Masaccio | Vita ed opere

Masaccio, soprannome di Tommaso di ser Giovanni di Mone Cassai (Castel San Giovanni in Altura, 21 dicembre 1401 - Roma, giugno 1428), è stato un pittore Italiano.

Fu uno degli iniziatori del Rinascimento a Firenze, rinnovando la pittura secondo una nuova visione rigorosa, che rifiutava gli eccessi decorativi e l'artificiosità dello stile allora dominante, il gotico internazionale.

Partendo dalla sintesi volumetrica di Giotto, riletta attraverso la costruzione prospettica brunelleschiana e la forza plastica della statuaria donatelliana, inserì le sue «figure vivissime e con bella prontezza a la similitudine del vero» (Vasari) in architetture e paesaggi credibili, modellandole attraverso l'uso del chiaroscuro.

Jim Farrant (British painter, 1972)

Born in Taunton Somerset, British painter🎨 Jim Farrant attended Portsmouth College of Art.

After a period of travel throughout America and Australia he commenced painting full-time in 2002 and has had considerable success since then. Jim's work is inspired by the American realist school.

"The painting process always begins with a photograph. From a substantial collection of digital images, I will make a composite picture".

Robert Fowler (1853-1926)

Robert Fowler è stato un artista Scozzese che dipinse scene mitologiche e paesaggi.

Fowler è nato ad Anstruther, nel Fife, ed è stato allevato principalmente da suo zio e sua zia mentre i suoi genitori erano via per lavoro.

Ha mostrato una predisposizione molto precoce per l'arte, partendo prima dal disegno a matita per poi passare alla pittura e alla modellazione della creta.

La sua famiglia si trasferì a Liverpool e Fowler andò a scuola al Liverpool College.

All'età di 16 anni, trovò lavoro in un ufficio commerciale dove il suo talento per l'arte fu riconosciuto dal suo datore di lavoro, che incoraggiò i genitori di Fowler a mandarlo alla scuola d'arte.

Harry Holland (British, 1941)

Harry Holland is widely regarded as one of Britain’s best craftsmen, producing technically brilliant and very beautiful paintings.

His style is distinctive and immediately recognisable, something which every artist seeks.

The paintings are suggestive in the sense that they imply situations, events, or relationships that are not directly expressed; this imbues them with an engaging sense of mystery.

A master of painting, Holland works with uncompromising commitment and sincerity to produce art that is intense and rewarding.

Alexey Rychkov (Russian, 1968)

Inspired by works of Russian marine painters, Алексея Рычкова specialized in sea landscapes at the beginning of his creative career. The characteristic feature of his paintings is thin and transparent technique of depicting water in motion.

City landscapes of the artist are of romantic spirit and mood: St. Petersburg, the Neva, bridges and embankments, classical architecture. Landscapes of St. Petersburg are akin to works of old masters in the interpretation of the artist.

He has an excellent command of multilayered painting technique which is organically combined with the effective and solemn panoramic compositions.

George Wesley Bellows | Pittore realista

George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925) è stato un pittore realista Americano, noto per le sue audaci rappresentazioni della vita urbana a New York City.

È diventato, secondo il Columbus Museum of Art, "l'artista americano più acclamato della sua generazione".

George Bellows nacque a Columbus il 19 agosto 1882.

Dopo i primi studi in Ohio, nel 1904 si trasferì a New York.

Charles Gleyre | The teacher of Monet and Renoir

Marc Gabriel Charles Gleyre (1806-1874) was a Swiss artist who was a resident in France from an early age.

He took over the studio of Paul Delaroche in 1843 and taught a number of younger artists who became prominent, including Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Auguste Toulmouche, Louis-Frederic Schützenberger and Henri-Lionel Brioux.

Edna St. Vincent Millay | Sweet love, sweet thorn / O dolce amore, dolce spina

Sweet love, sweet thorn, when lightly to my heart

I took your thrust, whereby I since am slain,

And lie disheveled in the grass apart,

A sodden thing bedrenched by tears and rain,

While rainy evening drips to misty night,

And misty night to cloudy morning clears,

And clouds disperse across the gathering light,

Kazuhiro Uno (Japanese, 1978)

Kazuhiro Uno / 卯野和宏 is a remarkable Japanese painter🎨 born in Ibaraki Prefecture.

In 2002 he graduated from the Department of Oil Painting at Musashino University of Art, in the class of Hiroshi Sakurai.

