Category: French
-
Caught Between Eras: Chateau de Pierrefonds
The Chateau de Pierrefonds, a castle in France, demonstrates how the line between medieval and modern can get really blurry.
-
Louise Moillon – a new book about an intriguing still life painter
Louise Moillon, an upcoming book by art historian Lesley Stevenson, is about a 17th-century French painter with a short but intriguing career.
-
The Narbonne Cathedral Dog Gargoyle
Enjoy this photo, sent in by a reader, of a Saint Bernard dog gargoyle from the cathedral of Saint-Just and Saint-Pasteur in Narbonne, France.
-
Yearly Updates on the Notre-Dame de Paris Restoration
In 2019, a devastating fire ravaged Notre-Dame de Paris, the most iconic of all Gothic buildings. Find updates about the cathedral’s current status here.
-
Art is a Tyrant: an Entertaining Biography of Rosa Bonheur
Art is a Tyrant: The Unconventional Life of Rosa Bonheur is Catherine Hewitt’s really enjoyable new biography of French animal painter Rosa Bonheur.
-
Art That Inspires Me: The Paintings of Paul Cézanne
In Cézanne: A Life, Alex Danchev claims that admirers of Cézanne’s work can’t really explain why they like it. Here, I’ve done my best to prove him wrong.
-
Still Life Paintings by Anne Vallayer-Coster
Anne Vallayer-Coster was an 18th-century French artist who specialized in still life. She was so good that she became official painter to Marie-Antoinette.
-
Charles Meryon’s “Le Stryge” (a Grotesque)
Charles Méryon’s famous print depicting a grotesque on the façade of Notre-Dame de Paris is a big part of how this grotesque became so iconic.
-
The Oxen of Laon Cathedral
A charming story about Laon Cathedral, an important early Gothic church, and why it has sixteen life-sized statues of oxen on its towers.
-
A Guide to Romanticism
Learn about the different themes and stylistic attributes of Romanticism in painting, sculpture, and architecture.
-
St. Bernard and Gargoyles: A Fun Fact
St. Bernard of Clairvaux wasn’t a fan of gargoyles and grotesques. This tells us something interesting about how they were understood at the time.
-
A Guide to Fauvism
Understand the painting style Fauvism. Learn about its key artists and works, underlying ideas, historical background, and how to recognize it.
