It would be difficult to find an art aficionado who is not familiar with the influential Italian painter Caravaggio (1571-1610). Another talented individual, though, who is considered the one and only “Caravaggista” – the artist whose work stands out as equal in emotion, action and fervor to that of the renowned painter – was all […]

Once upon a time, a Frenchman named Joseph Ferdinand Cheval had a vision. And he had the passion to see his vision through. A postman by profession, from 1879 to 1912, after work, often in the dark working by candlelight, he toiled 93,000 hours over 10,000 days to build a palace. He was no architect […]

Werner and Gabrielle Merzbacher’s art collection is full of bright, primary colors. Boats are orange and pink, trees are purple and people are blue. It’s a medley of paintings from the Fauve and German Expressionist art movements. Major painters make up the collection: Maurice de Vlaminck, Othon Friesz, Georges Braque, André Derain, Wassily Kandinsky, Sonia Delaunay, Henri […]

By Pankaj Adhikari  BEIJING (June 4, 2012) – This is the story of a Bengali in Beijing, of the searingly intense personality of a creative artist whose enthusiasm for Potunghua (Mandarin) borders on passion. His extraordinary tale is filled with scholarly eccentricities, wit, humor and a deep love for everything Chinese. Meet Amitava Bhattacharyya. Armed […]

A symbol of eternal love, the Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan in memory of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Today another monument stands testiment to a man’s love. Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu has housed his collection of some 66,000 works of art in a new building, named Museo Soumaya, after his wife Soumaya Domit de Slim. The […]