1506-1510. Codex Leicester (formerly Codex Hammer), 11r. Pen and ink on paper. 14.5 x 22 cm. © William H. Gates III Collection, Redmond, Washington

Titian (Tiziano Vecellio)
A profile of Titian (Tiziano Vecellio), Venetian painter in the Italian High Renaissance.

Lowbrow
Lowbrow is an artistic movement - slowly gaining momentum - that doesn't necessarily care if The Art World recognizes it as such. What matters to Lowbrow is that most of us average people do recognize it.

Andy Warhol
A profile of Andy Warhol (1928-1987), American painter, filmmaker and Pop icon.

Petra: Lost City of Stone
The exhibition provides a careful and well presented display of the treasures of Petra. We are privileged to have the opportunity to view these fascinating pieces. This opportunity should not be missed, as political conditions in the region and increased interest in the beauty and history of the site threaten its continued existence and its availability to the lay viewer.

Andy Warhol - Green Car Crash - Green Burning Car I - 1963
Here we see Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I), created by Andy Warhol in 1963 from a tabloid image taken by photographer John Whitehead. Whitehead's shot captured the aftermath of the fiery conclusion of a police chase in Seattle. The car that had been pursued overturned at 60 m.p.h., ejecting its driver at a speed sufficient to impale his body on a climbing spike in a utility pole.

Leonardo Squared the Circle! -- Da Vinci’s Secret Solution in the Vitruvian Man Decoded
Leonardo Squared the Circle! -- Da Vinci’s Secret Solution in the Vitruvian Man Decoded By Tom Pastorello

Raphael
A profile of Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio) (1483-1520), painter in the Italian High Renaissance.

Special Exhibition Review: Treasures of Sacred Maya Kings
The glorious past of the Maya comes alive in Treasures of Sacred Maya Kings. Rarely seen artworks, many recently discovered, expand our knowledge of Maya art, culture and understanding of sacred kingship as exhibited in The Metropolitan Museum's remarkable presentation.

Michelangelo Buonarroti - Andrea Quaratesi - ca 1528-32
Andrea Quaratesi (1512-1585) was a member of a wealthy banking family in Florence, Italy. Michelangelo, not known for his instructional skills, taught the youth (probably reluctantly) how to draw during his adolescence. The British Museum's delicate work on paper is the only documented portrait by the Renaissance master that exists.

Image Gallery: 13 Paintings by Leonardo: Virgin of the Rocks (Louvre version)
Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519, Virgin (or

Jasper Johns
A biographical profile of Jasper Johns (b. 1930), American painter, sculptor and printmaker.

Neolithic Art
After the rather ho-hum art of the Mesolithic era, art in the Neolithic (literally: "new stone") age represents a spree of hellzapoppin' innovation. Humans were settling themselves down into agrarian societies, which left them enough spare time to explore some key concepts of civilization - namely, religion, measurement, the rudiments of architecture and writing and, yes, art.

Special Exhibition Review: Fra Angelico at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The spiritual immediacy of Fra Angelico's paintings is evident in this splendid retrospective at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It's no wonder that the late Pope John Paul II beatified the Dominican friar in 1984, His Holiness having recognized him publicly as the patron of painters. 

Georges Seurat - Les Poseuses - 1888
Georges Seurat (French, 1859-1891). Les Poseuses, 1888. Oil on canvas 15 11/16 x 19 13/16 in. Private Collection of Paul G. Allen.

Kneeling Archer with a Green Face - Chinese - Qin Dynasty - 221-206 BC
This Kneeling Archer with a Green Face (221-206 B.C.) was interred with Qin Shihuangdi (r. 221-210 B.C.), China's first emperor. A dozen or more of these statues from the ruler's famous retinue of warriors will be on view at The British Museum, along with terracotta bureaucrats, acrobats and musicians, lifelike bronze birds and other works.

Frida Kahlo - My Grandparents My Parents and I - Family Tree - 1936
Frida Kahlo (Mexican, 1907-1954). My Grandparents, My Parents, and I (Family Tree), 1936. Oil and tempera on metal. 12 1/8 x 13 5/8 in. (30.8 x 34.6 cm). Gift of Allan Roos, M.D., and B. Mathieu Roos. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Digital image © The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA/Art Resource, NY. © 2007 Banco de México Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo Museums Trust. Av. Cinco de Mayo No. 2, Col. Centro, Del. Cuauhtémoc 06059, México, D.F.

Special Exhibition Review - Cimabue and Early Italian Devotional Painting
Special exhibitions don't always have to be grand in size to describe a significant accomplishment by an artist. Such is the case with Cimabue and Early Italian Devotional Painting. This small-scale presentation of two religious works by the Italian master, accompanied by others produced by his anonymous contemporaries, is on view at New York's prestigious Frick Collection through December 31, 2006.

Where Are the Women Artists?
If you'll permit me my opinion, the reasons there aren't more female artists in art museums are threefold: It's a reputation thing. We're not taken seriously enough. And we tend to multitask. A lot. Too much.

Glossary: "sfumato"
Sfumato means that there are no harsh outlines (as in a coloring book) present; areas blend into one another through miniscule brushstrokes, which makes for a rather hazy, albeit more realistic, depiction of light and color.

Glossary: "shape"
A shape is an element of art. Specifically, it is an enclosed space, the boundaries of which are defined by other elements of art (i.e.: lines, colors, values, textures, etc.).

Max Beckmann - Self Portrait with Champagne Glass - 1919
For his own self-portrait, Max Beckmann (1884–1950) chose to seat himself in a nightclub interior holding a glass of champagne.

Christian Schad - Self-Portrait - 1927
Unlike some of the other Verists, Christian Schad had no need to delve into caricatures of humans. He was fully capable of making us squirm with excruciating realism alone, such as that found in Self Portrait (1927). Now, you're left with no doubt as to why these two people are here, but it was very clearly a joyless act.