Decoding a painting of two sisters in a bathtub — It is hard not to be intrigued by a painting like this. It shows two women sitting unclothed in a bathtub. The one on the right is named Gabrielle d’Estrées. Beside her is another woman — thought to be her sister — who is unambiguously pinching her nipple. Given their…

Edward Hopper’s perfectly painted dilemma, yet I cannot say what it is exactly — For a few years now, I’ve had a postcard of this painting tacked to my study wall. It’s called Pennsylvania coal town and it was made by Edward Hopper in 1947. Whenever I stop my work and look up at this painting, I can’t help but feel that Hopper painted…

A diverse and jostling view of the Italian city — Venice is a city of splendour. The great seafaring city-state, which sits at the crossroads of east and west having traded with both, became a city of merchants and travellers, bringing in silks, spices, marbles, indigo and jewels. William Logsdail’s portrayal of Venice encapsulates much of this rich tapestry —…

Decoding a rare painting with a lesson to impart — Here’s a rare and intriguing painting. It shows two women in a double portrait. One is Black, the other is white. Their postures and station appear in parallel. They look out to us side-by-side, both with the same high fashion, wearing pearl necklaces and finely-woven dresses. Two aspects of this…

Key things to look out for — Have you ever walked into a room of Renaissance artworks and wondered how on earth to “read” them? The period of the Renaissance emerged in the late 14th century and lasted until around 1600. It centred mainly around Italy, but flowerings of extraordinary art appeared in numerous locations around Europe. …

Dip into lesser-known but splendid paintings — Some works of art are famous; many are less so. Here I’ve selected five exceptional paintings that are worth lingering over. Enjoy! The Fate of the Animals by Franz Marc

Reading Van Gogh’s nocturnal masterpiece — We often experience the night sky as countless pinpricks of light set against an impossibly dark and silent black — such is the way a starry night appears to the naked eye. Yet Vincent van Gogh painted something quite different: a spiralling light-filled figment, replete with texture, waves and ripples. …

Light capturing moments in time — Let’s take a look at this delicate painting. It shows a woman sat in an untamed garden, absorbed in a book. Her face has been painted with the most minimal detail, just the trace of a nose, the merest smudge of a mouth. It’s as if the act of reading…

How to read Arnold Böcklin’s most famous image — This painting shows a moonlit island across an expanse of inky dark water. Arriving at its shore is a boat: an oarsman rows whilst another figure stands ahead, shrouded from head to toe in white and brilliantly illuminated. At the prow of the boat is a rectangular object covered in…