Herbert James Gunn and His Mona Lisa

At thirty-one-years old Herbert James Gunn’s life was only just beginning. Sure, the Scotsman had already been married once, fathered three children, fought in World War I and wandered through the cities of Europe and the sun-drenched north of Africa, milestones which would take many of us a lifetime to achieve. But there he was […]

Tom Thomson – Summer Day (1915)

Let’s play a game. Let’s grab a patch of raw green grass, spread our limbs on it like starfish, stretch our vision to hold the blue of the sky, and tag the clouds above our heads. Does that one look like an elephant taking a bath? And if you’re too shy or too busy to […]

Van Gogh, Hiroshige’s Cherry Blossoms, and the Impermanence of Life

Reading time: 20 minutes “If we study Japanese art, we see a man who is undoubtedly wise, philosophic, and intelligent who spends his time doing what?,” wondered 35-year-old Vincent van Gogh in a September 1888 letter to his brother, Theo. Admiring the intrinsic wisdom of the Japanese artist who is unanchored from the dispassionate, reasoning […]

Max Liebermann – Free Period in the Amsterdam Orphanage (1881 – 1882)

It was a warm and sunny day when Max Liebermann, strolling on the streets of Amsterdam, with not a care in the world, laid eyes upon what would become one of the most consequential scenes he’d ever witness. This was the 29-year-old German artist’s second workation in the Netherlands – part vacation, indulging in the […]

Paul Cadmus – Seeing the New Year In (1939)

“I like to have a Martini / Two at the very most / After three I’m under the table / After four I’m under the host”, Dorothy Parker allegedly quipped. Though these playful rhymes are, by all indications, misattributed, they fit right in in the life story of the American poet, who was known for […]

Agnes Tait – Skating in Central Park (1934)

A year ago I was sharing with you Hendrick Avercamp’s Winter Landscape with Ice Skaters, an early-17th century outdoors scene depicting the dwellers of a Dutch community having fun and making the most of the cold weather. This year, however, we’re going to 20th century New York. American painter Agnes Tait would probably be completely […]

Alice Neel – The Spanish Family (1943)

“Every person is a new universe unique with its own laws emphasizing some belief or phase of life immersed in time and rapidly passing by,” American artist Alice Neel said in her autobiography. Looking at her career spanning over six decades and consisting of hundreds of portraits of people from all walks of life – […]

Tivadar Csontváry Kosztka – Castellammare di Stabia (1902)

Today his name is largely unknown outside of Hungary, but Tivadar Csontváry Kosztka was actually rather good at promoting himself. In fact, if he were still alive today, he’d probably write a self-help book based on his life: “How to be an Artist – the Long and Winding Road”. Here’s the blueprint: ~ Have your […]

Stanley Spencer – The Last Supper (1920)

“All the things that happened in the Bible, happened in Cookham”, English artist Stanley Spencer once said. Cookham, a small rural village on the banks of the River Thames where Spencer had grown up and spent most of his life, and the peaceful countryside area surrounding it were the backdrop for most of his religious […]

Otto Dix – Portrait of Journalist Sylvia von Harden (1926)

If you were to travel back in time to 1920s Berlin and head into the Romanisches Café, located on the end of the fashionable Kurfürstendamm, you’d suddenly find yourself surrounded by all the great minds of that bustling period. You would meet writers like Bertolt Brecht and Erich Maria Remarque, New Objectivity artists who want […]