In 2004 he took a course in oil painting, also at Musashino University of Art, under the direction of Kuno Kazuhiro.

Kazuhiro Uno's work focuses on the female figure and still life.

He is currently a member of the Federation of Japanese Artists.

16th century | Inventions, discoveries and Arts

The 16th century one of the most tumultuous periods in Western culture - primarily due to the Protestant Reformation.

Was a time of unprecedented change that saw the very beginning of the modern era of science, great exploration, religious and political turmoil, extraordinary literature, the High Renaissance and Mannerism.

This period also sees the beginnings of the scientific revolution and the colonization of the new world.

During the 16th century, advancements were also made in the theories of mathematics, cosmography, geography, and natural history.

In this century inventions related to the fields of engineering, mining, navigation, and the military arts were prominent.

Jeremy Mann (American, 1979) | Figures

Jeremy Mann is a painter best known for his moody, dark cityscapes. Mann graduated from Ohio University with a degree in Fine Art painting, and later attended the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.

Working on wood panels, Mann employs various techniques when creating his pieces, including staining the surface, wiping away paint with solvents, and applying broad marks with an ink brayer.

Natalie Shau, 1984 | Pop Surrealism painter

Natalie Shau is mixed media artist and photographer based in Lithuania (Vilnius). She refers to herself as a mixed media artist and photographer with an interest in fashion and portrait photography as well as digital illustration and photo art.

Some go as far as to describe her as a world-famous female representative of the hi-tec avant-garde of figurative art and leading illustrator and photographer in the digital art scene.

However, none of her shorter or longer biographies published on the internet make clear whether the Lithuanian ever attended art school at all or whether she is a mere autodidact. Considering the absence of any reference to an art education in her biographies, one rather has to assume the latter.

Izumi Kogahara (Japanese, 1979)

Izumi Kogahara is a Japanese painter🎨 and graphic designer, born in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture.

In the painting world, Izumi Kogahara is what one might call a natural-born master of color use.

Her unique use of warm, cool and neutral colors in all directions produces a singular brilliance and depth from each hue.

Kogahara is inspired by the energy of human beings that is generated not only by the instinct of life but also by the feeling generated by communicating with others.

Cristina Fornarelli (Italian, 1978)

Since she was a child, Cristina Fornarelli envisaged life as an intimate and emotional process that blooms throughout the life of a being.

As such, both in her personal evolution and her professional career, the Italian🎨 creator is deeply attached to everything that deals with delicateness, poetry and femininity.

Her figurative works, painted with oils, are produced from pure colours, directly affixed on the canvas with a spatula.

Mark Arian (American, 1947)

"To me, art is an expression of the rapture of being.. unveiling a fragment of the radiance within all form I believe that art can awaken the soul.. to the timeless presence of beauty and truth" - Mark Arian.

The exceptional work of American🎨 realist painter Mark Arian is the product of natural artistic talent, heartfelt passion, and more than fifty years of study and observation.

He was born in Des Moines, Iowa and received formal training in painting and sculpture at the Frudakis Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Barnstone Studios in Allentown, Pennsylvania, a private art academy in Florence, Italy, and the La Jolla Atheneum, and Watts Atelier in San Diego, California.

Andrew Atroshenko (Russian, 1965)

Born in the City of Pokrovsk, Russia, Андрей Атрошенко / Andrew Atroshenko became part of a gifted child program at the Children's Art School there, and was later accepted at the St. Petersburg Academy of Art, one of the world’s most prestigious art schools.

In 1999 Andrew spent the entire year in the U.S. He was invited by "Bay Arts", a New England based group, to take part in their exhibitions and activities.

Yiannis Ritsos / Praxiteles | Omens / Segni, 1968

Praxiteles🎨 (Πραξιτέλης) of Athens (4th century BC) | Apollo Sauroktonos (detail)

The statues were quickly hidden by weeds. We didn’t know

whether the statues had shrunk or whether the grasses had grown. Only

a large copper hand remained visible, like a terrible benediction,

above the tangle of unsightly shapes. Woodcutters

passed by on the road below - they never turned their heads.

Scott Burdick, 1967

Scott Burdick was born in Chicago, Illinois where his mother and father early on encouraged his interest in Art.

"I spent a lot of time in hospitals as a child and remember my mother showing me how to transform simple shapes like circles, triangles, and squares into objects like planes, helicopters, and fish.

