After his fiftieth birthday Eugene Atget limited his diet to milk, bread, and bits of sugar; he honed in on his hygiene and lived to perfect his art. Peculiar in his habits and devoted to the development of photography, Atget struggled unnoticed for most of his life. It wasn't until his death that hi

19th century photography, Demure, Gritty, Improvised, Moody, Subtle

For the last half of his life "the land of lions and leather" molded Eugene Delacroix's imagination and provided inspiration for more than 100 paintings. No one from France had ever been allowed inside Meknes, the capital of Morroco, when Delacroix's group, complete with bodyguards, accomplished the

Ecstatic, Event, Gritty, Opulent, Romantic art, Violent

Born at a time when serious poetry was produced across the Channel, Chaucer would live to put the English language on the literary map. He began with the spoken word, pioneering the use of English in the royal court in a time when French was the tongue of choice. In the transition to writing, Chaucer

Charming, Funny, Gritty, Medieval fiction, Medieval poetry, Playful, Whimsical, Witty

If American drama was to recognize one fictional clan as first family, the Tyrones would win the title. (Granted, it would be a neck-and-neck race with the Lomans of "Death of a Salesman.") Eugene O'Neill's 1956 masterpiece, "Long Day's Journey into Night," established them as the dark alter ego of t

Dark, Depressive, Domestic, Gritty, Intense, Intimate, Realist theater