The World at First Light: A New History of the RenaissanceBernd Roeck Tom Verde Historians typically trace the birth of the Renaissance to fourteenth-century Florence. Then, after three centuries, that brilliant era of artistry eventually gave way to the Reformation, with its shift away from humanism, and the Enlightenment, which picked up (and ran) where… Read More Why the West?
For tens of thousands of years, these Palaeolithic artworks were unseen. When they were rediscovered, onlookers marvelled at their vivid beauty. One of the world’s leading experts took me up close. The latest thinking on the subject proposes that our ancestors painted their way across western Europe, and what we now know as “cave art’ is… Read More ‘They take you out of life, out of time’: a journey into Spain’s astonishing cave paintings
By Maria Popova “Day by day I am approaching the goal which I apprehend but cannot describe,” Ludwig van Beethoven (December 16, 1770–March 26, 1827) wrote to his boyhood friend, rallying his own resilience as he began losing his hearing. A year later, shortly after completing his Second Symphony, he sent his brothers a stunning letter about the joy of suffering… Read More Trial, Triumph, and the Art of the Possible: The Remarkable Story Behind Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’
László Krasznahorkai was awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature “for his compelling and visionary work that, amid apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art”. Krasznahorkai is a great epic writer in the Central European tradition, stretching from Kafka to Thomas Bernhard, and characterized by absurdity and grotesque excess.The writer recalls how Franz Kafka introduced… Read More László Krasznahorkai, 2025 Nobel Laureate in Literature: “Human beings remain the same, dangerous to themselves”
SOURCE: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/6NDZdw Best of Joachim Heinrich | Beautiful Ambient Mix TIME: Pink Floyd Wish you were here: Pink Floyd Project The Adventures of Mr Cogito beware of dryness of heart love the morning springthe bird with an unknown name the winter oak light on a wall the splendour of the skythey don’t need your warm breaththey… Read More Time
Mario Praz (1896-1982) was an Italian-born critic of art & literature, and scholar of English literature. His best-known book, La carne, la morte e il diavolo nella letteratura romantica (The Romantic Agony, 1933) written in 1930 was a comprehensive survey of the erotic and morbid themes that characterized European authors of the late 18th &… Read More Mario Praz: The Romantic Agony (1933)
Gideon Levy Pablo Picasso painted his famous picture in response to the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica on April 26, 1937. We now have a modern filmed version from Gaza. This report by Gideon Levy, in Haaretz, July 13, 2025 // The people of Guernica, which was bombed by fascists and Nazis during… Read More Gaza’s Guernica / Guernica stands in solidarity with Gaza (2024)
A look back at 1960s Black arts movement explains why Trump is obsessed with eliminating Black artistry and the museums and institutions that support it Saida Grundy By the time Jesse Owens bowed his head from the highest podium tier to be crowned with his fourth Olympic wreath in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Europe’s premiers… Read More Trump is terrified of Black culture. But not for the reasons you think
Linda Hoaglund NB: The artwork here has an ominous, surreal beauty; and it touches the soul. To me, it reflects what is happening in Gaza today, where ordinary people are burnt like grass and the world looks away. Hiroshi is now 92 years old, and was 12 when the firebombing destroyed Hamamatsu, his native town.… Read More Japanese Protest Art in the 1950’s: the forgotten reportage painters
academic thought has shifted to see southern African rock art as more often reflecting spiritually and culturally significant images and motifs, according to the British Museum. Some images have been understood to reflect visions seen by shamans when they entered trance-like states to perform communal tasks like healing the sick. “When they painted, they were not just… Read More This artist is painstakingly recreating mysterious ancient rock art
After the truth-shower 