Arts & Culture
6 Contemporary Artists Who Redefined Their Mediums
These 21st-century artists have been redefining traditional mediums to make dynamic, vital pieces.
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What’s So Special About Stradivarius Violins?
Violins built by the Italian violin maker Antonio Stradivari (1644?–1737) have a special mystique in the classical music world.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Editor's Picks
Where Does the Concept of a “Grim Reaper” Come From?
Harvester of souls since when?
Bridget Riley
Bridget Riley, English artist whose vibrant optical pattern paintings were central to the Op art movement of the 1960s. Riley spent her childhood in Cornwall and attended Goldsmiths College (1949–52; now part of the University of London) and the Royal College of Art (1952–55; B.A.). Until 1960 she
Famous West Indians in Sports and Entertainment
Find out more about influential actors, musicians, and athletes from the West Indies.
5 J.M.W. Turner Paintings with Fascinating Stories Behind Them
Learn before you look.
Diego Velázquez
Diego Velázquez, the most important Spanish painter of the 17th century, a giant of Western art. Velázquez is universally acknowledged as one of the world’s greatest artists. The naturalistic style in which he was trained provided a language for the expression of his remarkable power of observation
10 Famous Clowns: From Comical to Creepy
If you suffer from coulrophobia, proceed with caution.
Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama, Japanese artist who was a self-described “obsessional artist,” known for her extensive use of polka dots and for her infinity installations. She employed painting, sculpture, performance art, and installations in a variety of styles, including Pop art and Minimalism. By her own
9 Muses Who Were Artists
Inspirational and inspired.
Spotlight: Jimi Hendrix
Though his active career as a featured artist lasted a mere four years, Hendrix altered the course of popular music and became one of the most successful and influential musicians of the 20th century, redefining the electric guitar in his own image.
Quizzes
Name That Hat! Quiz
Time to put on your thinking cap.
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz
Needless to say, spoiler alert.
Guess the Game Quiz
Roll the dice and go all in.
Iconic Pop Culture Villains Quiz
Do you know what famous villain’s costume was inspired by samurai? What bad guy’s middle name is Marvolo? Test your knowledge about pop culture’s dark side with this quiz about iconic villains!
Videos
Francisco Goya's Saturn Devouring His Son, explained
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Galleries
Vincent van Gogh
Paris
Leonardo da Vinci
Featured Categories
Art
5 Revealing Paintings by Caravaggio
Learn before you look.
The Group of Seven Remembered
In the 1910s and ’20s, Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven created Canada’s first important national art movement with their landscape paintings.
5 Incredible Native American Artists
Native American artists to know.
10 Modernist Art Movements
Is this high art, or could your kid do that?
Dance
Katherine Dunham
Katherine Dunham, American dancer and choreographer who was a pioneer in the field of dance anthropology. Her fieldwork inspired her innovative interpretations of dance in the Caribbean, South America, and Africa. Dunham early became interested in dance. While a student at the University of
Savion Glover
Savion Glover, American dancer and choreographer who became known for his unique pounding style of tap dancing, called “hitting.” He brought renewed interest in dance, particularly among youths and minorities. As a young child, Glover displayed an affinity for rhythms, and at age four he began
Agnes de Mille
Agnes de Mille, American dancer and choreographer who further developed the narrative aspect of dance and made innovative use of American themes, folk dances, and physical idioms in her choreography of musical plays and ballets. Her father was the playwright William Churchill DeMille, her mother
Mallika Sarabhai
Mallika Sarabhai, Indian classical dancer and choreographer, actress, writer, and social activist known for her promotion of the arts as a vehicle for social change. The daughter of renowned physicist Vikram Sarabhai and dancer and choreographer Mrinalini Sarabhai, she was brought up in a
Film
Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini, Italian film director who was one of the most celebrated and singular filmmakers of the period after World War II. Influenced early in his career by the Neorealist movement, he developed his own distinctive methods that superimposed dreamlike or hallucinatory imagery upon ordinary
Ava DuVernay
Ava DuVernay, American director, producer, and writer whose best-known works explore the African American experience. DuVernay graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1995 with bachelor’s degrees in English and African American studies. After working for a few years in film
David Lynch
David Lynch, American filmmaker and screenwriter who was known for his uniquely disturbing and mind-bending visual work. His films juxtapose the cheerfully mundane with the shockingly macabre and often defy explanation. Lynch’s father was a research scientist with the U.S. Forest Service, and the
Sofia Coppola
Sofia Coppola, American film director, producer, screenwriter, and fashion designer known best for her films The Virgin Suicides (1999) and Lost in Translation (2003). In 2004 she was the first American woman to be nominated for an Academy Award in the category of best director. Coppola is the