Journal of Art in Society

JUST PUBLISHED! Our latest article explores an oddity ~ a painting which is famous, but which few have ever seen. It’s Hieronymus Bosch’s enigmatic and controversial The Conjuror, a work whose true meaning has remained disputed to this day. Article at artinsociety.com/deception-and-…

These close-ups of still-lifes by 19th century Swiss artist Albert Anker demonstrate his abiding interest in depicting reflections, light and texture

British artist Stanley Spencer was a prolific painter of flowers ~ here’s his Blue Iris / Landscape with Magnolias (1930s)

Stunning gothic interior of León Cathedral, Spain, dating from 1302, aka ‘House of Light’, with its nearly 1,800 square metres of stained glass windows

At 29 Avenue Rapp, a short walk from the Eiffel Tower, you’ll find the lavish 1901 art nouveau Lavirotte Building ~ a façade of ceramic tiles &, above the door, a bust of Lavirotte’s wife Jane, flanked by carvings of Adam & Eve (photo: @julieaucontraire)

Portrait of affluent young man, at an arched window, holding a heart-shaped Book of Hours, with pen case & inkwell on window ledge. In background, Church of Our Lady of Victory, Brussels (Master of the View of St Gudula, 1480s) nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/mast…

I like the rather rueful expression of this girl holding her ice skates, in this watercolour by Swedish artist Carl Larsson (1917), and the still-life of the vase with daffodils on the benchtop

Sisters Harriet & Helena Scott, avid collectors & meticulous artists, broke into the male-dominated world of 19C science, being among the first to illustrate the life histories of Australian caterpillars, moths & butterflies (1864, Australian Museum / SMH)

Saint Eudocia, a Greek poet and wife of 5th century Roman Emperor Theodosius II, appears here in this luminous mosaic at Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, in Sofia, Bulgaria

US artist Frederick Judd Waugh was primarily a marine artist ~ even designing war-time ship camouflage ~ but he shows his versatility in this still life with bottles, aka Rum Row (1922)

19/20C Danish artist Peter Vilhelm Ilsted created calm interiors with artful use of light ~ here he depicts a woman reading by candlelight / and by sunlight

Like Dürer almost 400 years before him, van Gogh found single blades of grass and weeds to be worthy of our full attention ~ here’s Dürer's Large Piece of Turf (1503) and Van Gogh’s Patch of Grass (1887)

British artist Graham Evernden brings us close to nature in his etching ‘Four Oaks’ baronfineart.co.uk/paintings/grah…

I feel I’m standing in this vast field ~ enjoying the great sense of space in British artist Graham Evernden’s etching with aquatint “Home Field’

One of the oldest pieces of art in the British Museum ~ from the Ice Age, 13,000 years ago, two swimming reindeer carved on the tip of mammoth tusk. Found in 1866 by engineer Peccadeau de l’Isle in cave shelter in Southern France britishmuseum.org/collection/obj…

Admiring the way John Singer Sargent seems to effortlessly conjure light and water in his watercolour ‘San Viglio, Lago di Garda’, painted during his last holiday before WW1. He would later become a war artist (1913) tate.org.uk/art/artworks/s…

Clever use of reflections on shiny surfaces enlivens this painting by Danish artist P S Krøyer of himself (at L) and his wife Marie, listening attentively to their breakfast visitor, the author/lyricist Otto Benzon (1893, Hirschsprung Collection, Copenhagen)

Striking self-portrait by British artist Doris Clare Zinkeisen (1935), painted in Sydney hotel room while on a theatrical world tour. She achieved international acclaim as a stage-set & costume designer, as well as being a champion equestrian & WW2 war artist. Impressive!

Danish artist P S Krøyer depicts his wife Marie in their sunny garden in the artist colony at Skagen, which they had rented to provide peace and quiet for the birth of their daughter (1895)

Elegant Greek golden-yellow glass bowl, probably used for mixing wine, provisionally attributed to 2nd–1st century BC metmuseum.org/art/collection…