“There are so many more breath-taking works in the Louvre. What is it with the Mona Lisa and why is she so famous?” a visitor asked. Surely, many have wondered over many years. The Mona Lisa, or La Gioconda, is among thousands of works on display at the world-famous Louvre in Paris. Why has it achieved such international fame? Is it the wry smile, the mystery behind the eyes of the subject? Is it Leonardo da Vinci, the highly acclaimed artist, scientist, and inventor that created the likeness of the wife of a wealthy Italian merchant? Are there special clues...

  Vincent Van Gogh’s relationship with Paul Gauguin, very well documented, was strained to say the least. They had a very short time together, a time that would end badly and prove to be agonizing for Van Gogh.   After weeks of attempts by letters to engage artists to join him in Arles, France, for what he perceived and imagined a utopia, an artist colony where the conversation would revolve around nothing but creating works, Van Gogh had one response in the positive. It was from Paul Gauguin. (It has been noted that the yes came only after the promise of...