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Gilded Histories | Kerigan Pickett - Art Historian
@gildedhistories.bsky.social
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🖤Art Historian
🎓BA Art History, University of Northern Iowa
♥️History, Art, Writing, Makeup, Tarot, Cats, Tea
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Reposted by Gilded Histories | Kerigan Pickett - Art Historian
firstamendmentgirl.bsky.social
Faun, Horse and Bird by Pablo Picasso, 1936, Musée Picass (Paris, France)

#ArtHistory #ModernArt #NeoClassicist #Surrealism
This artwork depicts a complex and fragmented scene featuring a faun, a horse, and bird, rendered in Picasso's characteristic Cubist style. The figures are broken down into geometric shapes and reassembled in a non-naturalistic manner, creating a sense of dynamism and ambiguity. The composition is characterized by overlapping planes and a limited color palette, primarily consisting of blues, greens, and browns. The faun, a mythological creature part human and part goat, is central to the composition, interacting with the horse and bird in a symbolic and enigmatic way. The work explores themes o of mythology, nature, and the relationship between humans and animals.
November 11, 2025 at 1:23 AM
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klausherdepe.bsky.social
Guten Morgen!
Clarita Beyer, * 5.11.1864 in Mazatlán, Mexiko; † 18.8.1929 in Kiel, war eine deutsche Malerin 🎨 🇩🇪
Interieur einer Fischerstube auf den Halligen 🖼️
#OTD #ArtHistory #History #BskyArt
Interieur einer Fischerstube auf den Halligen
November 5, 2025 at 6:43 AM
Reposted by Gilded Histories | Kerigan Pickett - Art Historian
firstamendmentgirl.bsky.social
Blue Morpho Butterfly, Martin Johnson Heade, 1890, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (Bentonville, AR)

#ArtHistory #Romanticism
This painting depicts a single, strikingly vibrant Blue Morpho butterfly perched on a lush, dark green leaf. The butterfly's wings are predominantly brilliant, iridescent blue, with contrasting black markings and a hint of red near the body. The background is a deep, shadowy green, emphasizing the butterfly's luminosity and delicate form. The composition is simple and focused, highlighting beauty and fragility of the insect. It is part of a series of butterfly paintings Heade created. Heade's butterfly paintings fall within the late 19th-century American art scene, a period transitioning between the Hudson River School and the rise of American Impressionism. While influenced by the meticulous detail of earlier naturalistic painters, Heade's work also anticipates the focus on light and color characteristic of Impressionism. He was a contemporary of artists like John La Farge and William Merritt Chase, who were also exploring innovative approaches of color and subject matter. His work is often categorized as Luminism, emphasizing atmospheric effects and subtle gradations of light.
October 24, 2025 at 11:56 PM
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historyachannel.bsky.social
In 1826 Joseph Nicéphore Niépce made the earliest surviving photograph, View from the Window at Le Gras; that heliograph transformed image-making, laying the technical and artistic foundations for photography as a new art form #ArtHistory
October 24, 2025 at 7:49 PM
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laurajg.bsky.social
The artist may surprise you: Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), Head of a Skeleton with a Burning Cigarette, 1886, oil on canvas, 32.3 cm x 24.8 cm, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. Done when he was taking classes at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. #arthistory #art #painting #oilpainting
The title pretty well covers it, but let’s hear from Obelisk Art History: “When you think of Vincent Van Gogh, his vibrant, hallucinatory visions spring to mind. Star-filled skies, electric yellow, and piercing self portraits. This dapper corpse, with its rictus grin and dangling cig, is a whole different beast. Rendered in monochrome on a stark black background, it’s missing Van Gogh’s signature swirling brushstrokes and bold color. His marks are loose, almost casual, neatly capturing form and shadow with the bare minimum of strokes. It’s simple, and kind of funny.”
October 24, 2025 at 8:03 PM
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idiscreative.bsky.social
If you are looking for a little bit of inspiration to start the week, The Public Domain Review website is a real treasure trove full of all kinds of fascinating images. Here are photographic experiments by Edward J. Woolsey from year 1869.
#photography #arthistory #art
October 20, 2025 at 5:58 AM
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worldofartbysue.bsky.social
October's theme: Fabulous Gowns in Art
FRANÇOIS BOUCHER (1703 - 1770), “Portrait of Madame de Pompadour”, 1756.
Alte Pinakotek, Munich, Germany.
#arthistory #art #portrait
In this portrait, Madame de Pompadour wears a French style open-front shimmering silk gown with a matching petticoat – the height of Rococo elegance. Both the gown and the petticoat are embellished with copious amounts of small pink roses, probably also made of silk. Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson became the new mistress of King Louis XV in 1745; the king bestowed upon her the title of Madame de Pompadour. By the time of Boucher’s 1756 portrait, she was no longer the king’s mistress but had transitioned to his confidante and advisor. Boucher painted twelve flattering portraits of Pompadour over the course of their collaboration; he presented her as lovely but also as intelligent and loyal (in this portrait, her spaniel pup, Inés, attests to her faithfulness) and always dressed in the latest fashions (look at her fabulous pink shoes!). Boucher paints her as the epitome of elegance and grace. Pompadour’s support of Boucher helped him to become the leading decorative painter of his time.
October 15, 2025 at 3:54 PM
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peterpaulrubens.bsky.social
Margaret of Austria. When older, she governed the Netherlands for many years, and was also a great collector and patron. Here portrayed at age 10 in 1490 by Jean Hey, whose day is today.
October 9, 2025 at 6:18 PM
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historyachannel.bsky.social
John Constable exhibited The Hay Wain at the Royal Academy in 1821, elevating rural English landscape into a subject of national pride, influencing plein‑air practice and later European naturalist painters #ArtHistory
October 7, 2025 at 4:23 PM
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laurajg.bsky.social
By Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890), Women Carrying Sacks of Coal in the Snow, chalk, brush in ink, and opaque and transparent watercolor on wove paper, 12.5x19.6 inches (32x50 cm), Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands. More in ALT. #arthistory #painting #oilpainting #labor
Women, hunched over, carry heavy sacks across their shoulders and backs. Most people don’t know that before he became an artist, Vincent was a missionary to a coal mining region of Belgium. The story of his time there breaks my heart. He arrived to discover the people led lives of back-breaking work and poverty. So he began giving what he had away to the poor, including his fine clothes. He let a poor man live in his nicely furnished flat and went to live in a hovel himself. He went down into the coal mines and saw how harsh that work actually was. He saw little children working there in dangerous conditions instead of being in school. His superiors, aghast at his lack of decorum, withdrew their support and called him back. I try to wrap my mind around this scenario. Giving what he had to the poor, as Jesus taught, disqualified him from the mission field. I have to wonder. If the mission board had supported his actions instead, applauded them, would he have become as Saint Francis? A Mother Teresa? We’ll never know.
September 29, 2025 at 8:19 PM
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hagazussainglasgow.bsky.social
"Wax dolls being given to devil." The History of Witches and Wizards, 1720. Wellcome Collection. Public Domain. Source: wellcomecollection.org/works/ykvvwsqv

