ARTSQ

ARTSQ 👋 Lauren, Cortney, + Heather
🌏 Art history PhDs driven by a shared mission to make world art history accessible to people long before college.🐫🎨🏰📷

09/18/2026

Jan van Eyck’s Man in a red turban, likely a self-portrait, finished in 1433, is a captivating painting.

A small oil on oak panel painting, the man stares out at us. He holds our gaze. All the more fascinating is the original frame, painted with the motto “Als Ich Can” or “As Only I Can”—implying that only Van Eyck can paint this way.

You can see this lovely northern Renaissance painting on London’s National Gallery.

Check out our latest YouTube video for a longer discussion about this painting.

Want to look closely at a tapestry-woven Wari tunic from 600 to 850 CE?Our latest video considers how the Wari Empire us...
09/17/2026

Want to look closely at a tapestry-woven Wari tunic from 600 to 850 CE?

Our latest video considers how the Wari Empire used diverse materials to create complex textiles. The Wari were one culture in the Ancient Andes that made incredible textiles.

Link in bio to@our YouTube channel and website.

The Neanderthal flute, or the Divje Babe flute, is a 50,000–60,000-year-old cave bear thighbone. It’s thought to be the ...
09/16/2026

The Neanderthal flute, or the Divje Babe flute, is a 50,000–60,000-year-old cave bear thighbone. It’s thought to be the world’s oldest known musical instrument. 😯

It was an unexpected treat to see it at the National Museum of Slovenia.

Take a close look at Jan van Eyck’s famous painting of a man in a turban, thought to be a self-portrait.With his piercin...
09/15/2026

Take a close look at Jan van Eyck’s famous painting of a man in a turban, thought to be a self-portrait.

With his piercing gaze, weathered features, and brilliant red chaperon, Jan van Eyck’s 1433 startlingly life-like portrait is widely believed to depict the artist himself. In this video, we explore this creation by one of the fifteenth century’s most celebrated and innovative artists. We consider how the man’s fashionable clothing, commanding presence, and direct gaze proclaim both his prosperity and elevated status in an age when portraits were generally reserved for society’s elite. Even the frame speaks to Jan’s confidence, bearing his signature and personal motto, Als Ich Can—as well as I can—a playful show of humility from an artist renowned for his astonishing skill. Dignified, prosperous, and intensely present, Jan seems not simply to look out at us, but to see us across the centuries.

Link in bio to our YouTube channel and website.

📍Church of the Annunciation in Ljubljana, Slovenia.This lovely pink church has a delightful Baroque-style interior. Like...
09/14/2026

📍Church of the Annunciation in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

This lovely pink church has a delightful Baroque-style interior. Like so many churches, it has layers of different artistic styles. This one has a 17th-century Barque layout and an altar by the Italian artist Francesco Robba. There are also 18th and 19th century layers.

We crossed an important milestone today: 5K followers on YouTube!We appreciate everyone who has supported us and continu...
09/11/2026

We crossed an important milestone today: 5K followers on YouTube!

We appreciate everyone who has supported us and continues to support our work. Here’s to making more videos about archaeology, art history, and history in a new way. We’d love to hear what you want more of!

And now, for us, it’s back to work.

09/10/2026

Have you ever felt tiny standing in front of a painting? Artists associated with Romanticism, like Caspar David Friedrich, excelled at doing this.

Looking at paintings like Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog and Monk by the Sea by Caspar David Friedrich our latest video discusses the art movement known as Romanticism. It covers the main ideas and themes in Romantic art, such as the sublime, and looks at a variety of artists, from Goya and J.M.W. Turner to Eugène Delacroix and José María Velasco.

Find it on YouTube or our website. Links in bio.

When you’re preparing a class and you aren’t finding resources (at all or that you like), so you create your own!This is...
09/04/2026

When you’re preparing a class and you aren’t finding resources (at all or that you like), so you create your own!

This is the origin of so much of what we do at ARTSQ. We wanted to create things for our own students that we knew they’d enjoy and that were accessible. Then we thought, huh, maybe more people beyond our students would be interested in this too.

Case in point: Lauren is teaching her art of the Ancient Andes course this fall, and she updated the class. In the process she wasn’t finding resources (hat existed or were any good), so she decided to create her own videos.

And now more of those are coming to ARTSQ. We’ve got videos at various stages about:

🔴 Valdivia figurines
🔴 Paracas feline vessels
🔴 Wari tapestry tunic
🔴 Khipus (quipus)
🔴 Cupisnique vessel
🔴 Guaman Poma’s famous illustrated letter
🔴 Moche animal vessels

Who else is excited?!

09/03/2026

Get to know the iconic “Smile of Silla,” a roof-end tile dating to the 7th century and designated a National Treasure in South Korea.

The tile was found at an ancient Buddhist temple site, founded by a Silla queen in the 7th century.

Our latest YouTube video discuss the function of roof-end tiles and the significance of their decoration. This is also the first of many Korean art videos we will make this year! 🙌

We’d love to hear what you think if you watch it. Link in bio to our channel and website.

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