Hunters in the Snow (Winter) by Pieter Bruegel the Elder

The Climate Canvasses of the Little Ice Age

Low Country artists of the late Renaissance and Early Baroque eras captured the happiness and hardships of snowy winters—an ever rarer phenomenon now.
Didarganj Yakshi

The Didarganj Figurine: A Yakshi or a Ganika?

Could we be wrong about the identity of this celebrated stone sculpture from ancient India?
Young Negro, 1935

Black in the USSR

Soviet artworks that featured Black Americans tended to trade in stereotypes. The paintings of Alexsandr Deineka were an exception.
An image created with Adobe Firefly using the prompt, "a room full of students creating art on computers"

AI and the Creative Process: Part Three

The multifaceted nature of creativity subverts the assumption it’s a human endeavor exclusively—meaning we might need to radically re-think the definition of “art.”
An AI image generated using Adobe Firefly, depicting a painting of a group of 6 people gathered around a toilet in a gallery

AI and the Creative Process: Part Two

Though technological innovation has always influenced considerations of art—think of Duchamp’s controversial urinal—the constant throughout is human touch.
An image generated using Adobe Firefly

AI and the Creative Process: Part One

How does generative artificial intelligence upend conventional understandings of who is and what makes for a true artist?
Giovanni da Udine, detail of border surrounding Raphael’s Cupid and Psyche, Villa Farnesina, Rome.

Fruit and Veg: The Sexual Metaphors of the Renaissance

Using peach and eggplant emojis as shorthand for sex may seem like a new thing, but Renaissance painters were experts at using produce to imply intercourse.
Weston Havens House

Searching for Queer Spaces

The dominant heteroview of architectural history means we may lose our queer spaces and their histories before we even know they exist.
Storage jar by Dave the Potter

Dave the Potter’s Mark on History

An enslaved African American in South Carolina did the unthinkable, writing his name on the walls of his vessels—and forever inscribing history.
A 19th century Kalighat painting from Calcutta, India

How Bengal’s Nineteenth-Century Art Defined Women

Women’s roles as icons ranged from being seductive and erotic to mythical and religious as they imparted social, political, and ethical values.