Loading cart…
No products in the cart.
Artist guide
Max Kurzweil Paintings
Vienna Secession · Austrian · 1867 to 1916
Famous Paintings, Explained
The stories behind famous paintings, the painters who made them, and the movements that shaped them. Every work here can be recreated by hand in oil on canvas.
Latest articles
Painting story
Spring by Abel Grimmer
Gardeners dig and plant neat beds beside a farmhouse in Abel Grimmer’s Spring (1607), after a design by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.
Painting story
Dying Betrothed by Agnes Slott-Møller
A young woman kisses the hand of her dying betrothed while a ship waits outside: Agnes Slott-Møller’s medieval farewell of 1906.
Artist guide
Agnes Slott-Møller Paintings
Symbolism · Danish · 1862 to 1937
Painting story
Bacchante and Satyrs by Sebastiano Ricci
A smiling bacchante raises her dish as a satyr pours the wine in Sebastiano Ricci’s Bacchante and Satyrs, about 1713, in the Hermitage.
Painting story
Loki Steals Freyja’s Necklace
Explore Friedrich Wilhelm Heine’s 1882 illustration of Loki stealing Freyja’s necklace: the reaching hand, curtain, reclining figure and original…
Painting story
The Adoration of the Magi by Abraham Bloemaert
The three kings kneel before the Christ Child under a sky full of angels in Abraham Bloemaert’s huge Adoration of the Magi, now in Grenoble.
Painting story
The Souls of Acheron by Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl
Hermes stands unmoved as the pale souls of the dead plead around him on the bank of the Acheron: Hirémy-Hirschl’s vision of 1898.
Painting story
The Red Bulldog of Simplicissimus
Discover Thomas Theodor Heine’s Simplicissimus bulldog: the broken chain, direct stare and 1896 design behind the Munich magazine’s emblem.
Painting story
The Transfiguration by Raphael
Christ rises in light above a scene of confusion around a possessed boy: Raphael’s last painting, unfinished at his death in 1520.
Painting story
The Circus
Explore Seurat’s The Circus: the horse and rider, tumbling acrobat, still audience and pointillist colour in his unfinished 1891 masterpiece.
Painting story
Symphony in White No. 1
Explore Whistler’s White Girl: Joanna Hiffernan, white-on-white fabric, a lily and the staring animal pelt in Symphony in White No. 1.
Artist guide
Thomas Theodor Heine Paintings
Art Nouveau · German · 1867 to 1948
Artist guide
Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl Paintings
Symbolism · Hungarian · 1860 to 1933
Painting story
Stone City, Iowa
Explore Grant Wood’s Stone City, Iowa: the bridge, quarry, winding road and patterned hills in his 1930 landscape at Joslyn Art Museum.
Painting story
Siegfried by Thomas Theodor Heine
A small pug on a huge red armchair, given the name of a legendary hero: Thomas Theodor Heine’s Siegfried, painted in 1921.
Painting story
Nocturne in Black and Gold
Gold sparks drifting through night smoke over Cremorne Gardens: the painting Ruskin attacked, leading Whistler to sue him for libel.
Top 10 artists
All artists A to Z
Top paintings
See the Top 100
Keep exploring
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.
