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Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History

@smarthistory.bsky.social

937 followers 895 following 470 posts

Smarthistory, a nonprofit, collaborates with museums, academics, conservators, and knowledge-bearers to make art history accessible and engaging while retaining nuance and the highest academic standards—plus everything is free! smarthistory.org

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Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Just published! Sculpture in motion: Alexander Calder and the invention of the mobile. Why shouldn't art be fun? Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris on Alexander Calder, Trois noirs sur un rouge, 1968 (Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville)

Alexander Calder, Trois noirs sur un rouge

YouTube video by Smarthistory

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Just published! Smarthistory's newest video on one of Harry Fonseca's classic Coyote paintings. Here the trickster figure appears as Koshare, a ritual Pueblo clown #NativeAmerican #AmericanArt #ArtHistory

Harry Fonseca, Coyote/Koshare, Four Figures with Melons, 1982

YouTube video by Smarthistory

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Happy World Cyanotype Day! We're celebrating with Anna Atkins, who self-published an entire book of British Algae cyanotypes in 1843. Read the full essay on some of the earliest #photography here: smarthistory.org/anna-atkins-...

two fern leaves in bleached out white on a blue cyanotype labelled Anna Atkins and Anne Dixon, "Polypodium phegopteris," 1853, cyanotype (The J. Paul Getty Museum)

Cover of Anna Atkins,Cyanotypes of British and Foreign Ferns, 1853, Cyanotype, 25.4 × 19.4 cm (The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles) with multiple types of foliage in a cyanotype and title in five different fonts

Wonderfully rippled cyanotype image of algae. Anna Atkins, Dictyota atomaria, From Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions, ca. 1853 (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Tlatilco figurines! No hands, no feet, no problem. Two heads are better than one. Made by the people of Tlatilco 2,000-3,000 years before hte Aztec came to power in what's now known as Mexico. Find the essay and video on Smarthistory smarthistory.org/tlatilco-fig...

Single figure with two faces on a double, but single form of a head. Cute and smiling. Double-faced female figurine, c. 1200–900 B.C.E. (early formative period, Tlatilco), ceramic with traces of pigment, 9.5 cm high (Princeton University Art Museum)

Reposted by Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History

mgregorywriter.bsky.social @mgregorywriter.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Too good not to share! youtu.be/LbYLRBbtsgk?...

Mary Lovelace O’Neal, Blacker Than a Hundred Midnights Down in a Cypress Swamp

YouTube video by Smarthistory

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Isn't it extraordinary how art can make the familiar unfamiliar, revealing the abstract particularity of a form we once thought we knew such as this magnolia blossom photographed by Imogen Cunningham. Dr. Elliot Krasnopoler gives us the full story smarthistory.org/imogen-cunni...

Closely cropped black and white photograph of a magnolia center. Imogen Cunningham, Magnolia Blossom, 1925, gelatin silver print, 23.6 x 29.5 cm (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) © The Imogen Cunningham Trust

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Quote post w/ a pic because no pic, no clic(k) (we're art historians; we like pictures 🖼️)

Two people stand in front of four of the enormous Rubens paintings in the Marie de' Medici cycle. From left to right: Peter Paul Rubens, The Presentation of the Portrait of Marie de’ Medici, The Wedding by Proxy of Marie de’ Medici to King Henry IV, Arrival (or Disembarkation) of Marie de’ Medici at Marseilles, 1621–25, oil on canvas (Musée du Louvre, Paris; photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

What is art history and where is it going? is one of our essays under "The Basics of Art History:" a what and how section for huh? Elements of Art, Principles of Composition, How to Analyze Art, Terms to Know, Questions to ask, and current issues: smarthistory.org/curated-guid...

smarthistory.org

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

"They were artists." A simple statement about women artists at the turn of the 19th century, but one that had to be fought to make true. Read Dr. Maura Gleeson's newly published essay on Marie Denise Villers's portrait of one of many #WomenArtists smarthistory.org/marie-denise...

