Add a creative, whimsical touch to your home décor with animal-themed art. Does this mean that you should hang up your old velour tiger black light painting from college? Of course not. Instead, check out some of these world class artworks that feature creatures big and small. Accent a neutral décor or create a flowing theme that feeds into the animal-inspired works. These pieces bring light, color and texture to your walls, while drawing visual interest. If you’re not completely re-designing your room, adding animal art pieces can transform the space without having to do a total renovation. Elegant animal art comes in many forms. If you’re not sure where to start, consider some of these key pieces: Una and the Lion, Briton Riviere. The depiction of the classic tale by the British-born Riviere can add warmth to almost any room in your home. The light-drenched lamb and…

Following suit with other major art institutions, the Musee d’Orsay lifted its ban on photography this spring. With roughly 3.5 million visitors in 2014 alone, the museum features a world class collection that includes some of the most well-known Impressionist paintings along with a range of sculptures, photographs and architectural drawings. Starting in 2009, the museum put a ban on all photography. While many other famed art institutions allow visitors to take pictures of their works, the museum held fast in its policy. That is until French Culture Minister Fleur Pellerin snapped a pic of a Pierre Bonnard canvas. Despite the tight photo policy that the museum held, the culture ministry’s charter on the subject is much more lax – recommending that visitors use their own common sense and don’t endanger any artworks in the process. How did the world discover Pellerin’s photos? The Culture Minister posted the…

Way back in the 1870s a group of young artists were breaking from the traditional realist style and snubbing the academy (literally). Now-famous painters such as Monet, Renoir, Sisley and Pissarro were on the cusp of creating something monumental that would eventually change the landscape of the art world. While contemporary critics and art lovers alike are well-versed in all that is the Impressionists, their style and the artists who created the light-drenched paintings, the same can’t be said of their the 19th century counterparts. Harkening back to a time when the world was first discovering the Impressionists, the British National Gallery’s “Inventing Impressionism” is a show that takes the viewer to the 1800s and rise of a new style. Paul Durand-Ruel’s name may not be as well-known as Monet’s or Renoir’s. That said, in the art world this entrepreneur is a pivotal figure. “Inventing Impressionism” features 85…

Travel back in time to the summer of 1874, as art history is made in Willibald Sauerlander’s Manet Paints Monet: A Summer in Argenteuil. Sauerlander’s narrative details the growing friendship of the two famed Impressionist painters along with the transcendence of a new style. Sauerlander himself ‘paints a picture’ of the two artists, their summer together and how they influenced the art world through their masterful works. Edouard Manet and Claude Monet spent the summer of 1874 roaming through Argenteuil together, building a friendship on the banks (and waters) of the Seine River. While, to the modern day art enthusiast, Impressionism seems like a staple in the art world, in the late 1800’s this was not the case. Monet and Manet were independent thinkers who were, in the summer of 1874, in the midst of creating a new style that was decidedly different from the more traditional artists…

Hailing from Minsk, Belarus, Roman Fedosenko is an international artist who paints in both Impressionist and Realist styles. Starting his career in design, Fedosenko has also worked in castings and ceramics. He went on to work in different styles, exploring multiple genres of painting. The artist’s light-drenched works are bright, bold and often action-oriented. Fedosenko currently works in oils on canvas. Featured subjects include motorcycles, portraits, land and sea- scapes. The artist also captures the Impressionist style within a traditional-seeming subject matter, featuring flowing ballerinas moving on the stage. He mixes a realist edge with the texture-filled brushstrokes of the great Impressionist painters. Fedosenko’s works capture both an old-world and modern day feel together, while bringing warmth to the canvas through the subtle play of light and shadows. Working directly with clients and exhibiting in galleries has inspired Fedosenko’s art to grow and evolve. He chose to join…

Secrets, lies and war-torn Austria set a dramatic backdrop for the art-inspired film Woman in Gold. Starring Academy Award winner Helen Mirren, Katie Holmes and Ryan Reynolds, director Simon Curtis (My Week with Marilyn) tells the tale of a now-elderly woman’s quest to reclaim the famed Gustav Klimt painting, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, from the modern-day Austrian government. Mirren stars as the Jewish refugee Maria Altmann, recreating the real-life tale of the story behind the stolen painting. As “The Woman in Gold”‘s niece, Altmann seeks to reclaim the historic work that rightfully belongs to her family. Stolen by the Nazis, the Klimt painting spent years hung in the national Belvedere Gallery in Vienna. Even though the painting belonged to Altmann’s family prior to WWII, the film chronicles the ensuing legal battle with the Austrian government. Fighting against Altmann’s claims, the Austrian government refuse to admit the true…

overstockArt.com released its 2015 Spring Art Catalog today. The new online catalog, which showcases an impressive line of hand painted fine art reproductions, is the latest addition to the retailer’s multiple online resources available to simplify shopping for the busy home decorator. overstockArt.com’s Spring Art Catalog features more than 500 best-selling hand-painted oil paintings divided into Art Collections, Canvas Prints from up-and-coming Artist Become collection, as well as a selection of museum quality frames to best compliment your chosen work of art. The catalog is highly interactive allowing users to zoom in on the art, view product descriptions and more images of the product by clicking on the “tag” link on each painting. It is a full catalog with full color and links to all of the products featured. The 2015 Spring Art Catalog can now be accessed in four ways: 1. Access the 2015 Spring Art Catalog…