Art, Literature and Film History

Modernism and Post‑Modernism History

MODERNISM IN ART The shift to modernism can be partly credited to new freedoms enjoyed by artists in the late 1800s. Traditionally, a painter was commissioned by a patron to create a specific work. The late 19th century witnessed many artists capable of seizing more time to pursue subjects in their personal interest. At the […]

Surrealism History

THE BEGINNING OF SURREALISM Surrealism officially began with Dadaist writer André Breton’s 1924 Surrealist manifesto, but the movement formed as early as 1917, inspired by the paintings of Giorgio de Chirico, who captured street locations with a hallucinatory quality. After 1917, de Chirico abandoned that style, but his influence reached the Surrealists through German Dadaist […]

Cubism History

THE FIRST ERA OF CUBISM Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque first met in 1905, but it wasn’t until 1907 that Picasso showed Braque what is considered the first Cubist painting, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. This portrait of five prostitutes draws heavy influence from African tribal art, which Picasso had recently been exposed to at the Palais […]

This Day in History Video: What Happened on December 3

This Day in History Video: What Happened on March 9

This Day in History Video: What Happened on March 2

The Earliest Known Author Was a Woman from Mesopotamia

A priestess named Enheduanna claimed authorship to poetry and other texts—sometimes in first‑person—more than a millennium before Homer.

50‑Plus Years of Hollywood’s Coolest Movie Cars

Car chases. Drag races. Spy maneuvers and more. The film world has long had a love affair with its four‑wheeled stars.

Banned Books: 10 Literary Classics That Faced Censorship

These classic works of literature ran afoul of government censors.