Art Stories

Operating on Guan Yu's Arm by Katsushika Oi, fine art print

This Scene of a Wounded Warrior Calmly Playing a Board Game During Surgery Was Painted by Hokusai's Own Daughter

Katsushika Oi, the daughter of Hokusai, painted the wounded general Guan Yu playing a game of Go while a surgeon scraped poison from the bone of his arm. This 1840...

This Scene of a Wounded Warrior Calmly Playing a Board Game During Surgery Was Painted by Hokusai's Own Daughter

Katsushika Oi, the daughter of Hokusai, painted the wounded general Guan Yu playing a game of Go while a surgeon scraped poison from the bone of his arm. This 1840...

Self Portrait Dedicated to Paul Gauguin by Vincent van Gogh, fine art print

Van Gogh Painted Himself as a Shaven-Headed Japanese Monk in the Self-Portrait He Sent to Paul Gauguin

In September 1888 Vincent van Gogh painted himself as a shaven-headed Japanese monk, a bonze, and sent the canvas to Paul Gauguin in exchange for a portrait. This is the...

Van Gogh Painted Himself as a Shaven-Headed Japanese Monk in the Self-Portrait He Sent to Paul Gauguin

In September 1888 Vincent van Gogh painted himself as a shaven-headed Japanese monk, a bonze, and sent the canvas to Paul Gauguin in exchange for a portrait. This is the...

The Prison Courtyard by Vincent van Gogh, fine art print

Van Gogh Painted The Prison Courtyard While Confined in an Asylum, Copying a Doré Engraving of Newgate

In February 1890, confined at the Saint-Paul Asylum in Saint-Rémy, Vincent van Gogh copied an 1872 Gustave Doré engraving of the Newgate exercise yard. The result, The Prison Courtyard, now...

Van Gogh Painted The Prison Courtyard While Confined in an Asylum, Copying a Doré Engraving of Newgate

In February 1890, confined at the Saint-Paul Asylum in Saint-Rémy, Vincent van Gogh copied an 1872 Gustave Doré engraving of the Newgate exercise yard. The result, The Prison Courtyard, now...

Art print "The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne" by Leonardo da Vinci, fine art print

Sigmund Freud Claimed He Found a Hidden Vulture in the Drapery of Leonardo's The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne

In his 1910 study of Leonardo, Sigmund Freud endorsed the idea that a vulture lay hidden in the drapery of The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne. The whole theory...

Sigmund Freud Claimed He Found a Hidden Vulture in the Drapery of Leonardo's The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne

In his 1910 study of Leonardo, Sigmund Freud endorsed the idea that a vulture lay hidden in the drapery of The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne. The whole theory...

Pollice Verso by Jean-Léon Gérôme, fine art print

Ridley Scott Decided to Make Gladiator the Moment He Was Shown Gérôme's Pollice Verso

Jean-Léon Gérôme finished Pollice Verso in 1872, and decades later a single reproduction of it convinced Ridley Scott to direct Gladiator. This is the story of the painting, its misread...

Ridley Scott Decided to Make Gladiator the Moment He Was Shown Gérôme's Pollice Verso

Jean-Léon Gérôme finished Pollice Verso in 1872, and decades later a single reproduction of it convinced Ridley Scott to direct Gladiator. This is the story of the painting, its misread...

Venus of Urbino by Titian, fine art print

Mark Twain Called Titian's Venus of Urbino the Foulest and Vilest Picture the World Possesses

In his 1880 travel book A Tramp Abroad, Mark Twain called Titian's Venus of Urbino the foulest, vilest, obscenest picture the world possesses. He wasn't condemning the art. He was...

Mark Twain Called Titian's Venus of Urbino the Foulest and Vilest Picture the World Possesses

In his 1880 travel book A Tramp Abroad, Mark Twain called Titian's Venus of Urbino the foulest, vilest, obscenest picture the world possesses. He wasn't condemning the art. He was...