Category Archives: Art History

August 03

Architectural Wonders: Melnikov’s House

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On the 3rd of August 1890, Russian architect and painter Konstantin Melnikov was born in Moscow. A pious Orthodox Christian from a peasant family, Melnikov had managed to gain admission to the prestigious Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture and study with Russia’s greatest neoclassical painters and architects on the eve of the October […]

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August 02

Thomas Gainsborough’s ‘Showbox’ Paintings

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On the 2nd of August 1788, English painter Thomas Gainsborough died in London at the age of 61. One of the most unusual artworks created by the artist, now on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, is his experimental showbox with his back-lit landscapes painted in oils on glass, which allowed them to be […]

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July 29

Luis Buñuel’s ‘Un Chien Andalou: Logic in the Illogical

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On the 29th of July 1983, one of the most outstanding filmmakers of the twentieth century, Luis Buñuel died in Mexico City, Mexico. The Spanish film director has always been associated with the Surrealist movement and such talents as Salvador Dali, Max Ernst, René Magritte and Paul Éluard. The 1929 film Un Chien Andalou, produced […]

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July 27

Australian Icons: Max Dupain’s ‘Sunbaker’

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On the 27th of July 1992, Australia’s most celebrated twentieth-century photographer Max Dupain died in Sydney, Australia. From 1924 – the year a Box Brownie camera was given to him by his uncle – right up to his very last days, he had taken hundreds of thousands of pictures capturing the daily life of Sydney. […]

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July 26

George Grosz: War→Madness→Dada

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On the 26th of July 1893, German artist George Grosz was born in Berlin. From an early age, Grosz had passionate ideological views. In January 1919, he was arrested during the Spartakus uprising in Berlin, a general strike accompanied by armed battles, which was being suppressed by the Weimar government, marking the end of the […]

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July 25

Thomas Eakins: Photography and Science

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On the 25th of July 1844, American realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator Thomas Eakins was born in Philadelphia, U.S. Sometimes called America’s greatest painter, Eakins conducted many scientific investigations in anatomy, mathematics, perspective, and photography, which were vital to his art. He used photography as both a science and an art. In […]

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July 24

The Forgotten Abstractions of Ana-Eva Bergman

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On the 24th of July 1987, Norwegian painter Ana-Eva Bergman, wife of Tachiste abstract artist Hans Hartung, died in Grasse, on the French Riviera. Whilst Bergman’s talent was recognized during her lifetime, she held a marginal position in the European avant-garde during her life. Anna-Eva Bergman had a turbulent and difficult childhood. Shortly after she […]

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July 20

Art as Idea: László Moholy-Nagy’s Telephone Works

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On the 20th of July 1895, Jewish-Hungarian born American artist László Moholy-Nagy was born in Bácsborsód, Hungary. He was a “painter, sculptor, photographer, designer, theorist, and art teacher, whose vision of a non-representational art consisting of pure visual fundamentals – colour, texture, light, and equilibrium of forms – was immensely influential in both the fine […]

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July 18

Postwar Expressionist Sculpture: Kenneth Armitage

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On the 18th of July 1916, sculptor William Kenneth Armitage was born in Leeds, England. He is remembered for producing semi-abstract works, still recognizably human, but sometimes merging into animal, organic or non-organic forms. Armitage’s mature style emerged in 1952 and reached its peak in 1958, when he won best international sculptor under age 45 at […]

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July 17

New York Through the Lens of Berenice Abbott

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On the 17th of July 1898, American photographer Berenice Abbott was born in Springfield, Ohio. In 1918, she came to New York to study journalism. But her interest soon turned to sculpture. Disappointed with the commercial approach prevalent in American at the time, she decided to go to Europe. “I was scared of New York,” […]

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