#WitchSky #WitchAlt #art #ArtHistory #illustration
A (woodblock?) print depicting four witches, facing a devil in the centre of the composition. The two nearest him are handing him human-shaped poppets. The devil has sharp horns, pointed ears, bat wings, a pointed tail, and clawed feet. Reptilian and giant insect creatures fly in the air above.
September 29, 2025 at 8:34 PM
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ideasroadshow.bsky.social
#mosaicmonday 🏺 Ancient #Greek mosaic depicting Thetis seated on a hippocampus, delivering a spear and the shield of Achilles newly forged by Hephaistos, about 4th c. BC.

🥏 Note the small fins on the sea horse's legs!

#archaeology 🗃️ #arthistory #skystorians #ancientbluesky
Ancient Greek mosaic depicting Thetis seated on a hippocampus, delivering a spear and the shield of Achilles newly forged by Hephaistos, about 4th c. BC.
September 22, 2025 at 12:13 PM
gildedhistories.bsky.social
Vasily Kandinsky, Improvisation No. 30 (Canons), 1913. The Art Institute of Chicago. www.artic.edu/artworks/899...
#ArtHistory #Art #History #VasilyKandinsky #Kandinsky #AbstractArt #Paintings
💻 Visit GildedHistories.WordPress.com for more art and history content! #CreativeHistorian
September 23, 2025 at 5:15 PM
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hagazussainglasgow.bsky.social
The Spanish "aquelarre" or coven/witches' sabbath, is said to possibly derive from the Basque "akelarre" (aker/male goat + larre/field)

Aquelarre/El gran cabrón (Witches' Sabbath/The Great He-Goat), Francisco de Goya, 1820-23, Museo del Prado, Wikimedia Commons, source ⬇️ #WitchSky #art #ArtHistory
A painting of a crowd of women, sitting huddled together before the silhouette of a dark billy goat with glowing eyes, beard, and long, twisted horns. He is sitting on the ground in a human posture with black drapery over his body and legs.
September 17, 2025 at 6:22 PM
gildedhistories.bsky.social
Jean Hay, The Annunciation, 1490-95. The Art Institute of Chicago. www.artic.edu/artworks/163...
#ArtHistory #Art #History #Annunciation #JeanHey #NorthernRenaissance #Renaissance #RenaissanceArt #Paintings
💻 Visit GildedHistories.WordPress.com for more art and history content! #CreativeHistorian
September 16, 2025 at 11:31 PM
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capucinep.bsky.social
#FineArtFriday courtesy of Alphonse Mucha - "Summer" from The Seasons series, circa 1896

My favourite Art Nouveau artist, using elegant flowing elements and a palette of soft colours.

