Explore Artworks

The Magdalen with the Smoking Flame (circa 1635-37)

Georges de La Tour (French, unknown)

A lone woman sits in shadow, her face lit by a single flame. The flickering light catches the curve of her skull, the folds of her robe, the stillness of her hands. A mirror lies facedown beside her. The air feels thick with quiet contemplation, the flame’s glow both intimate and isolating.
Poissons, ecrevisses et crabes, de diverses couleurs et figures extraordinaires.. Pl.073 (1718-1719)

Louis Renard (French, 1678–1746)

Vibrant fish dart across the page, their scales shimmering in impossible hues. A crimson crab claws at the edge, while spined crayfish lurk below—each creature twisted into bizarre, almost dreamlike forms. The sea here teems with life both familiar and utterly strange.
Hins Anders (1904)

Anders Zorn (Swedish, unknown)

A young boy’s gaze meets the viewer, his expression caught between curiosity and quiet reserve. The brushwork is loose yet precise, capturing the softness of youth against a muted background. There’s an unspoken tension in his stillness—as if he might turn away any moment.
Psalliota silvatica Schäff., Ps. perrara Schulz. (1915-1945)

Hans Walty (Swiss, 1868-1948)

Delicate gills fan beneath the cap’s smooth curve, each line precise as a map. The mushroom stands solitary, its stem rooted in shadow, a quiet study of texture and form. Earth clings to the base, hinting at the damp forest floor it was plucked from.
Rest along the Stream. Edge of the Wood (1878)

Alfred Sisley (French, 1839–1899)

Dappled light filters through the trees, casting rippling reflections on the stream’s surface. A quiet path winds into the woods, where leaves whisper in the breeze. The water moves lazily, undisturbed—just a fleeting pause in nature’s rhythm.
Dame in Gelb (1899)

Max Kurzweil (Austrian, 1867–1916)

A woman in a luminous yellow dress turns slightly, her face half-hidden. The brushstrokes blur the background into softness, making her the only sharp point in a world of whispers. That dress glows like sunlight through stained glass—bold against the muted tones around her.
Mrs. Frederick Mead (Mary Eliza Scribner) (1893)

John Singer Sargent (American, 1856-1925)

A woman in black lace gazes past the viewer, her gloved hand resting lightly on a chair. The rich fabric of her dress pools around her, shadows playing across its folds. There’s a quiet intensity in her expression—neither posed nor candid, but something lingering between the two.
Olive Grove, Saint-Rémy (1889)

Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890)

Twisted olive trunks claw upward through swirling brushstrokes. The sky churns above the grove—not blue, but a feverish yellow-green. Each tree writhes with its own rhythm, leaves flickering like candle flames in the wind. The earth itself seems to tremble beneath this electric orchard.
Yellow Butterfly (ca. 1890)

Albert Bierstadt (American, 1830–1902)

A delicate yellow butterfly rests on a leaf, its wings glowing against muted greens. The watercolor’s fine details reveal each vein and subtle gradient, as if the insect might flutter off the page at any moment.
Early Spring—Bluebonnets and Mesquite (1919)

Julian Onderdonk (American, 1882–1922)

A sea of bluebonnets spills across the Texas plains, their violet haze broken by the gnarled forms of mesquite trees. Sunlight filters through thin branches, dappling the wildflowers below. The air hums with the quiet energy of spring—warm earth, new growth, open space stretching beyond the frame.
Ask me no more

Lawrence Alma-Tadema (English, 1836–1912)

A woman turns away, her draped gown catching the light as she lifts a hand in quiet refusal. The marble bench gleams cold beneath her, contrasting the warmth of her averted gaze. Something unspoken lingers in the space between her and the unseen questioner.
A Glance Exchanged

Frederik Hendrik Kaemmerer (Dutch, 1839–1902)

A fleeting look passes between them—charged, unspoken. The woman’s gloved hand hovers near her skirt; the man’s posture stiffens. Silk rustles, light catches a brooch. Something hangs in the air, too delicate to name.
Foreign butterflies occurring in the three continents Asia, Africa and America Pl.319 (1779-1782)

Pieter Cramer (Dutch, 1721–1776)

Vibrant wings from three continents—Asia’s delicate patterns, Africa’s bold hues, America’s striking contrasts—frozen mid-flight. Each engraving traces the fleeting beauty of these distant travelers, a silent dance across borders.
Torquigener glaber (Tas) – Pufferfish.

Frank Edward Clarke (New Zealander, 1864–1935)

The pufferfish hovers mid-water, its spines faintly outlined against the pale wash of ocean light. Every detail—the taut skin, the delicate fins—rendered with clinical precision, yet the creature seems poised to dart or inflate at any moment. A silent tension lingers in the stillness.
1866 [Women’s fashion in nineteenth-century Paris] (1902)

Henri Boutet (French, 1851–1919)

A Parisian woman adjusts her gloves, the intricate lace of her gown catching the light. The folds of her skirt whisper against the cobblestones, a fleeting glimpse of 19th-century elegance frozen in time. Every ruffle and ribbon speaks of an era when fashion was both armor and art.