A young woman looks out at the viewer while drawing as if we are her subject. Marie-Denise Villers, Marie Joséphine Charlotte du Val d’Ognes, 1801, oil on canvas, 161.3 x 128.6 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

A woman pauses palette in hand while painting; her pupil(?) sketches from the unfinished canvas. Marie-Victoire Lemoine, The Interior of a Woman’s Painter’s Studio, 1789, oil on canvas, 116.5 x 88.9 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

A woman, unbothered, paints in a room full of men. Marie-Gabrielle Capet, The Time in the Atelier of Madame Vincent around 1800, 1808, oil on canvas, 69 x 83.5 cm (Neue Pinakothek, Munich)

Quote reading: "You should have seen those lively groups: one made up of laughing young girls, carefree and only just beginning to glimpse the life before them; the other composed of serious, thoughtful figures, living in the future, setting down the brush only to reload the palette, and whose broad foreheads reflected noble and lofty thoughts. Those ones—they were artists.
Albertine Clément-Hémery"

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

We like looking at pretty things on Fridays and this Samoan barkcloth is doing it ☺️ If you'd like to know more about Polynesian backcloth art, check out Smarthistory's essay here: smarthistory.org/hiapo-tapa/

Repeating pattern of a floral/star abstraction in a rectangle on backcloth. Barkcloth Panel (Siapo), Samoa, early 20th century, 139.7 x 114.3 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

Alternating pinwheel and diagonal lines in rectangles across backcloth Masi (tapa cloth), likely used as a room divider, Fiji, date unknown, 300 x 428 cm (Te Papa, New Zealand)

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

In Felix Nussbaum’s Triumph of Death, corpses form a rag-tag music band. Everything in the landscape has been stripped and destroyed. The painting, created in hiding, was the last one Nussbaum would make before being deported and murdered in Auschwitz in 1944. smarthistory.org/felix-nussba...

Felix Nussbaum, Triumph of Death (The Skeletons Play for the Dance), 1944, oil on canvas, 100 x 130 cm (Felix Nussbaum House, Osnabrück, on loan from the Lower Saxony Savings Banks Foundation)

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Too cute! The charming forms in gold-silver alloy date to the 15-16th centuries. These examples that survived the Spanish metal meltdown are one section of our introduction to the Inka (Inca) on Smarthistory. Come for the cute camelid; stay for the quipu smarthistory.org/inka-intro2/

Left: Female figurine, 1400–1533, Inka, silver-gold alloy, 14.9 x 3.5 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art); right: Camelid figurine, 1400-1533, Inka, alloys of silver, gold and copper, 5.1 cm high (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

As far as the eye of God could see Darkness covered everything Blacker than a hundred midnights Down in a cypress swamp. – James Weldon Johnson New video! Mary Lovelace O'Neal's encompassing "landscape of blackness," "Blacker Than a Hundred Midnights Down in a Cypress Swamp," c. 1970s (VMFA)

Mary Lovelace O’Neal, Blacker Than a Hundred Midnights Down in a Cypress Swamp

YouTube video by Smarthistory

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

"It’s five panels. It’s a polyptych. It’s as if we’re standing in front of an altar." Joseph Stella's enormous tribute to the inimitable unique energy of New York City: “The Voice of the City of New York Interpreted,” 1920–22, oil and tempera on canvas.

The City at night, Joseph Stella's The Voice of the City of New York Interpreted

YouTube video by Smarthistory

Reposted by Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Smarthistory on site with Dr. Frank Feltens at Kenninji Temple in Kyoto 🇯🇵

Dr. Beth Harris holds an audio recorder between her and Dr. Frank Feltens in front of a beautiful raked stone garden and gateway leading to a temple and trees beyond. Almost too gorgeous to believe

Reposted by Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Smarthistory is pleased to announce the publication of a brand new syllabus on African American Art History from Foundations in the Diaspora to the new millennium: Art and Collective Memory. Grab a unit, a video or essay, or the whole 13 week plan. Check it out: smarthistory.org/curated-guid...

syllabus landing page reading " An introduction to the history of African American art and visual culture from the colonial era to the present, exploring major themes, artists, and chronological periods, with a foundational emphasis on Africanisms and the Black Atlantic.
Syllabus created by Dr. Shawnya L. Harris 09/08/26" and showing first 3 units: Introduction: Foundations of the diaspora; Unit 2 Colornial & Federal Eras (18–19th centuries); Unit 3: The final years of antebellum America and the U.S. Civil War (1846–63)

Screenshot of colorful banners of Units 5 (Realism to Symbolism and art in Africa) to Unit 13: The New Millennium: Art and Collective Memory 2001–24), part II

Expanded view of Unit 9: Black Power, Civl Rights, and feminism (1963–91) with thematic sections, key questions, and key terms

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Smarthistory is pleased to announce the publication of a brand new syllabus on African American Art History from Foundations in the Diaspora to the new millennium: Art and Collective Memory. Grab a unit, a video or essay, or the whole 13 week plan. Check it out: smarthistory.org/curated-guid...

