Adolph Gottlieb, born in 1903, was an American painter included in the first generation of Abstract Expressionists. He grew up in turbulent times, being born during the Great Depression, and experiencing the times between the two World Wars and the rise of Hitler. The trauma of this time greatly influenced the artist’s work, and still gives us insight into how to deal with and express trauma today.  Gottlieb was born in New York City and spent his entire life in the city. His parents intended for him to inherit his father’s stationery business, however, to their dismay, he developed a pas ..read more

Maximilien Luce, born in 1858, was a French artist. He created art in the Neo-Impressionist style and became known for his engravings, illustrations, and paintings.  At the age of 14, Luce became an apprentice for a wood engraver while also going to art classes in the evenings. Four years later, in 1876, he began working in an art studio making wood-cut prints for various publications. It was here that he met some French Impressionist painters and enrolled in portrait painting classes.  Luce was called up for French military service in 1879. He served for the next four years, during ..read more

The power of art lies neither in the image nor the emotions it arouses in the viewer, rather its greatness is derived from understanding the creative forces which inspired the masterpiece. Goya’s black paintings series is a great example that proves this theory. Francisco Goya, the most important Spanish artist of late 18th and early 19th centuries, has been crowned by many as the last of the Old Masters and the father of modern art. The enigmatic and dark series, the Black Paintings, are the natural outcome of his life. The turbulent political times as well as a string of personal traged ..read more

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A popular quote from the 3rd century and true to anything you happen to be beholding. Literary genius Shakespeare expressed this perfectly in his play Loves Labours Lost of 1588 – Good Lord Boyet, my beauty, though but mean, Needs not the painted flourish of your praise: Beauty is bought by judgement of the eye, Not uttered by base sale of chapmen’s tongues When it comes to art, some may say that not all art is beautiful, that it should not be beautiful, always. As with many aspects of life, such as peace, faith, love, and happiness, one man’s view is va ..read more

Laura Knight, born in 1877, was an English painter. Over her lengthy career, Knight became one of the most successful artists to have ever come out of Britain, blazing a trail for consequent female artists to follow in the male-dominated art world of the time. Knight was raised by her single mother in a poor household. For a short time, she was sent to wealthier relatives in France, but after they went bankrupt, she returned to her mother in England. Her mother was an art teacher at the Nottingham School of Art, and this gave Knight a chance to receive an education in the art without paying tu ..read more

Kazimir Malevich, born in 1878 in modern-day Ukraine, was an avant-garde painter. Malevich was the founder of the Suprematist school of abstract painting. In his early life, his family moved often. He spent most of his time in villages in modern-day Ukraine among sugar beet plantations. He knew nothing about professional artists until the age of 12, although he was surrounded by art in the form of peasant embroidery and in decorative walls and stoves.   After his father died in 1904, Malevich moved to Moscow, where he studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architect ..read more

Henryk Siemiradzki, born in 1843, was a Polish painter. He is most well known for his academic art depicting ancient Greek-Roman life and scenes from the New Testament of the Bible.  Siemiradzki was born into a noble Polish family, with his father holding the position of officer in the Imperial Russian Army. Siemiradzki first learned how to paint under the guidance of a local school teacher. Although he always continued to paint, the artist attended the physics-mathematics school of Kharkiv University where he studied natural sciences.  Immediately after graduating with a degree, Sie ..read more

Willi Baumeister, born in 1889 in Stuttgart, Germany, was a German painter, typographer, art professor, and scenic designer. He was a vocal advocate for abstract art in Germany, although he avoided aligning himself with any particular movement. His art was exhibited at both the 1928 and 1932 Summer Olympics as part of the art competition.  Baumeister began his career in the art world with an apprenticeship as a decorative painter in Stuttgart. During this time he also took classes at the Stuttgart Art Academy, among others. In 1911 he made his first trip to Paris, and a year later appeare ..read more

Over the years, there have been so many ideas and innovations in technology. In a bid to improve, get better and serve better, in the course of the latest inventions, artificial intelligence (AI) is now a common phenomenon. Dating back to the 1950s, when AI took the stage, one would see that it has come a very long way. Its usefulness cuts across various industries, and its impact cannot be overlooked. For one who is conversant with art and AI and the immense improvement both areas have witnessed, it is surprising that art and AI have somehow, one way or the other, found a way to come together ..read more

All throughout New York, there are many museums and cultural places of interest. These museums span entire neighborhoods from the Upper East Side of New York to the Lower East Side, and similarly, some neighborhoods, such as Chelsea, are dedicated wholly to the proliferation of smaller galleries. As a diverse melting pot of culture and people, museums across New York have all sorts of specialties represented, from Chinese, Jewish, and Hispanic art, photography, natural history, and contemporary works; there is something of interest for almost everyone. In this list of the top 20 museums in New ..read more