Collecting
Art Provenance: Why Ownership History Matters
Provenance is the documented history of an artwork’s ownership and movement. It supports attribution, legal title, ethics and scholarly understanding.
All Stories
Browse every published story from The Easel.
Collecting
How Is Art Priced? The Factors Behind Gallery and Auction Values
Art prices are built from artist career, medium, scale, provenance, condition, scarcity and market structure—but price is not the same as artistic importance.
Collecting
How to Start Collecting Art: A Serious Beginner’s Guide
Begin with a point of view, a research habit and a transparent budget—not with the pressure to buy quickly.
Indian Art
Chola Bronzes: Sacred Sculpture, Lost-Wax Casting and Living Ritual
Chola bronzes are not static museum objects: they were cast, consecrated, dressed, carried and encountered as living sacred presences.
Indian Art
Early Buddhist Art in India: Stupas, Symbols and the Image of the Buddha
Early Buddhist art organised relics, pilgrimage, narrative and sacred presence through stupas, symbols and increasingly human images of the Buddha.
Indian Art
Mauryan Art: Ashokan Pillars, Stupas and the First Imperial Style of India
Mauryan art joined polished stone, pillars, animal capitals, stupas and inscriptions to the scale of an expanding empire.
Indian Art
Indus Valley Art: Seals, Sculpture and the Visual Culture of Harappa
Indus art survives in small, exact objects—seals, bronzes, terracottas, jewellery and ceramics—that reveal technical mastery while resisting easy interpretation.
Indian Art
Indian Art History: A Complete Timeline from the Indus Valley to Today
Indian art history is a plural, connected chronology of objects, monuments, paintings and practices shaped by religion, courts, trade, colonialism and modernity.
Ancient Art
Mesopotamian Art: Gods, Kings and the Birth of Cities
Mesopotamian art emerged from temple cities, palaces and systems of writing that made divine authority, royal power and urban life visible.
Ancient Art
Ancient Roman Art: Empire, Portraiture and Everyday Life
Roman art was an adaptive imperial language, shaped by Greek, Etruscan, Egyptian and provincial traditions and used from palaces to dining rooms.
Ancient Art
Ancient Greek Art: From Archaic Figures to Classical Ideals
Ancient Greek art changed dramatically across the Geometric, Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods—and its sculpture was never simply white.
Ancient Art
Ancient Egyptian Art: Symbols, Style and the Afterlife
Ancient Egyptian art joined image, writing, architecture and ritual into a visual system designed to preserve order, identity and presence.