It’s unusual and difficult to make humorous paintings. Here’s a fine selection from Bosch, Brueghel and Rubens to the late 19th century.
Frith
In the 1870s, Manet and Monet introduced steam trains to the world of art. At the Salon, they were met with ridicule, but became an important theme in Impressionism.
How two people changed the history of painting in the twentieth century, and destroyed John Singer Sargent’s reputation.
Ever noticed how stern everyone looks in paintings? Here are some exceptions from Frans Hals, Murillo, Vermeer and others.
Some personal, even intimate wedding paintings, from Rubens, Hans Gude, William Frith, and two Naturalists. And they all lived happily ever after.
Crowded streets in town and cities, from Jan van Eyck in 1435 to Pasini’s market in Constantinople in 1877.
After his greatest human panorama showing Paddington railway station, he painted two moralising series, similar to those of Hogarth.
The quintessential Victorian painter. His grand social panoramas include Ramsgate Sands and The Derby Day, shown here.
Plans to celebrate anniversaries of major painters, series on narrative paintings, and more, for the coming year.
Two painters: one married Charles Dickens’ daughter and stopped painting, the other became a prolific illustrator, including books by Dickens’ grand-daughter. The Victorian Web at work.
The Eclectic Light Company 