LadyKflo

Marriage a la Mode II: The Tete a Tete works like a meme rather than just a painting. That's because William Hogarth was more than a mere master painter. He was a writer and satirist with an unabashed bawdiness and humor that made Hogarth an icon. In fact, his work punctuated a significant part of the social milieu to the point that "Hogarthian" refers to art done in his satirical style even today.

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Lady Jane Grey was the Queen of England for nine days in 1553. She was the great granddaughter of King Henry VII and her first cousin, Edward VI nominated her for accession to the throne. He was an ardent Protestant and knew that Lady Jane would carry that through her reign. This subverted the claim of his half sister, Mary Tudor who was Catholic but considered by many the rightful heir to the throne.

Only nine days after Lady Jan...

Rubens loved to draw his wife, Isabella Brant. The old Flemish master married her in the early 1600s when he was a young upstart. Peter Paul Rubens was popular and famous for his baroque paintings in his lifetime. The work of Rubens now lives in the collective unconscious as an icon of sensual and lush depictions of dramatic scenes.

He's considered an old master tha...

The Swiss painter Angelica Kauffman created her self portrait Colors as part of a series for the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Kauffman was one of two women who founded the Academy. Her four part series on crucial elements of painting still graces that art institution today.

Colors sets the best example of her allegorical personification for teaching purposes. These four oval paintings grace the Academy's lecture room ceiling. K...

The Red Jackson photograph by Gordon Parks sent me into a whirlwind of reactions from the first time I saw it. Encountering this black and white masterpiece in the Metropolitan Museum of Art feels like a lucky break at first. It's a thoughtful photographic version of a Vermeer that's still fresh today, even though it's from 1948.

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The true star in this portrait is his gorgeous greyhound. Van Dyck reveals himself as a master of realism with his uncanny portrayal of Stuart's dog. Whenever I see this painting it's the greyhound that holds my attention. How did Van Dyck get the fur so subtle and soft while also giving the dog's musculature such definition? Even with all the finery and fanfare atop James Stuart, the greyhound steals the show in a naked and natura...

The Robert Frank photograph Trolley New Orleans captures a candid moment in 1955. It shed light on the true America. Frank was a nomad photographer who crossed the United States from New York to California. As a German man born in Switzerland, Robert Frank brought an outsider perspective to this nationwide journey with a camera.

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Manet hints at the deeper meaning of his painting in the title Mademoiselle V. in the Costume of an Espada. This masterpiece puts on a show for viewers. We know that partially from the term "costume". Also, if you're into Goya, you may recognize this as an homage to his Tauromaquia series. Though it honors the Spanish master's work, this is no copy. Manet gave his favorite model, Victorine Meurent, a pink rather than a red cape. Sh...

Joan of Arc caught Jules Bastien-LePage's attention long after she died a hero. France had just given up a region of their territory to Germany in the Franco-Prussian war. Ms. Arc and Bastien-Lepage were both from Lorraine. After the war Bastien-Lepage experienced, he looked to his local underdog historical hero - Joan - for inspiration.

Read LadyKflo's collected works.

Learn about this painting and many more masterpieces with a ...