© Musée National du Chateau, Versailles. Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Marie-Antoinette with a Rose, 1783. Oil on canvas, 130 × 87 (51 2/8 × 34 3/8).
James Payne’s fascination with great art began long before he fully understood it. It was only through research and exploration that he started to grasp its deeper meanings, and to question what truly makes a work of art ‘great’. Payne’s curiosity and contagious enthusiasm lie at the heart of his hugely popular YouTube channel, where he brings masterpieces to life by revealing the rich and often surprising stories behind them.
In this video, Payne shares the fascinating stories behind two artists: Claude Monet and Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun. Despite being celebrated as a masterpiece today, Monet’s monumental Water Lilies was more or less overlooked when it debuted at the Musée de l’Orangerie. So how did it become so popular?
Monet and Le Brun are just two of the artists explored in Great Art Explained. From Hilma af Klint and Botticelli to Georgia O’Keeffe and Johannes Vermeer, Payne’s clear, insightful analysis brings a fresh perspective to classic works, revealing the stories behind the art and the lives of the artists who made them timeless.