Apr 20Guided Art Discussion: Late Rembrandt in RijksmuseumAt Museums as Therapy, we organize events we call guided art discussions. This is a form of a group visit to an art museum or gallery that combines two activities: an independent exploration of artworks by participants and a group discussion of these artworks facilitated by guides. In March, we…Rijksmuseum5 min readRijksmuseum5 min read
Aug 27, 2021Earliest figurative art: Aurignacian cave paintings (Sulawesi, Chauvet and more)Cave paintings of Asia and Europe feature not only the oldest known figurative art, but also masterpieces of the whole art of the Paleolithic. …Emotions8 min readEmotions8 min read
Aug 10, 2021Emotions and learning in museums: An overview of NEMO reportThe Learning Museum Working Group (LEM WG), which is a part of the Network of European Museum Organisations (NEMO), dedicated their research in 2020 to emotions and learning. As a result of this work, the report on “Emotions and Learning in Museums” was published this year. …Museums4 min readMuseums4 min read
Jul 28, 2021Earliest figurative art: Aurignacian statuettesThe earliest known sculptures in the world are a set of about 50 ivory figurines discovered in four caves of Swabian Jura: Vogelherd, Hohlenstein-Stadel, Geißenklösterle, and Hohle Fels. Chronologically, all the figurines are from the Aurignacian period, with the oldest being the therianthrope (half man, half animal) from Hohlenstein-Stadel, aka…Emotions6 min readEmotions6 min read
Jun 26, 2021Blombos Cave and beyond: Earliest decorations by Homo sapiensHomo sapiens are thought to first appear in Africa (with the earliest known evidence being 300,000 years old) and then spread around the world. Similarly to Neanderthals (see corresponding text), Homo sapiens made engravings, wore shell beads and, beyond that, painted geometric ornaments. Blombos Cave in South Africa is unique…Emotions8 min readEmotions8 min read
Jun 12, 2021Neanderthal decorationsNeanderthals are one of the extinct Homo species who lived in Eurasia between 400,000 and 40,000 BP. Although the lifespan of Neanderthals is larger than 350,000 years, the evidence of their symbolic behavior is very scarce: there is one known spatial structure built by Neanderthals, three highly controversial drawings attributed…Emotions10 min readEmotions10 min read
Jun 1, 2021Before Art: Lower Paleolithic“The existing literature on prehistoric art often discusses a handful of artefacts as potential ‘firsts’ of visual art forms. Three of the most prominent examples are the Makapansgat pebble, the Berekhat Ram figurine, and the Tan Tan statuette… Although these alleged cases of early art-like objects cannot be readily dismissed…Emotions12 min readEmotions12 min read
Apr 29, 2021Monet and Water Lilies: Emotional experienceRecently, I visited the Monet exhibition in Kunstmuseum Den Haag, which presents Monet’s last artistic period when he worked mainly on landscapes with water lilies. While looking at these paintings, I also paid attention to emotions evoked by them. I realized I had a mixture of emotions ranging from joy…Claude Monet10 min readClaude Monet10 min read
Apr 28, 2021Monet and Water Lilies: Art history perspectiveGombrich wrote about European art of late 19th century [1]: “Art has lost its bearings because artists have discovered that the simple demand that they should ‘paint what they see’ is self-contradictory… If we look out of the window we can see the view in a thousand different ways. …Claude Monet5 min readClaude Monet5 min read
