Celebrate Youth Art Month This March!
As many of you already know, as it’s officially March, Youth Art Month, (YAM) is upon us! We’re always particularly excited when March rolls around, but we have a feeling that this year’s celebrations are going to be extra exciting. For those of us who aren’t super familiar with how Youth Art Month came around, here’s […]
Popular Saints & Attributes in Western Christian Art Cheat Sheet, Part II
By now, you’re probably an expert at identifying the Christian figures featured in Part I of this guide (and if you haven’t read through it, you can do so here!). In Part II, we’ll be helping you identify even more Christian saints in western religious art, specifically looking at saints who lived after the time […]
Popular Christian Saints & Attributes in Western Art Cheat Sheet, Part I
When looking at Christian western art, it’s can sometimes be difficult to discern just who is who. Identifying common figures and saints can be tricky, even if you have with a religious background. Which is why we’ve put together this little cheat sheet of saints and their attributes (aka items figures are pictured holding or […]
Bugs, Snails, & Precious Stones: How 3 Western Paint Colors Were Traditionally Made
Ever wonder how some of your favorite artists created their colors on canvas? It’s only been relatively recently in western art history (that is, around the 19th century) that paints began being mass-produced. Just how did western painters make or acquire their paints prior to then? The history of color and paints is a long, […]
Yes, A Cat Just Attacked & Damaged A 17th-Century Painting
Yes, you did read that headline right. As we here at the Art Docent Program know by now, damaged and attacked works of art tend to always grab our attention (see for reference another big headline from just last month when a teenager smashed multiple works at the Denver Art Museum). However, the biggest new […]
Take A Look at These Strange, Art Historical Holiday Cards
Sending holiday cards is, for many people, a time-honored tradition that warms the heart and lets friends and family both near and far know you’re thinking of them. It’s also a great way to keep in touch and show those in your life who prefer not to use social media what’s new with you and/or […]
It’s Been A Big Year For Renoir Artwork
There’s something about art-related crime and intrigue that seems more thrilling than other types of crime. Whether it’s forgery, outright theft, or (on the flip side) stories of restitution or locating missing works, art crime and its respective resolutions always make it into the headlines. It fascinates our imaginations, and provides more than enough fodder […]
Animals in Art at the Denver Art Museum
It’s not an exaggeration to say that artists have featured animals in their work since…well, forever. Think of cave paintings, some of the oldest pieces we have on record, and you won’t fail to conjure up images of deer, birds, and more pursued by human hunters. The impetus to engage with and portray animals creatively […]
Artist Spotlight: Ofelia Esparza
As you might know, we’re spotlighting several of the artists we’ve added to our new curriculum here on the blog (see more on how we’ve updated and diversified here). And we wanted to learn even more about Ofelia Esparza after featuring her 2018 artwork, Altar to el Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles (the […]
Artist Spotlight: Meet Edmonia Lewis
We wanted to spotlight several of the new artists we’ve added to our curriculum (see more on how we’ve updated and diversified here). And, after linking to an article about her on our Facebook page earlier this year, we wanted to start with Edmonia Lewis, one of the first commercially-successful African-American sculptors. Though parts of […]