Category: European Art

  • Skating Through Time on a Snow Day

    Skating Through Time on a Snow Day

    Snow day! Who doesn’t love those words? Here in the northeastern United States, we are currently having a nice snow day, which makes it seem like a perfect time to do the second part of the winter paintings series I started around Christmas time. While part one was about winter landscapes, part two is about ice skating paintings!…

  • Four Magical Christmas and Winter Paintings

    Four Magical Christmas and Winter Paintings

    Eager to get into the holiday spirit? Enjoy this selection of winter and Christmas-themed paintings by American, British, and European artists.

  • Christkindlmarkt Am Hof by Carl Wenzel Zajicek (December 23rd)

    Christkindlmarkt Am Hof by Carl Wenzel Zajicek (December 23rd)

    For an art historical Advent calendar, a beautiful, snow-filled painting of a Viennese Christmas market by Austrian painter Carl Wenzel Zajicek.

  • Merry Christmas by Viggo Johansen (December 21st)

    Merry Christmas by Viggo Johansen (December 21st)

    Day 21 of a fine art Advent calendar is a lovely painting of a family dancing around the Christmas tree by Danish artist Viggo Johansen.

  • A Still Life by Johanna Helena Looisen (December 20th)

    Today’s painting, Still Life with Christmas Pudding, Holly and Wine, is my first Advent Calendar work by a female artist. I wasn’t specifically looking for a work by a female painter today, just as I wasn’t intentionally avoiding female artists for the first nineteen days. I’m featuring the painting because I love it; it’s compelling for…

  • New Year’s Night by Julius Kronberg (December 17th)

    A mysterious painting of a figure in the midnight snow on New Year’s Eve, by Swedish Symbolist Julius Johann Ferdinand Kronberg. For a fine art Advent Calendar.

  • Winter by Alphonse Mucha (December 16th)

    Winter by Alphonse Mucha (December 16th)

    A personification of winter by Alphonse Mucha. Mucha’s elegant female figures are synonymous with Art Nouveau even today.

  • The Nutcracker scenery by Konstantin Ivanov (December 15th)

    The Nutcracker scenery by Konstantin Ivanov (December 15th)

    Two sketches by Konstantin Ivanov showing his scenic designs for the famous Nutcracker ballet’s first-ever production, which took place in Russia in 1892.

  • Ball at the Russian Imperial Court (December 13th)

    If you are seeing this (and I set the timer correctly), it means I am currently at a holiday ball. I figured the Advent Calendar should get in on the action, too. Interestingly, it is far easier to get a ticket to a glamorous and elegant holiday party than an artistic representation of one. It took me…

  • The Magi by Joseph Binder (December 11th)

    I looked at a lot of Magi/Three Wise Men paintings today, but something about this one particularly stood out for me. It is by Austrian artist Joseph Binder (1798–1864). I think it’s a combination of things – the clarity of the image, the colors (particularly the blues in the sky), the varying reactions of the…

  • The Archangel Michael by Guido Reni (December 3rd)

    What would Christmas be without some angels? This striking painting of the Michael the Archangel is by Italian Baroque painter Guido Reni (1575-1642). In characteristic Baroque fashion, the painting is full of drama. The large figure of Michael is wearing Roman battle attire prepares to impale a tough-looking man representing Satan. Behind him is a shadowy setting with rocks in…

  • Meet Swedish Portraitist Anders Zorn

    Meet Swedish Portraitist Anders Zorn

    Isabella Stewart Gardner by Anders Zorn, 1894. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston. Next up in what is becoming a recurring series of featured artists is Anders Zorn. Zorn is very interesting, and not just because his name is so much fun to say. This Swedish artist was a favorite of the great early-twentieth century American…

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The mission of A Scholarly Skater Art History is to make historical art and architecture accessible to everyone.
I’m Alexandra, an art historian who believes that looking at art can enrich everyone’s life. Welcome to my website!
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