The effervescent Helene Schjerfbeck — The artist Helene Schjerfbeck (roughly pronounced “sharf-beck”) has the appeal of not only being recently “rediscovered”, but also on closer investigation demonstrates how great painters possess a restless appetite for transformation. Schjerfbeck’s painting career began in the style of French naturalists like Jules Breton and Jules Bastien-Lepage. By the end…

A complex dialogue between two art forms — It’s often said that the invention of photography “freed” painters from the need to slavishly represent reality in their work. If a photograph could capture a real-life scene in a matter of moments, then why spend days and weeks toiling over a painted version? As such, the advent of photography…

Ford Madox Brown’s The Coat of Many Colours — There are some paintings that last the test of being looked at again and again. They provide an experience for the eye, one that deepens with each visit. This image, with its rich and somewhat theatrical first impression, is one such painting. Not a square inch of the canvas is…

Why artists need to take chances — In 1972, the performance artist Chris Burden devised an artwork in protest against the Vietnam War: he asked his friend to shoot him with a .22 calibre rifle. He explained his motives: “I had an intuitive sense that being shot is as American as apple pie. We see people being…

The art and exploits of the remarkable Suzanne Valadon — The artist Suzanne Valadon painted The Blue Room in 1923, when she was approaching 60 and moving towards the tail end of a remarkable life. The portrait shows a voluptuous brunette nonchalantly stretched out among the embroidered setting of a daybed. The interior, painted in shades of ultramarine blue, verges…

Exploring the Dutch artist’s experiments in style — The manner in which artists find their way can be fascinating to watch. In the case of painter Piet Mondrian, who is best known for his grid-based paintings with blocks of primary colours, his artistic development stands out as being palpably observable. Interestingly, Mondrian was in his mid-40s by the…

Rubens’ tale of two mothers and a king — At the heart of this painting is one of the great biblical tales of truth and justice, as told in the first Book of Kings (3:16–28). Amid shimmering satins and baroque architecture, the image shows the moment when King Solomon was asked to settle a torrid dispute between two women. …

A female pioneer of surrealist photography — The story of Dora Maar — French photographer, painter and poet — is a lesson in perpetual creativity. For a long time, Maar has been known as the muse for Picasso’s painting Weeping Woman. But as a female photographer working in a field dominated by men, she not only broke…

Why interpreting art is not always easy — Interpreting paintings undoubtedly relies on an accurate reading of the contents of a work. But what happens when appearances are misleading? Take the case of the remarkable Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck, which shows a couple inside a private room, appearing to make an oath to one another —…