#AlphonseMucha #ArtNouveau #SummerArt #ArtHistory #ArtisticElegance #Masterpiece #FineArt #IllustrationArt
A poster style illustration from Alphonse Mucha, showing a beautiful young lady leaning on some vines, relaxing. She has long brown hair, crowned with red and pink flowers, and her feet are dangling in water. She is wrapped in a loose pale cloth dress, and surrounded by some tall grasses and other plants. There is a decorative Art Nouveau border with white roses.
September 12, 2025 at 9:13 PM
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elizahleighartwrit.bsky.social
"We should remember our dying and try so to live that our death brings no pleasure to the world.” ― John Steinbeck

🎨: Procession des Âmes / Procession of Souls, Louis Welden Hawkins (1849 -1910)

louisweldenhawkins.wordpress.com

•••
#elizahleighartwriter #louisweldenhawkins #art #arthistory
September 8, 2025 at 12:35 AM
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actualbob.art
In 1751, English artist William Hogarth created the companion engraved etchings "Beer Street" and "Gin Lane" in response to the Gin Act of that year. The prints were intended to contrast the positive effects of beer with the deleterious effects of gin.

#arthistory #history #beer #gin
A bustling, prosperous urban street scene. Well-fed citizens, including butchers and fishwives, drink large tankards of beer. A building is being constructed in the background, and a pawnbroker's shop is falling into ruin. A scene of urban decay and despair. Buildings are dilapidated, and the inhabitants are emaciated and distraught. In the foreground, a woman lets her baby fall to its death while a man beats himself with bellows. The only businesses that appear to be thriving are a distillery and a pawnbroker.
August 28, 2025 at 9:01 PM
gildedhistories.bsky.social
Marie Denise Villers, Marie Joséphine Charlotte du Val d'Ognes (1786-1868), 1801. The MET. www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti...
#ArtHistory #MarieDeniseVillers #MisidentifiedArtist #LindaNochlin
💻 Viait GildedHistories.WordPress.com for more art and history content! #CreativeHistorian
August 28, 2025 at 8:16 PM
gildedhistories.bsky.social
Paul Cezanne, Gardanne, 1885-86. The MET. www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti...
#ArtHistory #PaulCezanne #Cezanne #Paintings #Landscape #19thCentury
💻 Visit GildedHistories.WordPress.com for more art and history content! #CreativeHistorian
August 22, 2025 at 11:30 PM
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victoryguy.bsky.social
Two heads. One without a hat.

#AlphabetChallenge #WeekHforHats
#art #TheBurrellCollectionGlasgow #Portraits #ArtHistory #WomenOfInfluence #Smug
August 19, 2025 at 1:28 PM
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nathanfrancis79.bsky.social
'As urgent and relevant today as it ever was': The radical #manifesto hidden in #GeorgesSeurat 's 1884 masterpiece.

#Art #ArtHistory #Painting

www.bbc.com/culture/arti...
'As urgent and relevant today as it ever was': The radical manifesto hidden in Georges Seurat's 1884 masterpiece
Georges Seurat's once-mocked painting Bathers at Asnières is both an "exquisite distillation of the very essence of summer" and "a modern wonder in the art of seeing".
www.bbc.com
August 14, 2025 at 7:44 PM
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wallacepolsom.bsky.social
Wallace Polsom, “Firestarter” (03 Jul 2016), paper collage, 17.4 x 24.6 cm | wallacepolsom.com/post/1468662... #papercollage #collage #art #contemporaryart #firestarter #surrealart #arthistory
August 14, 2025 at 7:32 PM
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jdmccafferty.bsky.social
Adriaen van de Venne, 1620-1626 (British Museum) A couple dancing. Actually they’re strutting their funky stuff.
August 12, 2025 at 9:42 PM
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worldofartbysue.bsky.social
August's theme: photographic selfies
ED VAN DER ELSKEN (1925 - 1990), “Self-Portrait with Ata Kando, Paris”, 1953.
Described as a “difficult red-headed firebrand”, the Danish photographer captured raw street shots filled with love, sex, jazz music & alternative culture.
#arthistory #art #photography
Van der Elsken moved to Paris in 1950 and became a part of the post-World War II ethos found among the disaffected youth there, particularly in the neighborhood of Saint-Germain-de-Prés where he lived. He found a job in the Magnum photo lab printing the work of such photographic luminaries as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa and Ernest Haas. It was at Magnum that he met Ata Kando, a fellow photographer who would become his first wife (all three of his wives were professional photographers). This “Self-Portrait with Ata Kando, Paris” from 1953 is full of hazy light and moody atmosphere; it is an intimate, candid photo that was taken the year before they married. Van der Elsken produced multiple photo books and film projects, using his own rather eccentric life experiences as artistic fodder.
August 12, 2025 at 1:45 PM