It seemed such a magical thing and made spending so much time in casts and on crutches much more bearable".

In high school, Scott began taking life-drawing classes at the American Academy of Art under the legendary Bill Parks.

Egon Schiele | Sera bagnata / Nasser Abend

Ho voluto ascoltare la sera respirare fresca,

gli alberi neri di temporale –

dico: gli alberi neri, di temporale –

poi le zanzare, lamentose,

i ruvidi passi di contadini,

le campane echeggianti lontano.

Volevo sentire gli alberi in regata

Michael Malm (American, 1972)

"My purpose in painting is to communicate the emotions and beauty that I experience to the viewer with the hope that the painting will trigger a similar emotional response in them. Ultimately, I hope my work uplifts and inspires" - Michael Malm.

Michael lives in the beautiful Cache Valley of northern Utah with his wife, Juanita, and their four children.

The surrounding rural communities and setting provide backdrops for his figure paintings and inspiration for his landscapes.

His serious study began under Del Parson at Dixie College where he completed his associate’s degree.

Steve Hanks (1949-2015) | Pittore figurativo

"Ho cercato di essere responsabile e di diffondere immagini positive nel mondo", affermava Steve Hanks.

"Spero che il mio lavoro porti conforto, piacere ed intuizione nella vita delle persone".

Steve Hanks è cresciuto giocando a tennis e facendo surf lungo le spiagge della California meridionale.

"L'oceano mi ha lasciato un'impressione forte e duratura. È stato bello per l'anima essere in acqua, fare surf, nuotare o semplicemente entrare in contatto con il suo potere misterioso".

El Greco | Il periodo Italiano

Dal momento che Creta era, fin dal 1211, un possedimento della Repubblica di Venezia, fu naturale per il giovane El Greco (1541-1614) continuare la propria carriera a Venezia.

Anche se l'anno esatto del trasferimento non è noto, la maggior parte degli studiosi concorda nello stabilirlo attorno al 1567.

Secondo altro materiale d'archivio, ovvero dei disegni che mandò a un cartografo cretese, l'artista nel 1568 si trovava a Venezia.

Non si sa molto degli anni trascorsi in Italia da El Greco.

Catherine Abel (Australian, 1966)

Self-taught, Catherine Abel is a successful Australian artist🎨, renowned internationally for her striking figurative oil paintings. Combining the sleek, stylised geometry of the Art Deco period with the clarity, richness of colour, and depth of light of the Italian Renaissance Masters, her works are powerfully seductive compositions of beauty, elegance, strength and grace.

Abel began painting professionally after moving to Paris in 2000. Influenced greatly by European art and history, she immersed herself in her painting, rapidly building her reputation as a fine art painter. She has exhibited in Australia, France and the USA and is a sought-after portraitist.

Edna St.Vincent Millay | This beast that rends me in the sight of all, 1928

Marina Podgaevskaya, 1963 | Venetian

This beast that rends me in the sight of all,

This love, this longing, this oblivious thing,

That has me under as the last leaves fall,

Will glut, will sicken, will be gone by spring.

The wound will heal, the fever will abate,

The knotted hurt will slacken in the breast;

I shall forget before the flickers mate

Your look that is today my east and west.

Rémi LaBarre (Canadian, 1977)

Inspired by romance lovers, music, Rémi LaBarre painted series of modern portraits in a vintage theme.

In 1977, in Thetford Mines, Rémi LaBarre gets a first glance of the world. In his childhoold, he draws, often, on paperboards and paper…

One day, a friend who paints suggests testing this medium.

He thus gets some brushes, a few colors and his first painting will dry throughout the days of September 1994. Since then, several paintings, whether portraits or still life, all tales told.

Alexander Hodyukov (Belarusian, 1966)

Александр Ходюков è nato a Vitsyebsk - Bielorussia, dove vive e lavora. Il suo lavoro è condotto in direzioni diverse: realismo, impressionismo, nouveau.

Le sue opere: paesaggi, nature morte, marine e ritratti, mondi surreali in stile fantasy e surrealismo, armonia e bellezza nelle figure, si trovano non solo nelle collezioni bielorussi e russi, ma anche in collezioni straniere di pittura. La tecnica: olio, acquarello, acrilico.

Edna St. Vincent Millay | Time does not bring relief / Non da' sollievo il tempo

Gustav Pope🎨 | Awakening spring, 1877

Time does not bring relief; you all have lied

Who told me time would ease me of my pain!

