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Painting story
Daughters of Revolution
Discover the satire in Grant Wood’s Daughters of Revolution: three women, a teacup and Washington Crossing the Delaware in the background.
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
Bathers at Asnieres by Georges Seurat
Young workers rest on the bank of the Seine, factory chimneys smoking behind them: Seurat’s first great canvas, rejected by the 1884 Salon.
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.
Painting story
The School of Athens
Follow Raphael’s philosophers through their gestures, books, geometry and solitude. Discover the Vatican fresco with six focused detail crops.
Painting story
A Sunday on La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat
Seurat’s still figures, parasols, monkey and painted border reveal more than a painting made of dots. Explore La Grande Jatte in close-up.
Painting story
American Gothic
Meet the real models behind American Gothic, discover the pointed window and repeated pitchfork, and explore its ambiguous rural identity.
Painting story
A Bar at the Folies-Bergère
Explore Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère: Suzon, the displaced mirror, bottles, oranges and modern Paris, with close-up painting details.
Art guide
Stories Behind 20 Famous Paintings
Discover the stories and meanings behind 20 famous paintings, from the Mona Lisa to Guernica, with close-up details, artist links and museum sources.
Artist guide
Grant Wood Paintings
American Regionalism · American · 1891 to 1942
Artist guide
Raphael Paintings
Italian Renaissance · Italian · 1483 to 1520
Artist guide
Pablo Picasso Paintings
Cubism · Spanish · 1881 to 1973
Artist guide
Georges Seurat Paintings
Post-Impressionism, Pointillism · French · 1859 to 1891
Artist guide
James McNeill Whistler Paintings
Tonalism · American · 1834 to 1903
Painting story
La Grenouillere by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Parisians on a little island in the Seine, painted by Renoir beside Monet in the summer of 1869 as Impressionism took shape.
Painting story
Las Meninas
Enter Velázquez’s Las Meninas through the princess, hidden canvas, royal mirror and open doorway, with detail crops and Prado references.
Painting story
The Birth of Venus by Botticelli
The Birth of Venus shows the goddess arriving on a scallop shell, blown ashore by Zephyrus, the west wind, and his companion Aura, and met on the…
Painting story
Starry Night Over the Rhone by Vincent van Gogh
Discover Van Gogh’s 1888 river scene through stars, gaslight reflections and the walking couple, with the painter’s letters and detail crops.
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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.
