Skip to main content
Skip to navigation
Print subscriptions
Search jobs
Sign in
US
US edition
UK edition
Australia edition
Europe edition
International edition
The Guardian - Back to home
The Guardian
News
Opinion
Sport
Culture
Lifestyle
Show more
Hide expanded menu
News
View all News
US news
US elections 2024
World news
Environment
Ukraine
Paralympics 2024
Soccer
Business
Tech
Science
Newsletters
Wellness
Opinion
View all Opinion
The Guardian view
Columnists
Letters
Opinion videos
Cartoons
Sport
View all Sport
Paralympics 2024
Soccer
NFL
Tennis
MLB
MLS
NBA
NHL
F1
Golf
Culture
View all Culture
Film
Books
Music
Art & design
TV & radio
Stage
Classical
Games
Lifestyle
View all Lifestyle
Wellness
Fashion
Food
Recipes
Love & sex
Home & garden
Health & fitness
Family
Travel
Money
Search input
google-search
Search
Support us
Print subscriptions
Search jobs
Digital Archive
Guardian Licensing
About Us
The Guardian app
Video
Podcasts
Pictures
Inside the Guardian
Guardian Weekly
Crosswords
Wordiply
Corrections
Search input
google-search
Search
Search jobs
Digital Archive
Guardian Licensing
About Us
Film
Books
Music
Art & design
TV & radio
Stage
Classical
Games
Anatomy of an artwork
9 October 2020
Artemisia Gentileschi’s Judith Slaying Holofernes: a vision of vengeance
There’s a violent urgency to the 17th-century Italian painter’s iconic work, which resembles a female version of David and Goliath
2 October 2020
Nathaniel Mary Quinn's Lunch: the human form stripped back to its essence
The American mixed-media artist’s new work explores the way we perceive each other, especially during the pandemic
25 September 2020
Dana Schutz’s Boat Group: dystopian visions and existential angst
The American artist turns the still-life cliche, a bowl of fruit, into a crazed Raft of the Medusa
18 September 2020
Dana Lixenberg’s Big Shaan: a stark tale of neglect
The Dutch photographer and film-maker’s 20-year project preserves moments from a part of LA that the US would rather forget about
11 September 2020
Tavares Strachan’s Every Knee Shall Bow: cryptic clues
The New York-based conceptual artist reiterates the power of narrative, as told by the storyteller
4 September 2020
Victor Hugo's Dentelles et Spectres: phantom threads
The famous poet and novelist, and lesser-known painter, created shape-shifting visual creations
28 August 2020
Max Ernst’s The Joy of Life: horror rooted in the everyday
The great surrealist explores trauma by painting the woods, a stand-in for wild imagination in 19th-century Romanticism
21 August 2020
Sutapa Biswas’s Housewives With Steak-Knives: avenging goddess
The London-based artist challenges Britain’s colonial past and art history’s prejudices
14 August 2020
Rembrandt’s Bearded Old Man: captures an end-of-the-day feeling
A young Rembrandt painted this study in his mid-20s, honing his craft with finely layered paint
7 August 2020
Ruth Ewan’s Worker’s Song Storydeck: a Marxist magic trick
The Scottish artist made the film in collaboration with magician Billy Reid, swapping kings and queens for workers’ struggles
31 July 2020
Cao Fei’s Asia One: human behaviour
The Chinese visual artist delivers a surreal sci-fi romcom that speaks to China’s past and the global future
24 July 2020
Catherine Opie's Rusty: jock meets surfer dude
The American photographer known for capturing gender fluidity questions the age-old view of manliness
17 July 2020
Tullio Crali’s Tricolour Wings: cosmic vision
The Italian futurist painter who looked to capture the world from a new perspective conveys the thrill of flight
10 July 2020
Gordon Parks’s At Segregated Drinking Fountain: persistent inequalities
The American photographer was a pioneering voice in documenting the everyday radical divide
3 July 2020
Walter Wegmüller’s The Tower: the all-seeing eye of providence
The Swiss painter is known for creating a set of tarot cards, with the Tower seen as a sign of disaster
26 June 2020
Sunil Gupta’s Untitled No 12: love, poetry and protest
The Indian-born photographer known for capturing lives at the margins of society looks at the impact of Section 28
19 June 2020
Tschabalala Self's Pop: a vision of plenitude
The American artist explores the complex back and forth between personal desires and outside influences
12 June 2020
Mike Silva's Tempa T: the politics of representation
The London-based Swedish artist paints the politics of representation in stark and understated tones
5 June 2020
Jessie Makinson’s Furry Darkness: a carnivalesque party
The British artist paints a tantalisingly drama in an eerie landscape – a space for dreaming and reimagining
29 May 2020
C.G. Jung’s The Tree of Life: from Norse gods to eastern mysticism
Included in the secret Red Book, the illustration marks Jung’s departure from science into the realms of myth, magic and soul
About 235 results for Anatomy of an artwork
1
2
3
4
...
Explore more on these topics
Painting
Art
Photography
Video art
Documentary films