Artists and art history
![Impressionist painting of a rural landscape with cows grazing, trees, houses, a church spire and a hazy sky at sunset.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/4635d144-e5f5-4ff6-9ef8-b7022da83adb/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Human evolution
idea
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 viewing the Mona Lisa painting in an ornate frame, displayed against a dark wall in a gallery.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/b421474c-cbce-4b49-b3e8-4f695f3571b3/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Beauty and aesthetics
idea
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
![A man and a woman sitting at a café table, both looking off to the side, with a glass of wine and ashtray on the table.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/b03b5bcd-d3e4-4d35-aa35-81f4f23f6cf3/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Film
guide
How to find great films to watch
Bored with Hollywood and Netflix? Becoming an adventurous and informed explorer of the cinema world is in everyone’s grasp
by Geoff Andrew
![Photo of two people in a worn-out room with an old TV, a mirror reflecting more people, and various items on countertops and shelves.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/148724be-adff-4429-b962-9eadb8e60589/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Artists and art history
film
One Kandinsky, one viewer and one guard, in a Moscow power station
Directed by Nastia Korkia
![](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/b03fed13-24b1-4f33-8b68-94705a14bd21/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Artists and art history
idea
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
![A photo from the set of the film Edward Scissorhands of Johnny Depp and Diane Wiest as the characters Edward and Peg](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/76dacf50-9999-4304-a295-2e0305b14a6c/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Artists and art history
idea
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
![Black-and-white image of a person playing a Chickering piano with an ornate music stand. The person’s profile is visible in the foreground.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/cf4048e1-7f93-4bb1-8fa4-fc48e25243ad/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Music
guide
How to listen to, and enjoy, classical music
Whether you’re a newbie or an aficionado, these ways to navigate and approach the genre will enrich your experience
by Lawrence Kramer
![Abstract illustration of a person with eyes closed, wearing glasses, surrounded by cosmic elements on a blue and black background.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/a3268bd1-8685-401b-87f9-4b0f261ebafd/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Poetry
film
Enter a dreamy French surrealist poem, where love and reality never quite touch
Directed by Emma Vakarelova
![A painting of a distressed, partially nude woman confronting two older men in red and black robes who are whispering to each other.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/11981fd7-c347-4e95-9471-b84545a8a8b9/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Artists and art history
idea
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
![Photo of a person with a guitar leaning against a vintage car in a forest with vibrant pink foliage, wearing a hat and white shirt.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/eac9908c-f606-408d-9716-608980c46c4c/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Music
idea
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
![Abstract figure with tree-like head, green patterned torso and outlined suit, against a black background.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/7e50343f-c0a7-4d5e-a537-b96fea5506e2/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Creativity
film
An improvised animation doubles as an absurdly fun lesson in creativity
Directed by Sasha Svirsky