Books
Beneath the Surface of Art’s Visual Symbolism
Matthew Wilson’s new book, The Hidden Language of Symbols, chronicles the buried visual cues of power, faith, uncertainty, and hope.
Art History
News
Newton Who? Leonardo Explored Gravity First
A new analysis of diagrams drawn in the artist's personal notebook reveals a near-accurate model of Earth's gravitational pull.
Books
A New Sourcebook of Indian Art
20th Century Indian Art: Modern, Post-Independence, Contemporary surveys the many distinct aspects of art in South Asia.
Art
Shining a Light on a Dark Chapter of American Pottery
Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina brings awareness of both Edgefield’s awesome artistry and poet-potter David Drake’s odds-defying life to a sizable audience.
Books
How to Crack the Catholic Code of the Old Masters
Suzanna Ivanič's new book Catholica: The Visual Culture of Catholicism is an essential primer on how Catholicism intersects with art history.
Art
How Witches Cast Their Spell on Art History
From Remedios Varo to Francisco de Goya, artists have long turned to witchcraft as subject matter.
Art
Otters Are Art History’s Unsung Muses
From ancient times to the present day, join us as we pay tribute to these otter-ly charismatic creatures in various visual media.
Art
A Brief History of Women's Eyebrows in Art
Since antiquity, women’s eyebrows have been sites of intense scrutiny, constantly shifting between trend cycles.
Art
TikToker Pokes Fun at Western Attitudes Towards Non-Western Art
"The Europeans are a simple people, but perhaps in this complex age we could learn something from their simplicity,” Rubin says mockingly as she reverses an attitude that remains embarrassingly prevalent in Western culture.
News
The Flowers that Blossom in Artistic Masterpieces
Gardening company Michigan Bulb analyzed 30 famous artworks depicting plants and the value of the painted blossoms in the high-end market.
Opinion
What Art by Neanderthals Teaches Us About Our Own Gender Bias
A 2013 study which analyzed the size of handprints accompanying animal drawings found that women were more likely to have made them.
Opinion
How Talking About Art Kept my Family Together During COVID
“Art is for fancy people,” my son Marc initially said. “We’re not fancy.”