syllabus landing page reading " An introduction to the history of African American art and visual culture from the colonial era to the present, exploring major themes, artists, and chronological periods, with a foundational emphasis on Africanisms and the Black Atlantic.
Syllabus created by Dr. Shawnya L. Harris 09/08/26" and showing first 3 units: Introduction: Foundations of the diaspora; Unit 2 Colornial & Federal Eras (18–19th centuries); Unit 3: The final years of antebellum America and the U.S. Civil War (1846–63)

Screenshot of colorful banners of Units 5 (Realism to Symbolism and art in Africa) to Unit 13: The New Millennium: Art and Collective Memory 2001–24), part II

Expanded view of Unit 9: Black Power, Civl Rights, and feminism (1963–91) with thematic sections, key questions, and key terms

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

A beautiful weaving titled "A path" by Claudia Alarcón and the Argentinian women's collective Silät: tradition meets the contemporary art market in Smarthistory's newly published video #Textiles #WomenArtists

Claudia Alarcón and Silät, N ́äyij (Un camino / A path)

YouTube video by Smarthistory

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Smarthistory on site with Dr. Frank Feltens at Kenninji Temple in Kyoto 🇯🇵

Dr. Beth Harris holds an audio recorder between her and Dr. Frank Feltens in front of a beautiful raked stone garden and gateway leading to a temple and trees beyond. Almost too gorgeous to believe

Reposted by Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

🎤🎶 What the world needs now is LOVE sweet LOVE 🎤🎶 we belt to ourselves like we're at an art history karaoke Check out our new video on Robert Indiana's iconic LOVE sculpture. You might just fall in love 😘

Robert Indiana, LOVE

YouTube video by Smarthistory

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

🎤🎶 What the world needs now is LOVE sweet LOVE 🎤🎶 we belt to ourselves like we're at an art history karaoke Check out our new video on Robert Indiana's iconic LOVE sculpture. You might just fall in love 😘

Robert Indiana, LOVE

YouTube video by Smarthistory

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Big feelings? You need Munch, Edvard Munch. Read all about the backstory of his iconic painting The Scream on Smarthistory smarthistory.org/munch-the-sc...

Screenshot of ice skater Vladislav Dikidzhi with his coach at the Kinoshita Cup 2026; his hands are on his face like Munch's The Scream, which is printed on his shirt

Figure of a man on a bridge holds hands to head with open mouth screaming; landscape swirls convey disquiet. Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1910, tempera on board, 66 x 83 cm (The Munch Museum, Oslo) #ArtHistory

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Anyone headed to the beach? Amy Sherald (best known for painting Michelle Obama's portrait) and her painting of two couples on the beach "Precious Jewels by the Sea"

Amy Sherald's Precious Jewels by the Sea

YouTube video by Smarthistory

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Emma Stebbins, an artist living in Rome in the 19th century, sculpted a portrait bust of her famous actor lifelong romantic partner Charlotte Cushman shortly before they left Italy to seek medical treatment for what would prove to be a fatal illness. The full story and the art from Smarthistory

Emma Stebbins, Charlotte Cushman

YouTube video by Smarthistory

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Swirling lines recall the flowing bodies of water from the ancestral homeland of the Denesuline First Nation in Alex Janvier's painting "Lake Shore Life." Gorgeous painting and what a life! Janvier was an activist and community leader through and through

Alex Janvier, Lake Shore Life

YouTube video by Smarthistory

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Video & essay at Smarthistory with animation of the multi-stage opening of this fabulously complex altarpiece smarthistory.org/grunewald-is...

Screenshot of Smarthistory video of the Isenheim Altarpiece wings opening

Screenshot of Smarthistory video of the Isenheim Altarpiece wings opening

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Smarthistory is committed to representing the global range of human expression and we make strides every day. Our newest essay covers Lain Singh Bandel's "Mother Nepal," a transformative painting series for modern art and Nepal smarthistory.org/lain-singh-b...

A woman in blue sits holding her head in a lightly abstracted painting with relatively plain background. She casts a shadow. Lain Singh Bangdel, Mother Nepal, 1979, gouache on paper, 50 x 37 cm (photo: courtesy of Bibhakar Shakya) © Bangdel-Shakya Estate

Left: Lain Singh Bangdel, Mother Nepal, 1953, gouache, 51 x 38 cm (photo: courtesy of Bibhakar Shakya) © Bangdel-Shakya Estate; right: Lain Singh Bangdel, Mother Nepal, 1990, oil on canvas, 81 x 64 cm (photo: courtesy of Bibhakar Shakya) © Bangdel-Shakya Estate

Reposted by Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History

Craig Clunas @craigclunas.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Timely this, as I've just been reading Alexander Lee, "The First Ghetto: Venice and the Jews" (which was a good book but I always want more pictures) #earlymodern #skyhistory www.panmacmillan.com/authors/alex...

