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Painting story
The Scream by Munch
The Scream shows a figure on a bridge above the Oslo fjord, hands pressed to its head under a sky of blood-red bands, while two friends walk on.…
Painting Stories
The meaning and history of famous paintings: what they show, where the originals hang, and how each one is recreated by hand in oil on canvas.
Painting Analysis articles
Painting story
The Sick Child by Edvard Munch
Munch’s memory of his sister’s death from tuberculosis, painted again in 1907: a pale girl, a bowed woman and two hands joined.
Painting story
The Dance of Life by Edvard Munch
Couples dance by the sea under a low moon, between a woman in white and a woman in black: Munch’s Dance of Life of 1899 to 1900.
Painting story
Melancholy by Edvard Munch
A man sits head on hand by the curving shore at Åsgårdstrand in Munch’s Melancholy, a painting of mood rather than detail.
Painting story
Young Girls at the Piano by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Two girls lean together over a piano score: the version Renoir chose for the French state in 1892, now in the Musée d’Orsay.
Painting story
Umbrellas by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Blue-grey umbrellas rise over a Paris street while a young milliner looks out at us: Renoir’s picture painted in two different styles.
Painting story
The Large Bathers
Discover Renoir’s Large Bathers in Philadelphia: playful gestures, sculptural figures and the years of drawing behind his ambitious bathing scene.
Painting story
Madame Georges Charpentier and Her Children by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
A publisher’s wife, her two children in matching blue and a patient Newfoundland: Renoir’s Salon success of 1879.
Painting story
The Swing
Explore Renoir’s The Swing: the watching child, woman’s glance, blue bows and dappled sunlight in his 1876 Impressionist garden scene.
Painting story
Girl with a Watering Can by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
A little girl in a blue dress holds a watering can and daisies on a garden path: Renoir’s much-loved painting of 1876.
Painting story
Luncheon of the Boating Party
Meet the people in Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party and explore its setting, table, composition and revised details through real crops.
Painting story
The Concert by Johannes Vermeer
Three musicians in a quiet room, a brothel scene on the wall: Vermeer’s Concert, stolen from Boston in 1990 and never found.
Painting story
Lady Writing a Letter with Her Maid by Johannes Vermeer
A lady writes, her maid gazes out of the window and a crumpled letter lies on the floor: Vermeer’s late picture, stolen twice.
Painting story
Woman with a Water Pitcher by Johannes Vermeer
A young woman opens a window with one hand and rests the other on a gilded pitcher, bathed in cool light: Vermeer at the Met.
Painting story
The Love Letter by Johannes Vermeer
Seen through a dark doorway, a maid hands her mistress a letter: Vermeer’s late scene of love, music and a household interrupted.
Painting story
View of Delft by Johannes Vermeer
Vermeer’s Delft seen across the harbour under a great sky: the Schiedam and Rotterdam Gates, a sunlit church tower and Proust’s yellow wall.
Painting story
The Geographer by Johannes Vermeer
A scholar pauses with his dividers and looks to the window: Vermeer’s 1669 picture of a mind at work, signed and dated on the wall.
Painting story
The Astronomer by Johannes Vermeer
A scholar reaches for a celestial globe in the light of a window: Vermeer’s 1668 companion to The Geographer, now in the Louvre.
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Curated collectionsOdyssey, Magic and Witchcraft, Famous Women, Landscapes and more.Artists A to ZEvery painter in the catalogue, with an archive of their works.Art movementsRenaissance to Expressionism: what defines each and who led it.Top 100 most famous paintingsThe ranked list, with the story behind every entry.
