The world of art can be very hard to navigate! I’ll openly admit that even though I’m an art lover, when it comes to the bit about recognizing which time period a piece is from, I end up completely befuddled. Luckily for me, there are plenty of friendly people on the internet to set the record straight, educate us, and help make us seem like art rockstars at dinner parties and art galleries alike.

One of these people is Melbourne art historian and video creator Mary McGillivray, who created a series of very informative and witty videos explaining what art movements a particular work of art is from and who the artist who painted it is. All so we can show off our great taste and in-depth knowledge in front of our friends (and learn something new while we’re at it!).

Check out Mary’s full videos below, as shared on her _theiconoclass TikTok account, and be sure to follow Mary’s social media accounts for her latest updates if you enjoyed her content.

This Australian art historian is helping educate millions of people

Image credits: _theiconoclass

In some of her witty videos, she explains how we can impress our friends by learning to recognize different art movements and artists

@_theiconoclass
Want a part two? ?? #arthistorytiktok #arthistorymajor #learnontiktok
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#1 "If It Looks Like You Need Your Glasses Prescription Updated, Then It's Impressionism"

"The walk" by Claude Monet

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#2 "If It Looks Like Angsty Male Ego, Then It's German Romanticism"

"Wanderer Above The Sea Of Fog" by Caspar David Friedrich

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After Mary graduated from the University of Melbourne, she started on the path of making comedic and engaging video content for TikTok and YouTube about visual culture history. TikTok is a way for her to reach and educate millions of young people.

#3 "If It Looks Like A Nightmare You Once Had About Being Stranded In The Desert Then Its Surrealism"

"The Temptation of Saint Anthony" by Salvador Dalí

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#4 "If There's At Least One Person Looking To The Camera Like They're On The Office, It's Diego Velázquez"

"Las Meninas" by Diego Velázquez

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Mary isn’t just a great art historian—she also knows that humor helps people remember her lessons better. That’s because humor activates the dopamine reward system in our brains, meaning that our long-term memory gets stimulated.

#5 "If Its Got Sad Peasants It's 19th Century Realism"

"The Gleaners" by Jean-Francois Millet

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#6 "If She's Blonde And Has This Exact Face, It's A Botticelli"

"Figure of Flora", "Portrait of Venus" and "Portrait of Simonetta Vespucci" by Sandro Botticelli

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If you want to become an art history buff, making humorous associations between art movements and artists is the best way to make things easier for yourself. So when Mary makes a quip about Cubism artworks looking like your Tupperware drawer, you’re quite likely to remember. In fact, this particular example stuck with me so much, I can’t wait to share it with my friends.

#7 "If It's Got Ugly Babies, It's Medieval"

"Madonna and Child" by Bernardo Daddi

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#8 "If Its A Portrait Of Rembrandt, It's A Rembrandt"

"Self Portrait" by Rembrant

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Pssst, that’s also one of the reasons why you’ll remember things for your exams that much better if you rephrase things to sound funny (or even a tiny bit rude). Peculiarity and weirdness also tend to stick out more in our memories.