I miss him in the weeping of the rain;

I want him at the shrinking of the tide;

The old snows melt from every mountain-side

Ademaro Bardelli (1934-2010)

Ademaro Bardelli è nato a Firenze e partecipava alla vita artistica dal 1956.

Dal 1949 al 1953 frequentò l'Istituto d'Arte di Firenze.

Dopo il servizio militare, si reca all'estero, in Belgio dove lavora in una miniera di carbone, in Svizzera, in Francia, facendo i lavori più umili come facchino, cavatore di pietra, scaricatore di porto, cameriere etc.

Francine Van Hove (French, 1942)

Francine Van Hove è una pittrice Francese contemporanea.

Nata a Saint-Mandé (Senna, Francia), ha studiato a Parigi ed ha conseguito una laurea in Belle Arti con qualifiche per insegnare nelle scuole secondarie.

Dopo aver insegnato per un anno al Lycee de Jeunes Filles di Strasburgo, si è dimessa dalla sua posizione ed ha deciso di tornare a Parigi nel 1964, dove ora vive e continua a dipingere. È nota per i suoi dipinti di giovani donne con atteggiamenti sognanti.

Berit Kruger-Johnsen | The Dream Seller

Growing up in Oslo, Norway, nature has always played a major part in Berit Kruger-Johnsen's life. She studied for a degree in biology and upon completion was accepted into the only graphic design school in Oslo at that time.

Berit Kruger-Johnsen was taught by two British illustrators. She went on to work in the advertising industry for a year and now works as a freelance illustrator.

For the last thirteen years Berit Kruger-Johnston has been residing in Australia. She still has family based in Norway so frequently travels to her home town.

Kitty Meijering (Dutch, 1974)

Kitty Meijering, born in Alkmaar and studied at the Amsterdam University.

At this University she followed a visual arts education, which she completed in 1998. For her last study project she painted namely models.

At this moment dance🎨 and specifically ballet is the main theme Kitty dedicates her time to.

This stunning new serie shows paintings of dancers in full movement and emotion.

Victor Bauer (American, 1969)

"My name is Victor Bauer and currently I live and work in New York. My work can be found in corporate and private collections in the US, Europe and Canada.

I consider myself a self taught artist. Painting comes as natural as walking to me. My father was a painter, and I grew up playing in his studio, drawing experimenting with colors.

My earlier works were mostly abstracts and during these years I developed my own style and technique using mostly just a palette knife".

Édouard Cortès (French, 1882-1969)

Édouard Leon Cortès was born in Lagny-sur-Marne, a few miles east of Paris. As an adolescent, he became fascinated with the arts and at seventeen began his studies at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

The year 1901 marked the artist's first exhibition at the Salon des Artistes Francais. His piece depicting a dramatic Paris street scene at dusk brought him immediate recognition and fame.

Later, as an active member of the prestigious Societe des Artistes Francais, Cortes exhibited his works yearly in Paris at the Society's salon as well as at the Salon des Independants, and the Salon d'Hiver.

Pantelis Zografos (Greek, 1949)

Παντελής Ζωγράφος was born in Athens, Greece, into a family with along tradition of producing fine artists. In greek language, the name of Zografos means artist: and following the Greek custom, Pantelis took the name of his paternal grandfather, a renowned iconographer.

Both of his parents were professional artists, and he spent much of his youth in their studio in Athens.

In 1971, after serving the Greek Air Force, Pantelis moved to America.

Carl Larsson (1853-1919)

Carl Larsson (1853-1919) è stato un pittore ed illustratore Svedese.

Nato in una famiglia indigente, studiò dapprima in una scuola per bambini poveri, poi nel 1866, all'età di tredici anni, fu ammesso all'Accademia Reale Svedese delle Arti di Stoccolma.

Durante i primi anni in questa prestigiosa istituzione Larsson, timido e socialmente inferiore rispetto a molti suoi compagni, trovò difficoltà ad ambientarsi; tuttavia, col passare degli anni riuscì a mettersi in luce grazie al suo talento, diventando una figura centrale dell'accademia.

Dopo aver lavorato alcuni anni come illustratore per libri e giornali, nel 1880 si trasferì a Parigi, dove rimase fino al 1885 passando anni frustranti come artista senza successo.

Fu proprio a Parigi che nel 1882 incontrò l'artista Karin Bergöö, che presto diventò sua moglie.