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Danielle Shang's essay on Yayoi Kusama, Narcissus Garden (1966) smarthistory.org/yayoi-kusama...

The artist in red lying among a bunch of silvered balls Yayoi Kusama lying in Narcissus Garden, 1966, installed in Venice Biennale, Italy, 1966 (photo: Yayoi Kusama Studio) © YAYOI KUSAMA. Courtesy David Zwirner, New York; Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/Singapore/Shanghai; Victoria Miro, London/Venice.

The artist in red photographed among a pile of white sculptures with red polka dots on the floor and mirrors around them. Installation view, Infinity Mirror Room—Phalli’s Field (or Floor Show), (no longer extant) Castellane Gallery, New York, 1965 (photo: © Eiko Hosoe)

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Yayoi Kusama, Infinity Mirrored Room — My Heart is Dancing into the Universe, 2018

Yayoi Kusama, Infinity Mirrored Room—My Heart is Dancing into the Universe

YouTube video by Smarthistory

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

It's a middle name but it counts for #ArtistsNamedAugust, Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, designer of the Statue of Liberty

unusual photograph of the Statue of Liberty from below; you can see the folds of her drapery and the book she clutches

photo of entire island of Statue of Liberty and base of statue with tiny little people gathered below; it's a big statue.

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

The world's first Jewish ghetto in Venice and the magnificent synagogues built into the tight spaces — Learn the history of the Jewish community both marginalized and prioritized as a vital part of the Renaissance economy with Smarthistory

The Renaissance Synagogues of Venice

YouTube video by Smarthistory

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Just published: our new #NativeAmerican #ContemporaryArt video on Jaune Quick-to-See Smith's 2025 sculpture on coyote trickster figure cleaning up a bunch of discarded plastic and takeout containers. Why bronze? We cover that in the video 😉 "Making Medicine: Coyote (Going Forward, Looking Back)"

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Making Medicine: Coyote (Going Forward, Looking Back)

YouTube video by Smarthistory

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

August Sander and his Pastry Cook, Secretary at a Radio Station, and Disabled Man photography portraits for #ArtistsNamedAugust

Sander, Portraits

YouTube video by Smarthistory

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Going to Daisy Chain Fields and want to know more about some of the famous artists creating the art installations? Catch up on the Guerrilla Girls, Yoko Ono, and Jenny Holzer with Smarthistory videos and essays #WomenArtists

screenshot from Daisy Chain Fields: "Art Installations Learn More About the Women Artists and Works that Will be Shown at Daisy Chain Fields"

Yoko Ono Cut Piece. She sits on staging holding the remnants of her cut clothing against her body

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Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

In shades of ochre and brown, Joan Mitchell’s abstract composition evokes the image of sunflowers 🌻. Listen to Smarthistory talk about the "so many ways that the paint touches the canvas" Joan Mitchelle, Allo, Amelie," 1973 #JustPublished #WomenArtists

Joan Mitchell, Allo, Amelie

YouTube video by Smarthistory

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Essay on Lavinia Fontana's fantastic self-portrait + high quality images available for teaching at Smarthistory: smarthistory.org/lavinia-font...

Young woman in fancy attire & coral necklace with lace collar plays spinet; servant holds sheet music behind; an empty easel can be seen beyond them. Inscription identifies painting as a self portrait. Lavinia Fontana, Self-Portrait at the Spinet, 1577, oil on canvas, 27 x 24 cm (Accademia Nazionale di San Luca, Rome) #WomenArtists #Renaissance

Reposted by Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Weekend playlist: The Getty @gettymuseum.bsky.social. Everything from Monet to Ethiopian gospels to Mayan codices, and of course, Van Gogh's Irises 😍

Van Gogh, Irises: the search for violet

YouTube video by Smarthistory

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Weekend playlist: The Getty @gettymuseum.bsky.social. Everything from Monet to Ethiopian gospels to Mayan codices, and of course, Van Gogh's Irises 😍

Van Gogh, Irises: the search for violet

YouTube video by Smarthistory

Reposted by Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Sometimes a work of art (and a really good essay about it) make us just sigh with contentment. May we suggest reading Dr. Elliot Krasnopoler's essay on Imogen Cunningham's Magnolia Blossom outside in a garden? smarthistory.org/imogen-cunni...

