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ARTICLE

There Will Be Light 

Not constrained by any one medium, style, or artistic tradition, Thomas is eager to step into the unknown as she continues telling her story.

By Amy Chaloupka , Jenn Ackerman and Tim Gruber
INTERACTIVE ARTICLE

Everyday Awe

Learn how the American painter Georgia O'Keeffe marveled at commonplace natural forms—and how to find the same sense of awe on your own.

By Nathalie Ryan
The image depicts a woman sitting on the ground. She is turned slightly towards the camera, with her right arm resting on her bent knee. She has short, wavy dark hair, a soft facial expression, and is wearing a chunky sweater over a white skirt. Artist supplies such as a palette, an open book or sketchpad, and a glass of liquid are nearby. The background shows a pathway beside a brick structure partially covered by greenery, with plants growing next to where she is seated.
ARTICLE

Painter George A. Morton Transcends Tradition

Through sustained looking and detailed re-creations, this Atlanta-based artist studies Rembrandt and Sargent while finding new subjects that carry forward the painters’ traditions.

By Isabella Bulkeley
ARTICLE

Making Home Anew with Clay and Fire

Oklahoma potter Richard Zane Smith revives techniques, memories, and practices of Waⁿdat culture.

By Alicia Harris (Assiniboine) , Jenn Ackerman and Tim Gruber
ARTICLE

The Last of the Buffalo and their Revival

Albert Bierstadt’s twin paintings of the disappearing American bison became part of the movement to save the animal from extinction.

By Susan Barnett , Jenn Ackerman and Tim Gruber
ARTICLE

George Washington, Pictured

For centuries, artists have depicted the military general—in paint, in print, and in plaster. These portraits continue to give us insight into Washington’s emotional life, military presence, and cultural footprint.

By Angelica Hankins
Shown from the chest up, an older man with pale, peachy skin, wearing a high-collared black coat and a cream-white, ruffled collar, is shown against a deep wine-red background in this vertical portrait painting. His body is angled to our right and he turns his face to look at us with gray eyes under pale gray eyebrows. He has a hooked nose and jowls along his chin line. His cheeks are flushed and his lips are set in a line. His white hair flares out along the sides of his head and is tied at the nape of his neck with a ribbon loosely painted and outlined with black. His ink-black coat has silvery gray highlights along the high collar and his right shoulder, to our left. The background is painted with light brushstrokes, deepening from scarlet red around his face to black at the upper corners.
ARTICLE

A Peacemaker’s Prayer for Change in Birmingham

Joe Minter has spent more than three decades creating an environmental artwork on his property. He hopes it can heal the world’s spiritual wounds through its messages of love and connection.

By LaStarsha D. McGarity , Jenn Ackerman and Tim Gruber
INTERACTIVE ARTICLE

A New View for America’s Centennial

As the United States emerged from the Civil War, Winslow Homer spent years perfecting a painting to embody his hopes for America’s future. 

By Alex Dean
Close to us, a young man and three boys sit or recline in a small sailboat that tips to our left on a choppy dark green sea in this horizontal painting. The billowing sail extends off the top left corner of the canvas and is echoed in the background to our right by the tall sails of another ship in the distance. The horizon line comes about a third of the way up the composition, and puffy gray and white clouds sweep across the turquoise sky. The sun lights the scene from our right so the boys’ ruddy faces are in shadow under their hats. The young man and boys all face our left so they lean against and into the boat as it cants up to our right. The boy nearest the sail to our left reclines across the bow. Next to him to our right, a younger boy perches on the edge of the boat and holds on with both hands. The oldest, in a red shirt, sits on the floor of the boat as he maneuvers the sail with a rope. Closer to us and to our right, a younger boy sits with his bare feet pressed together in front of his bent knees on the back edge of the boat, gazing into the distance over his right shoulder as he handles the tiller. The artist signed and dated the painting in dark letters in the lower right corner: “HOMER 1876.”
ARTICLE

Photographing American Mining and Energy

Photographers have been documenting mining and energy extraction for nearly 200 years, revealing industrial activities often hidden from view.

By Elizabeth Fortune