High Culture
featured
The Rijksmuseum employed an AI to repaint lost parts of Rembrandt’s “The Night Watch.” Here’s how they did it.
Tim Brinkhof is a Dutch-born, New York-based journalist reporting on art, history, and literature. He studied early Netherlandish painting and Slavic literature at New York University, worked as an editorial[…]
All Stories
‘Six Persimmons,’ an ink painting by the Chinese monk Mu Qi, has long been hailed as the poster child of Zen Buddhism. But is its reputation deserved?
See the world through the eyes of a horse — or a cake pan.
The history of hell doesn’t begin with the Old Testament. Instead, hell took shape in the 2nd century from Mediterranean cultural exchange.
“Time Warp” all the way back to 1800s spiritualism, magic performances, and spook shows.
Using peach and eggplant emojis as shorthand for sex may seem like a new thing, but Renaissance artists were experts at using produce to imply intercourse.
The great philosopher spent the final portion of his painful life in a vegetative state. Did illness get him there, or was it his own philosophy?
Once at the pinnacle of Amsterdam’s art scene, Rembrandt van Rijn eventually found himself outcompeted by his own students.
He is only out-sold by William Shakespeare and Lao Tzu.
Rejecting romanticism, these famous paintings depict war as it really is: sadistic and senseless.
The answer may lie in the power to see far, far beyond yourself.
The toilet “is a portal to a mysterious otherworld.”
In war zones, aggressors steal art to eradicate the cultural heritage of others. Victims, meanwhile, sell stolen art in order to survive.
For J.R.R. Tolkien, the single most important element of a fairy tale was the dramatic reversal of misfortune in the story’s ending.
The world’s “most produced living playwright” wins out over other contestants, including Salman Rushdie and Margaret Atwood.
Science and technology were making early modern Europe a better place to live, but at what cost?
Want to write a time-travel story? Do so at your own risk.
In Georgia, it’s becoming less common to pronounce words like “prize” as “prahz.”
A history of othering, experimentation, and mystery.
The One Ring has its own agency and sentience — and it opens up a wonderful philosophy of things beyond our comprehension.
Pure cinema is about removing redundancy so that even the smallest detail serves a purpose in relation to the bigger picture.
The polymath used science to elevate his art.
Six authors, six monumental legacies, and a unique thread connecting them: a solitary novel that shines brightly.
The author of Frankenstein had an obsession with the cemetery and saw love and death as connected.
In Kannauj, perfumers have been making monsoon-infused mitti attar for centuries.
Voyage into the lawless world of experimental literature.
An X-ray offers a glimpse into the painter’s early years.
Engineer James Clarke liberated John, Paul, George, and Ringo from their mono and stereo straitjackets using algorithms at Abbey Road.
What better explains the prevalence of heavy metal in Scandinavian countries: culture or economy?
These initially sympathetic characters take readers down a dark path.
Great writing can unveil the criminal psyche better than any other artistic medium.