black and white photograph very close and tightly cropped of a flower. The stamen is precisely focused. Imogen Cunningham, Magnolia Blossom, 1925, gelatin silver print, 23.6 x 29.5 cm (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) © The Imogen Cunningham Trust

Imogen Cunningham, Magnolia Blossom, 1925, gelatin silver print, 23.6 x 29.5 cm (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) © The Imogen Cunningham Trust #photography #WomenArtists #ModernArt

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Among other sets, Smarthisory has a number of Youtube Playlists by museum, so you can check out what treasures the Courtauld, or @famsf.bsky.social, @lacma.org, or @asia.si.edu.web.brid.gy have before — or while — you visit #Travel #Museums

Smarthistory is the Center for Public Art History. With more than 850 contributors from hundreds of colleges, universities, museums, and research centers, Smarthistory.org is the most-visited art hist...

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Sometimes a work of art (and a really good essay about it) make us just sigh with contentment. May we suggest reading Dr. Elliot Krasnopoler's essay on Imogen Cunningham's Magnolia Blossom outside in a garden? smarthistory.org/imogen-cunni...

black and white photograph very close and tightly cropped of a flower. The stamen is precisely focused. Imogen Cunningham, Magnolia Blossom, 1925, gelatin silver print, 23.6 x 29.5 cm (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) © The Imogen Cunningham Trust

Imogen Cunningham, Magnolia Blossom, 1925, gelatin silver print, 23.6 x 29.5 cm (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) © The Imogen Cunningham Trust #photography #WomenArtists #ModernArt

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

In 1596, Luis de Carvajal, along with his mother and sisters, were condemned to the flames of an auto da fé in Mexico City for their secret adherence to Judaism. But we have his manuscripts (once more after they were stolen in 1932 from the national archives) smarthistory.org/the-manuscri...

Manuscript page with clear italic script and some capitalized Roman text with gilding
Luis de Carvajal, Decalogue (The Ten Commandments) (detail), c. 1596 (photo courtesy of author)

handwritten final page of Luis de Carvajal's spiritual autobiography, c. 1596 (Princeton University Digital Library)

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Smarthistory explainer on chiaroscuro (sadly without cats, but with Titian and a Titian painting with a dog)

What is chiaroscuro?

YouTube video by Smarthistory

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Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

From murder to a surprisingly sunny apocalyptic vision: Hans Memling's Triptych of John the Baptist and John the Evangelist. Theme: John. 1479 oil on panel, (Memlingmuseum, Museum Saint John’s Hospital, Bruges). #Renaissance #NetherlandishPainting #Altarpiece #ArtHistory

Hans Memling, Triptych of John the Baptist and John the Evangelist

YouTube video by Smarthistory

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Futuristic and utopian, R. Buckminster Fuller's Fly’s Eye Dome was a conceptual model for an energy-conserving house. Smarthistory visits on a sunny day to contemplate modernism, technology, and nature. How much does your building weigh? #ArtHistory #Architecture

R. Buckminster Fuller, Fly's Eye Dome

YouTube video by Smarthistory

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Smarthistory isn't afraid to say the quiet part outloud: "we’re looking at a painting of nothing. It’s just sand and a jetty and the sea... It feels intentionally not pretty to me." But it's still so cool. We've got the details for Berthe Morisot, The Jetty, Isle of Wight, VMFA #Impressionism

Berthe Morisot, The Jetty, Isle of Wight

YouTube video by Smarthistory

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Share the news 📣 Smarthistory's here with syllabi, videos, object essays, intros and a bunch of creative commons photographs all ready for slotting into your class. Check us out at smarthistory.org #BackToSchool

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Carved in beautiful Carrara marble, the sculptures titled "Industry" and "Commerce" by Emma Stebbins could have only been made in this pivotal moment of industrialization in the United States #WomenArtists #AmericanArt #Sculpture

Emma Stebbins, Industry and Commerce

YouTube video by Smarthistory

Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

We've been busy publishing new essays and videos this week. Right on time for the beginning of the semester, Dr. Mary Brown on the Wari Empire that preceded the Inka smarthistory.org/wari-empire/

Left: Tunic, 650–1000 (Wari; Peru), cotton and camelid hair, 103.5 x 101 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York); right: Effigy Bottle, 650–1000 (Wari; Peru), ceramic and slip, 39.4 x 25.4 x 21.6 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

View of an inner street (ruins, stacked stone, blue sky day) in the ancient Wari city Pikillacta (photo: David Almeida, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)