Shortly after arriving in Vienna to study at the Academy of Art, the 17-year-old Egon Schiele encountered the 45-year-old Gustav Klimt, then the leading figure in Austrian Art Nouveau and the Vienna avant-garde. The older painter would become Schiele's lifelong friend and mentor; his affect on Schiel

Agitated, Austrian expressionism, Dark, Erotic, Profane, Severe

Identity formation, the limits of linguistic signification, gender difference, and the possibility for political solidarity: Julia Kristeva has addressed them all. She serves up some of the most nuanced batches of critical theory to date, with all of the passion and rigor -- and often all of the enig

Dense, Feminism, Feminist, Poststructuralism, Severe, Silence, Structuralism

Although too erratic in technique to earn the distinction of virtuoso, Rudolf Nureyev still took a place among the most brilliant dancers in history. His flamboyance and charisma garnered him a truly massive audience; it's possible that his dancing has been seen by more people than that of any other

Bombast, Dramatic, Intense, Masculine, Mythic, Severe, Soviet ballet: the bolshoi and the kirov

Kara Walker uses the silhouette, that old parlor craft practiced by bonneted ladies, to create installations, prints, and paintings that stir intense controversy. The body of her work focuses on the antebellum South and the iconography and stereotypes surrounding African Americans, especially the ima

Figurative painting, Parody, Political, Severe, Violent