Artist Stories
The lives, loves, and scandals behind the paintings.
Artist StoriesManet Never Took Students. Then He Met Eva Gonzalès.The painter who was portrait, pupil, and rival all at once — and died six days after her teacher.
Artist StoriesThe Actress in Three MasterpiecesDegas made her tragic. Manet made her lonely. Renoir made her the life of the party. Same woman.
Artist StoriesWho Was Berthe Morisot?The founding Impressionist who was painted more often than she was remembered.
Artist StoriesDid Van Gogh Really Cut Off His Ear — and Why?The most famous act of self-harm in art history, minus the myths.Artist StoriesWho Was Vincent van Gogh?He sold almost nothing in his lifetime and became, a century later, the most beloved painter alive or dead.
Artist StoriesWho Was Claude Monet?The painter who gave Impressionism its name — and spent his last decades painting one garden pond.
Artist StoriesWho Was Johannes Vermeer, and Why Are His Paintings So Rare?A Delft painter who left behind roughly 34 works — and one of the most famous faces in art.
Artist StoriesWho Was Edgar Degas, the Painter of Dancers?He hated being called an Impressionist — and painted the ballet like no one before or since.
Artist StoriesWho Was Rembrandt van Rijn?The Dutch master who painted his own face for forty years — and went spectacularly broke.Artist StoriesWho Was Mary Cassatt, the American Impressionist in Paris?An American who crashed the most French of movements — and painted mothers and children without a drop of sentimentality.
Artist StoriesWho Was Katsushika Hokusai, the Man Behind "The Great Wave"?He made his most famous image in his seventies — and claimed he was only getting started.
Artist StoriesWho Was Paul Cézanne, "the Father of Modern Art"?Picasso and Matisse both called him their master. In his own lifetime, critics called his work a mess.
Artist StoriesWho Was Judith Leyster? The Forgotten Master of the Dutch Golden AgeFor two centuries her paintings were credited to Frans Hals. Then someone found her monogram.
Artist StoriesWas Van Gogh Really Unknown When He Was Alive?The "starving genius who sold one painting" is half true — and the other half is more interesting.Artist Stories8 Women Artists History Almost ForgotThey exhibited, sold, and led — then got written out. The record is finally being corrected.