Questo fu un punto di svolta nella vita di Larsson, che cominciò a dipingere le sue opere più importanti, abbandonando la pittura ad olio, fino ad allora la tecnica da lui maggiormente utilizzata, per realizzare degli acquerelli.

Louise Glück | lL papavero rosso / The red poppy

Il massimo

è non avere

mente. Sentimenti:

oh, quelli ne ho; mi

governano. Ho

un signore in cielo

che si chiama sole, e mi apro

per lui, mostrandogli

il fuoco del mio cuore, fuoco

come la sua presenza.

Claude Monet | Poppies, The promenade, 1873 | Musée d'Orsay

Edna St. Vincent Millay | When the Year Grows Old / Quando l’anno invecchia

Edward Cucuel (American Impressionist painter, 1875-1954)🎨 | In autumn sunlight

I cannot but remember

When the year grows old -

October - November -

How she disliked the cold!

She used to watch the swallows

Go down across the sky,

And turn from the window

With a little sharp sigh.

And often when the brown leaves

Were brittle on the ground,

And the wind in the chimney

Made a melancholy sound.

Nathalie Picoulet, 1968 | Pastel figurative painter

French painter🎨 Nathalie Picoulet was born in Amiens and began a career in portrait paintings in 1993.

After displaying an early talent for drawing, she studied the history of Art and Design before deciding to pursue a full-time career as an artist in pastels.

Nathalie Picoulet studied at The University of Plastic Arts and followed higher education of drawing at L Ecole Superieur of design in Amiens.

Egon Schiele | I, eternal child / Io, eterno fanciullo

I, eternal child,

always watched the passage of the rutting people and did not want

to be inside them, I said -

spoke and did not speak, I listened and wanted

to hear them and see into them, strongly and more strongly.

I, eternal child -

I sacrificed myself for others …

who looked and did not see me …

Anne-Christine Roda, 1974 | Hyperrealist painter

Anne-Christine Roda is an French painter🎨.

She defines a highly original interpretation of the portrait:  in her work the painting is entirely subjugated to the portrayal of man’s fragility.

Her paintings, in terms of the choice of pose for her models and the neutral treatment of their backgrounds are as rooted in tradition, as her subjects are sourced unequivocally from our contemporary era.

Her choice of subject speaks directly to our everyday lives.

Yannis Ritsos | The Meaning of Simplicity / Il senso della Semplicità

I hide behind simple things so you’ll find me;

if you don’t find me, you’ll find the things,

you’ll touch what my hand has touched,

Our hand-prints will merge.

Ernst Koerner (1846-1927) | Landscape painter

Ernst Karl Eugen Koerner was a German🎨 landscape painter.

In 1861, while still attending the public schools, he began working in the studios of Hermann Eschke, where he received most of his artistic education.

Later, he also worked for Karl Steffeck and Gottlieb Biermann.

Pedro Salinas | Wake up. Day calls you / Svegliati. Il giorno ti chiama..

Wake up. Day calls you

to your life: your duty.

And to live, nothing more.

Root it out of the glum

night and the darkness

that covered your body

for which light waited

on tiptoe in the dawn.

Svegliati. Il giorno ti chiama

alla tua vita: il tuo dovere.

A nient’altro che a vivere.

Strappa ormai alla notte

negatrice e all'ombra

che lo celava, quel corpo

di cui è in attesa, sommessa,

la luce, nell'alba.

Rudolf Jordan (1810-1887) | Genre painter

Wilhelm Rudolf Jordan was a German🎨 genre painter, illustrator, etcher and art teacher.

His father was a member of the Judicial Council and he was a descendant of Charles-Étienne Jordan; advisor to Frederick the Great.

After completing his basic artistic studies with Karl Wilhelm Wach at his private school in Berlin, Jordan moved to the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, where he took master classes with Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow and Karl Ferdinand Sohn.

Ghiannis Ritsos / Jeffrey T. Larson | Debito autunnale

La casa profuma già di autunno.

E una volta ancora siamo impreparati,

senza pullover né sciarpe. Nuvole inattese

dal mattino oscurano le colline. Dobbiamo sbrigarci

a fare un po’ di provviste, perché tra poco arrivano

i venti sbraitanti. I vapori della cucina

occupano il primo posto nel silenzio del corridoio. A uno a uno

chiudono i locali sul mare. Sul molo bagnato