Gary Benfield (British painter, 1965) The Horses

"The world around me is a continuous sequence of fortuitous events. Objects and figures intertwine in my mind; they dance, they fuse and one adopts the colour and life of another. I find myself drawn into an intimate world where sensuality and delight in life’s form are combined in a flight of frolic and fantasy" - Gary Benfield.

Award-winning🎨 illustrator Gary Benfield was born in Birmingham, England. He studied art at Stourbridge College of Art (1982-1984) and at Wrexham College of Art (1984-1986).

In 1986, Benfield became a professional freelance illustrator.

Gary Benfield's artistic style is unique. A pencil in one hand and a paint brush in the other, he approaches the canvas and uses both at the same time, just letting 'what happens, happen'.

Caravaggio | St John the Baptist at the Well, 1608

"All works, no matter what or by whom painted, are nothing but bagatelles and childish trifles... unless they are made and painted from life, and there can be nothing... better than to follow nature"

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio

Caravaggio | San Giovanni Battista, 1603

"I bury my head in the pillow, and dream of my true love…
I am rowing to you on the great, dark ocean.."

Caravaggio**

Van Gogh | Basket of Pansies, 1887

• "If one loves nature one finds beauty everywhere".
• "The more you love, the more you suffer".

Vincent van Gogh

Van Gogh | Still Life with Grapes, 1887

Vincent van Gogh
Date: 1887; Paris, France
Style: Post-Impressionism
Genre: still life
Media: oil, canvas
Location: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Albert Edelfelt | Naturalist painter

From promising young Finnish painter to European celebrity, Albert Edelfelt was Finland’s first cosmopolitan art icon. His work was admired by, among many others, Vincent van Gogh. Declining a professorship at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, Edelfelt’s greatest passions were the Parisian lifestyle and summers spent in his native country.

• Childhood and study years

Albert Edelfelt was born in 1854 into an aristocratic Swedish-speaking family. Despite this background, his childhood was financially strained. The father of the family died when Albert was only fifteen, leaving large debts behind. Nevertheless, Albert’s mother supported his artistic interest and ambitions throughout his formative years as a painter.

Though Edelfelt received art tutoring while studying languages and history at the Imperial University in Helsinki, he found art teaching in Finland backward. There were few art collections and the country lacked an inspiring artistic culture. He eventually gave up university and enrolled in the Antwerp Academy of Art in 1873. After studying historical painting for six months, he moved to Paris to continue his learning process.

Ancient India

Per Storia dell'India si intende la storia del Subcontinente indiano e in un'accezione più ristretta si intende invece la storia della Repubblica dell'India.

Ad essere rigorosi non si potrebbe parlare della Storia dell'India intesa come Repubblica dell'India se non a partire dal 15 agosto del 1947, data di nascita di questo Stato dopo un lungo asservimento coloniale.

Non avrebbe però senso analizzare la storia della repubblica indiana se non tenendo conto delle sue vicende sotto il periodo coloniale e a partire dalla comune storia di tutto il Subcontinente indiano.

Non si potrebbe capire l'India moderna senza analizzare complessivamente la storia della (o forse sarebbe meglio dire delle) civiltà indiana.

Inoltre anche dopo il 1947 la storia indiana è rimasta strettamente legata al resto del subcontinente, specialmente al Pakistan, con cui ha combattuto ben quattro guerre e al quale tutt'oggi contende la regione islamica del Kashmir.