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Artists and art history

Painting of a serene rural landscape with cows grazing at sunset, a church spire, trees and fields in the background.

Human evolution

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Why it took us thousands of years to see the colour violet

The colour violet was largely missing from art before the Impressionists, and is seen differently by different cultures. Why?

by Allen Tager

Two people view a famous painting in a gallery; it’s the Mona Lisa in an ornate frame.

Beauty and aesthetics

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What happens if we make the Mona Lisa more symmetrical?

The Golden Ratio and symmetry are two universal rules of beauty. The problem is they conflict with one another

by Manil Suri

Painting of two women in historical clothing beheading a man, with one holding him down while the other uses a sword.

Artists and art history

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Gentileschi. Let us not allow sexual violence to define the artist

Artemisia Gentileschi’s body of work has been framed by her personal history. Her paintings should speak for themselves

by Eliza Apperly

Scene from a film with a pale man in black leather and a woman in glasses standing by a blue door in a home setting.

Artists and art history

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Love the art, disgusted by the artist? Maybe philosophy can help

Rather than trying to leave behind beloved art by immoral artists, let philosophy offer you a model for engaging with it

by Erich Hatala Matthes

A painting of a distressed woman at a bath with two men observing her from behind a wall, appearing to whisper.

Artists and art history

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What art history reveals about the rise of anti-feminist women

How can anyone favour a patriarchal system that routinely harms them? On Susanna and the Elders and anti-feminist women

by Paula Keller

A painting of a man and woman holding hands indoors with a small dog at their feet. The room is richly decorated.

Philosophy of art

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To master the art of close looking, learn to hold time still

Visual literacy is a skillset that’s rarely taught, but it begins with learning how to look – and how to hold time still

by Grace Linden

Photo of a person with a guitar leaning on a car in a forest with bright red foliage wearing a white shirt and hat.

Music

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Bob Dylan turned American folk traditions into modern prophecy

Bob Dylan’s ‘A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall’ is the first truly modernist folk song: it reworks tradition into a prophetic warning

by Timothy Hampton

Black and white photo of an empty city street flanked by tall buildings, featuring vintage cars and a distant vanishing point.

Photography

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Struth’s unpeopled photos evoke the loneliness of urban life

Thomas Struth’s empty streets speak of an existential loneliness that is a shadowy but ever-present aspect of urban life

by Richard Deming

Indian miniature painting of three figures with flowers and a fan on a terrace, bordered with gold leaf.

Artists and art history

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The art of Mughal India is best appreciated with all the senses

Experience the multiple layers of sensory pleasure and meaning conveyed through scented flowers in the art of Mughal India

by Bharti Lalwani & Nicolas Roth

Abstract painting with bold red, blue and yellow shapes on a textured dark background.

Artists and art history

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Is the attunement of abstract art and music more than a metaphor?

How does the abstract art of Kandinsky and Klee imitate the meaning and emotion in the music of Shostakovich and Bach?

by Michelle Liu

Rock art painting with red pigments on a weathered stone surface showing abstract shapes and natural cracks.

Artists and art history

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The art of Ice Age children offers a tactile sense of the past

Small hands in dark caves: Ice Age art reveals the role of artistic expression and child’s play in ancient societies

by Izzy Wisher

Expressionist painting of a figure kneeling inside vibrant layered shapes in green and purple tones.

Psychiatry

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This isn’t just art, but a supercharged act of meaning-making

Psychiatric art is crammed with meaning yet it actively resists interpretation. This paradox lies at the heart of its appeal

by Shruti Ravindran