artist Philipp Igumnov

Moscow-based artist Philipp Igumnov has created these fun illustrations and collages.

Female Artists

Arts by Female Artists

1. Artemesia Gentileschi – Judith and her Maidservant

The most remarked-upon absence from the previous list was Artemesia Gentileschi’s version of Judith Slaying Holofernes (as opposed to the Caravaggio, Judith Beheading Holofernes, that we featured). Feel free to click on each and decide which you prefer! In the meantime, this is an equally disturbing follow-up piece to Gentileschi’s depiction, showing Judith and her maid’s escape from Holofernes’ quarters with his severed, bleeding head in a basket.

2. Frida Kahlo – Without Hope

One of the greatest painters of the 20th century, Mexico’s own Frida Kahlo is most notable for her self-portraits. This 1945 piece, Without Hope, is no exception. Frequently ill from surgeries and bouts of pain stemming from a bus accident in her teens, Kahlo was no stranger to hospitals. Microorganisms color her bedsheet, her world is featureless, simultaneous day and night, and her easel is overtaken by disturbing apparitions.

3. Lavinia Fontana – Portrait of Antonietta Gonzalez

This particular painting is not so much creepy as it is bizarre. It seems almost like a strange joke played by artist Lavinia Fontana on an unsuspecting portrait model. It is a real portrait of a real girl, however. Antonietta Gonzalez was the daughter of Petrus Gonzales, and both (as well as Antonietta’s siblings) suffered from hypertrichosis, commonly known as “werewolf syndrome.” Happily, instead of being ostracized, they were all welcomed into the court of King Henry II of France, highly educated, and well-respected.

4. Rosa Bonheur – The Duel

Rosa Bonheur was one of the great painters of the French animalier style popular in the 19th century. It focused on doing one thing and doing it well: creating realistic paintings of animals. Bonheur, in particular, specialized in farm animals, and this piece shows the dark side of that world. Most interesting is its title, The Duel, evoking the traditional duels high-class males fought for women’s affections throughout history.

5. Paula Rego – War

A far more modern piece than previous entries on the list, this painting was only created just under a decade ago, in 2003. Paula Rego, the artist, says that she was inspired by a photograph taken during the second Iraqi war. While a photograph of this sort might be a common sight in the news, replacing the victims with rabbits, a symbol of purity, gives the work a deeply disturbing angle.

6. Herrad of Landsberg – Hell, from Hortus deliciarum

The oldest artist on this list, Herrad of Landsberg was a 12th century nun famous for her illuminated manuscript, Hortus deliciarum (Garden of Delights). Considered by many scholars to be the first encyclopedia written by a woman, it contains illustrated guides to instruct novice nuns about various teachings and philosophies that the convent followed. This particularly dark illustration is, obviously, from the entry on Hell. (Larger version)

7. Josefa de Obidos – The Sacrificial Lamb

This painting, one of the still-life pieces for which Josefa de Obidos is most renowned, may not appear all that creepy upon initial inspection. Make sure you notice the lamb’s bound feet and despondent expression, however. Those details, combined with the title, The Sacrificial Lamb, tell a very disturbing story about this lamb (traditionally symbolic of innocence) and its future.

8. Giulia Lama – The Martyrdom of Saint Eurosia

Historical accounts of beheadings, if you haven’t gathered, were very popular subjects for a great number of artists. Instead of Judith and Holofernes this time (though Giulia Lama did one of those as well, albeit much less gruesome than others), we have the decapitation of Saint Eurosia, patron saint of the city of Jaca, Spain. According to tradition, she was a princess forced into a marriage with a prince of the invading Moors. When she attempted to flee, the Moorish people hunted her down and executed her.

9. Camille Claudel – Clotho

This sculpture, Clotho, is named after one of the three fates in Greek mythology. Clotho and her sisters, Lachesis and Atropos, determined the length and nature of a human’s life. Reportedly, this work was the result of Camille Claudel and her mentor, the famous sculptor Rodin, deciding to create works based on the forms of elderly women. Another version of the piece, made solely of the torso part of the overall work, is just as ghoulish on its own.

10. Evelyn De Morgan – The Field of the Slain

Although this might look like something painted during the days of the Renaissance, it was actually created in 1916 as a response to the first World War. Its artist, Evelyn De Morgan, was a follower of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, which attempted to revive the style of the early Italian masters. A Spiritualist, and thus a firm believer in the afterlife, De Morgan made this representation of the Angel of Death collecting souls to take to the other side.

11. Kathe Kollwitz – The Last Thing

This is another response to World War I, albeit from a far different perspective. After the end of the Great War, Germany experienced huge economic difficulties. Artist Kathe Kollwitz, a German native, saw the desperation and hopelessness prevalent in her fellow Germans. This woodcut, titled The Last Thing, is a grim depiction of what many elderly Germans saw as their only escape.

12. Maruja Mallo – Antro de Fosiles

The third and final war-inspired piece on this list, Antro de Fosiles was actually considered lost for decades before it reappeared in 2010 and was purchased by the Guillermo de Osma Gallery in Madrid, Spain. Artist Maruja Mallo, a friend of Salvador Dali, was also horrified by war-torn Europe, but despite this painting’s appearance, it is not a statement about the use of atomic weapons. It was actually created in 1930, 15 years before their first use.

13. Remedios Varo – Fenomeno

One of only a few female surrealist painters, Remedios Varo’s works are particularly dark and dreamlike. A penchant toward mysticism and fringe psychology in her personal life deeply influenced her works, which typically feature unusual geometric shapes, strange symbols, and beings that seem to be cobbled together from various objects and animals.

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Artworks by Patricia Ariel

Artworks by Patricia Ariel

Artist of surrealist, mystic and visionary themes, Patricia was born in 1970 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she lived and worked until moving to the United States. Since she was a little child, she has been enjoying to give life to her private world through her drawings and writings. She has been drawing since the age of three, never remembering a single time of her life when she was not exploring some type of creative language. She has been also a performing artist, acting, dancing, and singing since her late teens. Although in part self-taught, she has had some formal training in visual arts that included academic drawing classes and a background in Fashion Design. Her love for teaching took her to a bachelors degree in Art Education with a specialization in History of Art from the Rio de Janeiro State University. But it was just after leaving her homeland that she considered the possibility of becoming a fine artist more seriously. Currently she has been consistently building a body of work based on her passion for the figurative art combined with expressionist and ornamental abstracts. Her inspiration and aesthetic references come from several sources, from the theater and ballet to Eastern Art, from the Art Nouveau and Jugendstil to contemporary Pop Art, including occult symbolism, Tarot, Astrology and metaphysics.

Rob Hefferan's art and paintings

Rob Hefferan is an exceptionally talented figurative artist. His work not only captures the character and warmth of each subject, but transcends form to suggest the living, breathing essence of the individual. Working predominately with oils and acrylics, Rob's work is both eminently understandable and intensely familiar. Colour, light and texture harmonise intelligently and with stunning candour to produce works that resonate with vibrant life.


Rob's figurative pieces are beautifully balanced. Each of his works bears witness to his unerring ability to create and atomospheric backdrop, brushstroke by brusgstroke. Art lovers will immediately respond to the luminosity and poignant intricacy of each portrait, where the presence of the subhect provokes a deep reaction.

new works

http://www.robhefferan.net/