Articles

November 12, 2023

ARTICLE

Outside the Frame: How Dorothea Lange Created Her Iconic Photographs

Learn about the documentary photographer’s techniques by tracing the process of creating some of her compelling images.

By Elizabeth Fortune

November 3, 2023

ARTICLE

The Real Lives of People in Dorothea Lange's Portraits

Four everyday Americans were the subject of her famous photographs. Discover the heartbreak and suffering they faced at crucial points in American history.

November 3, 2023

ARTICLE

How Mark Rothko Made Paintings on Paper

Mark Rothko made more than 1,000 paintings on paper. Get an inside look at his methods and materials.

By Michaela Milgrom

October 27, 2023

ARTICLE

Who Is Dorothea Lange? 6 Things to Know

Learn how the documentary photographer got her start and why she dedicated her life to the medium.

By Caroline Weaver

October 20, 2023

ARTICLE

Delicious, Daring, and Deadly Materials in Art

Trick or treat? Discover artists' materials that range from spooky to delicious.

October 19, 2023

ARTICLE

Celebrate Fall Foliage with Autumn Art at the National Gallery

Explore our bounty of fall images.

We look out onto a sweeping, panoramic view with trees, their leaves fiery orange and red, framing a view of a distant body of water under a sun-streaked sky in this long, horizontal landscape painting. The horizon comes about halfway up the composition, and is lined with hazy mountains and clouds in the deep distance. Close examination slowly reveals minuscule birds tucked into the crimson-red, golden yellow, and deep, sage-green leaves of the trees to either side of the painting. Closest to us, vine-covered, fallen tree trunks and mossy gray boulders line the bottom edge of the canvas. Beyond a trickling waterfall and small pool near the lower left corner, and tiny within the scale of the landscape, a group of three men and their dogs sit and recline around a blanket and a picnic basket, their rifles leaning against a tree nearby. The land sweeps down to a grassy meadow crossed by a meandering stream that winds into the distance, at the center of the painting. Touches of white and gray represent a flock of grazing sheep in the meadow. A low wooden bridge spans the stream to our right, and a few cows drink from the riverbank. Smoke rises from chimneys in a town lining the riverbank and shoreline beyond, and tiny white sails and steamboats dot the waterway. Light pours onto the scene with rays like a starburst from behind a lavender-gray cloud covering the sun, low in the sky. The artist signed the painting as if he had inscribed the flat top of a rock at the lower center of the landscape with his name, the title of the painting, and date: “Autumn – on the Hudson River, J.F Cropsey, London 1860.”

October 13, 2023

ARTICLE

Artists Who Inspired Mark Rothko

Learn about some of the artists the modern painter was in dialogue with throughout his career.

By Michaela Milgrom

October 13, 2023

ARTICLE

Bianca Nemelc Paints the Spiritual Bonds Between Womanhood and Nature

The New York–based Latina artist finds deep connections between rest, nature, and womanhood in her vibrant paintings.

By Jasmin Hernandez

October 3, 2023

INTERACTIVE ARTICLE

Art up Close: Bringing Mohawk Chief Karonghyontye out of Benjamin West’s Shadow

Exploring the details of this 18th-century painting, learn the story of Native Americans’ participation in the American Revolution and their long-standing fights for land rights.

A man with pale white skin sits and a man with light brown skin stands in front of a cave-like, rocky outcropping in this vertical portrait painting. The light-skinned man closer to us has dark brown hair, and the light falls more strongly on him. He sits propped on or against a rock with his body angled to our left, and he looks off into the distance in that direction. He wears a scarlet-red overcoat, a white waistcoat, and moccasins. What appears to be an animal skin painted on the underside with red, tan, and black geometric patterns is tied around his chest and falls over his left arm, on our right. With that hand, he holds a musket like a walking stick. He also holds a black cap ornamented with beads and feathers on his other knee. The man with brown skin stands in shadow behind the other man, to our left. His body faces us, and he looks at the seated man. A dark cloak encircles his shoulders and is gathered around his waist. A strap crosses his bare chest and the strap, bracelets, and a feathered headdress seem to be beaded. Large gold rings curve from his earlobes up over his ears. A puff of smoke emerges from the top of the long, painted stick he holds, suggesting it is a pipe. He holds his left hand, on our right, at his chest, and points subtly to our left, perhaps to the landscape seen through a break in the rocky outcropping. There, in front of a waterfall in the distance, a small group of people with light brown skin gather around a camp fire in front of a tent-like structure.

September 29, 2023

ARTICLE

Who Is Mark Rothko? 9 Things to Know

Brush up on key and unexpected details about the modern artist, best known for his colorful abstract paintings.

By Michaela Milgrom

Outside the Frame: How Dorothea Lange Created Her Iconic Photographs

The Real Lives of People in Dorothea Lange's Portraits

How Mark Rothko Made Paintings on Paper

Who Is Dorothea Lange? 6 Things to Know

Delicious, Daring, and Deadly Materials in Art

Celebrate Fall Foliage with Autumn Art at the National Gallery

Artists Who Inspired Mark Rothko

Bianca Nemelc Paints the Spiritual Bonds Between Womanhood and Nature

Art up Close: Bringing Mohawk Chief Karonghyontye out of Benjamin West’s Shadow

Who Is Mark Rothko? 9 Things to Know

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