Suzanna Ivanič’s new book Catholica: The Visual Culture of Catholicism is an essential primer on how Catholicism intersects with art history.
Art History
How Witches Cast Their Spell on Art History
From Remedios Varo to Francisco de Goya, artists have long turned to witchcraft as subject matter.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
How Talking About Art Kept my Family Together During COVID
“Art is for fancy people,” my son Marc initially said. “We’re not fancy.”
Hurt by Public Response to “The Scream,” Munch Inscribed Hidden “Madman” Message
The curious inscription has puzzled art historians for decades, some of whom speculated it was an act of vandalism.
Cupid Shoots Through Millennia of Art
The god of love and desire has fascinated and inspired artists since antiquity.
The End of Art History
Writing a global art history demands that we give up historical thinking.
Toyin Ojih Odutola’s Skillfully Flips the Script of Art History
In A Countervailing Theory, her current exhibition at the Barbican Centre, Ojih Odutola’s alternative histories take on a more epic, mythic scale.