“Why do all old statues have such small penises?”
Today, big penises are seen as valuable, but back then, evidence points to the fact that small penises were considered better, including on old statues.
Paleolithic vs. Neolithic Art: How and Why are They Different?
Reader question: “Can you tell me about the changes that took place in human development from the Paleolithic through the Neolithic periods, and the ways in which art was affected by those changes?” This is an exciting question for me, because as someone who currently works every day with contemporary visual culture, I don’t get much …
“I’m wondering about cobalt and the story about blue colours being so expensive in the past”: A Very Short History of Colours.
The history of colours in art is really weird and interesting. It’s true that the availability of various colours has often determined which ones are used.
Who is the Englishman in Malevich’s ‘An Englishman in Moscow’ (1914)?
Reader question: “Who is the Englishman meant to be in Kazimir Malevich’s 1914 painting An Englishman in Moscow?” Well this is quite rare: a question focusing on just a single painting! A painting that, the more you look into it, makes you want to slam your head against the desk and yell “WHAT DOES IT …
Where were all the female Abstract Expressionists?
Reader question: “I wonder if there have been women engaging in abstract expressionist art and if we maybe only don’t know them because Clement Greenberg forgot to tell us about them?” – asked by Natascha Short answer: Yes! There were plenty of women engaging in Abstract Expressionist art that simply never gained the fame and …
The Top 7 Artworks That Surprised Me: Seeing Art in Person
Is it always better to see art in person rather than as a reproduction? Do we always understand art better when we do?
“How can I love artists like Gauguin when I know so much of his work was exploitative and racist?”
It’s sometimes hard to admit that beautiful and famous art, such as that by Paul Gauguin, can also be based on racist and sexist attitudes.
“Do you know anything about silver gelatine photography?”
Silver gelatine photography was the main form of photography from the 1880s up until the introduction of instant colour photography in the 1960s.
Why was Cimabue so Important?
Why was Cimabue so important? The reason has a lot to do with our traditional, and perhaps flawed, understandings of the Renaissance.
Western Art History and Non-Western Art
Western art history does little to address the artistic traditions of non-Western countries. Art history needs to be inclusive of non-Western art.
Lesbianism and Queer Women in Art History: Where Are They?
Lesbians and queer women have always existed, in different social contexts. Lesbianism in art history appears in multiple forms: erotic, social, political.
Why Primitivism was Cultural Appropriation
Cultural appropriation is nothing new. About a century ago there was an entire art movement completely based on cultural appropriation: Primitivism.