Art

The Brilliance in Francis Bacon’s Early Failures

A new biography of the painter sheds light on a little-known period of his life: the time he spent working as an interior designer.

• Sophie Madeline Dess
• March 25, 2021

Why Is Bob Ross Still So Popular?

Twenty-five years after his death, the painter who gave us “happy little trees” is more ubiquitous than ever.

• Michael J. Mooney
• July 28, 2020

Christo Found Beauty in Realizing the Impossible

The conceptual artist, who died yesterday at 84, made constructing quixotic, monumental projects his life’s work.

• Sophie Gilbert
• June 1, 2020

The Conundrum of Lucian Freud’s Portraits

How to assess an artist who was ruthless—and revealing—in work and life

• Sophie Madeline Dess
• December 4, 2019

Leonardo da Vinci’s Unexamined Life as a Painter

A new show marks the 500th anniversary of the artist’s death, and reveals some of his innermost thoughts.

• Rachel Donadio
• December 1, 2019

A New Exhibition Shows Women as Artists, Not Muses

Pre-Raphaelite Sisters, at London’s National Portrait Gallery, moves female creatives from the margins of a historical era and puts them at the center.

• Helen Lewis
• October 29, 2019

Remembering Robert Frank Through the Portraits Others Took of Him

One way to commemorate the late photographer, who pioneered the “snapshot aesthetic,” is to see him the way other artists did.

• Leslie Ureña
• September 18, 2019

Robert Frank’s Messy and Singular Rolling Stones Documentary

A controversial film about the band directed by the late photographer is an off-kilter masterpiece that reveals his singular eye.

• Jason Heller
• September 11, 2019

The Photographer Who Captured 20th-Century Queer Life

Joan E. Biren’s images from the ’70s and ’80s—which appear in the new exhibit “Art After Stonewall”—reflect an effort to document and encourage lesbian love.

• Hannah Giorgis
• June 19, 2019

The Irrepressible Emotion of Lee Krasner

The 20th-century painter is celebrated in a spectacular London retrospective that exposes the fullness of her career for the first time.

• Sophie Gilbert
• June 13, 2019

The Whitney Biennial Homes In on American Precariousness

This year’s survey of 75 artists and collectives is quiet and suffused with anxiety.

• Kriston Capps
• May 26, 2019

The Many, Many Theories About Leonardo da Vinci

The artist, inventor, and all-around Renaissance man has been dead for half a millennium, but there’s no end to the wild sleuthing about him and his work.

• Milt Esterow
• May 12, 2019

Neon Is the Ultimate Symbol of the 20th Century

The once-ubiquitous form of lighting was novel when it first emerged in the early 1900s, though it has since come to represent decline.

• Sarah Archer
• April 27, 2019

Notre-Dame Isn’t Lost

The history of sacred structures is defined by ruin and repair.

• Sophie Gilbert
• April 16, 2019

The Obama Portraits Have Had a Pilgrimage Effect

One year after Kehinde Wiley’s and Amy Sherald’s paintings were unveiled, the director of the National Portrait Gallery reflects on their unprecedented impact.

• Kim Sajet
• February 12, 2019

The Artwork That Traps Ivanka Trump in an Endless Cleanup Task

Ivanka Vacuuming, a performance piece by Jennifer Rubell, combines striking visuals with a muddled message.

• Kriston Capps
• February 11, 2019

To Understand Art, Think Biology

Just as cells are the building blocks of the human body, a painting’s points, lines, colors, and tensions are the building blocks of its life.

• Lance Esplund
• January 16, 2019