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Painters

A detail from Jackson Pollock's Number 7A, 1948

What Did Jackson Pollock Hope to Accomplish With This Dizzying Drip Painting, Which Just Sold for a Record-Breaking $181 Million?

The Abstract Expressionist is best known for his action paintings, which emphasized the movements of the artist’s body during the creative process. “Number 7A, 1948” is now his most expensive work ever auctioned

Museumgoers can read the labels on the backs of the paintings, which may provide clues about each work's provenance.

Who Are the Owners of These Nazi-Looted Masterpieces—and Could Displaying Them at One of France’s Most Popular Museums Help Track Them Down?

A new permanent display at the Musée d’Orsay showcases artworks that may have been stolen or sold under suspicious circumstances during World War II. Officials are still hoping to find the families of their rightful owners

The Mona Lisa returning to the Louvre in 1914

Andrew Lloyd Webber Says He’s Writing a New Musical About the Time the ‘Mona Lisa’ Vanished Without a Trace in 1911

Known for spectacles like “The Phantom of the Opera,” Broadway’s most commercially successful composer now wants to tell the story of the world’s most famous painting

A damaged portrait of Mary Magdalene by Artemisia Gentileschi (left) and a similar version of the same scene (right) housed at the Pitti Palace in Florence, Italy

Rolled Up in a Cellar for Decades, This Artemisia Gentileschi Painting Is Now Up for Auction. Why Is Mary Magdalene’s Face Missing From the Portrait?

Found in Berlin, the artwork was probably damaged in the chaotic aftermath of World War II. Despite the gaping hole in the canvas, it could sell for upwards of $180,000 later this month

The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring on display before the restoration

This Vincent van Gogh Painting Was Found Wrapped in an Ikea Bag and a Blood-Stained Pillow. Now, the Artwork Has Been Restored to Its Former Glory

Art sleuth Arthur Brand recovered “The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring” in 2023, three years after it was stolen from a Dutch museum. Following careful restoration, the canvas is now back on display

Frida Kahlo painted many self-portraits, including this piece, "Self-Portrait With Necklace," from 1933.   

Can Frida Kahlo Leave Mexico? Plans to Relocate a Trove of Paintings by the Famous Artist Spark a Heated Debate

Nearly 400 cultural heritage professionals signed an open letter protesting plans to move a collection featuring artworks by the renowned Mexican painter out of her home country

The two copies of Old Man With a Gold Chain

This Painting Was Thought to Be a Workshop Copy of a Rembrandt. Now, One Scholar Argues It’s the Real Deal

“Old Man With a Gold Chain” is on display beside a smaller copy for the first time in centuries. According to scholar Gary Schwartz, the Dutch master painted both himself

 Les Poissons, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1917

Art Thieves Steal Paintings by Renoir, Cézanne and Matisse Worth More Than $10 Million, Fleeing the Scene in Just Three Minutes

The Magnani-Rocca Foundation in Italy was the target of a shocking art heist—only five months after a high-profile theft at the Louvre in Paris

Gansevoort Street, Willem de Kooning, circa 1949

Willem de Kooning Didn’t Get His Big Break Until His 40s. See the Stunning Abstract Paintings That First Captivated Audiences

Artworks that showcase the painter’s early foray into Abstract Expressionism are now on view at the Princeton University Art Museum

John Constable, Golding Constable's Kitchen Garden, 1815

England’s ‘Constable Country’ Is Honoring the 250th Birthday of Its Namesake, Landscape Artist John Constable, With a Year of Exhibitions

Constable was born in the Suffolk village of East Bergholt on June 11, 1776. With “Constable 250,” nearby Ipswich honors the pastoral painter’s connections to his homeland, community, country and contemporary art

Caravaggio painted Portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini around 1598.

The Italian Government Just Paid Nearly $35 Million for a Rare Caravaggio Portrait—One of the Most Expensive Artworks It’s Ever Acquired

“Portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini” had been on display in the Palazzo Barberini in Rome as part of a loan. Now, it’s part of the palace’s permanent collection

The marble bust on display inside the Basilica of St. Agnes Outside the Walls in Rome

Why Are So Many People Claiming They’ve Discovered Long-Lost Michelangelos?

One researcher wrote a 600-page report attributing an obscure painting to the artist. Another argued that he’d sculpted a marble bust on display in a Roman church

Dalí's painting measures roughly 66 feet by 98 feet.

You Can Buy Salvador Dalí’s Largest Painting, a 100-Foot-Long Artwork Made for a Ballet in 1939

The Surrealist artist created the massive piece for a production called “Bacchanale.” It’s expected to fetch up to $348,000 at auction

The Last Judgment is located behind the Sistine Chapel's altar.

The Sweat of Tourists Has Covered Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel Fresco in a White Film. Now, the ‘Last Judgment’ Is Getting a Much-Needed Cleaning

Patches of calcium lactate have dulled the colors of the famous 16th-century mural, which hasn’t been cleaned since 1994. Experts will carefully restore the artwork to its former glory

Combat, Lee Krasner, 1965

You’ve Seen Jackson Pollock’s Dizzying Drip Paintings. But His Wife, Lee Krasner, Was Also a Major Player in the Abstract Expressionist Movement

Titled “Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous,” a new exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art will examine the lives and careers of both artists, who met in New York in the 1940s

Vision of Zacharias in the Temple, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1633

Cool Finds

They Joked About Discovering a Forgotten Masterpiece. Now, Experts Say They’re the Unwitting Owners of an Original Rembrandt

“Vision of Zacharias in the Temple” had been removed from the Dutch painter’s oeuvre in the 1960s. But when the owners brought it to the Rijksmuseum, scholars decided to conduct a close analysis

The Musée de la Vie Romantique has reopened in Paris after a lengthy renovation.

Museum Devoted to the Romantic Movement Reopens in Paris After Extensive Renovations

The Musée de la Vie Romantique, where the Dutch-French painter Ary Scheffer once lived, opened its doors on Valentine’s Day

Seascape at Port-en-Bessin, Normandy, Georges Seurat, 1888

Georges Seurat Is Most Famous for His Pointillist Painting of a Paris Park. But More Than Half of His Canvases Were Stunning Seascapes

More than two dozen artworks depicting the northern coast of France are now on display at the Courtauld Gallery in London. It’s the first-ever exhibition dedicated to the French artist’s seascapes

Three large screens in the Rijksmuseum's "Metamorphoses" exhibition depict artist Juul Kraijer as Medusa.

See How Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’ Inspired Centuries of Artists—From Caravaggio to René Magritte

A show at the Rijksmuseum brings together paintings, sculptures, film and other artworks that reinterpret the ancient Roman poet’s tales of transformation

Left: Bella in Her Pluto T-Shirt, 1995. Right: Solicitor’s Head, 2003

Lucian Freud Is Famous for His Unflinching Portraits. These Rarely Seen Drawings Provide an Intimate Window Into His Creative Process

A new exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London showcases drawings and etchings from throughout the British artist’s 60-year career

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