Toshiyuki Enoki, 1961

Educated in several different genres of lacquer painting, traditional Japanese painting and western painting, Toshiyuki Enoki's works are an amalgamation of the new and aged, reality and myth.

This artist strives to antiquate his works, not only in his thematic tribute to well known traditional artists such as Maruyama Oukyou also in his artist process.

Using particularly worn brushes, Enoki cyclically paints, erases and transfers images for his works to create a unique atmospheric depiction of Nature.

As with all four pieces, the details brushstrokes and overall reflective surface is reminiscent of lacquer works which served as an inspiration for the artist.

His selected warm colour palette and scattered gold leaf across his canvas creates an overall magical and tranquil depiction in these four featured paintings.

Yury Darashkevich (Belarusian, 1962)

Yury was born in Asipovichi, Belarus. Following his passion, attended and graduated from the Belarusian State Academy of the Arts in 1985. Upon graduation he began a career in the illustration and graphic design field, painting in my spare time.

After several successful solo shows in the early 90’s, he started to devote his attention to his art (paintings and art objects).

Shortly after making this career change, he and his family moved to Toronto Canada. Being a full time artist, he became an Elected member of the Society of Canadian Artists in 2009.

Julie Heffernan, 1956

Julie Heffernan è una pittrice Americana il cui lavoro è stato descritto dalla scrittrice Rebecca Solnit come "un nuovo tipo di pittura storica" e dal New Yorker come "ironico surrealismo rococò con un tocco social-satirico".

Simile al Realismo Magico, il lussureggiante Julie Heffernan utilizza una miriade di riferimenti storici dell'arte per presentare una narrazione interiore sensuale, un'auto-allegoria la cui agenda politica seminascosta è lo sfondo letterale dei dipinti.

Stephanie Clair

Stephanie Clair è nata nello stato di New York e si è laureata in pittura / design presso la Old Dominion University, Virginia.

Clair è stata influenzata da maestri moderni come Picasso, Matisse, Chagall, Modigliani e Kandinsky e ha sviluppato il suo stile distintivo fondendo tecniche cubiste con colore ed emozione.

Henri Matisse | Méditation - Après le bain, 1920

The painting dates from the 1920s, produced during one of the artist’s many stays in Nice, which became more frequent and prolonged over time.

The theme of the interior, with the female figure facing the window (here the model is not easy to identify), is present in several of the painter’s compositions from this period, as is the use of soft light and decorative elements that characterise the settings.

Van Gogh about Jean-François Millet

Vincent van Gogh in a letter to Theo, from The Hague, 5 Nov 1882 - original manuscript of letter no. 280 - at Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam:

"..I fear that in a few years there may be a kind of 'panic', in this form: 'since Millet' we have sunk very low - the word decadence, now whispered or pronounced in veiled terms (see Herkomer), will then sound like an alarm bell. Many, like I myself, now keep quiet, because they already have the reputation of being awkward customers, and talking about it doesn't help".

Giorgio De Chirico (1888-1978)

Giorgio de Chirico è stato un pittore e scrittore Italiano, principale esponente della corrente artistica della pittura Metafisica. De Chirico nasce da una famiglia nobile di lingua italiana, il padre Evaristo, ingegnere delle ferrovie, costruì la prima rete ferroviaria in Bulgaria ed in Grecia.

Nel 1891 nella stessa città nasce il fratello Andrea Alberto. Più tardi mentre Alberto studiava pianoforte, Giorgio si iscriveva al Politecnico di Atene per intraprendere lo studio della pittura. I due fratelli erano molto uniti e si scambiavano le proprie conoscenze.

Intorno al 1909 si comincia a delineare la poetica della metafisica: arte capace di governare le emozioni e trasformare l'inconscio.

Nel 1911 de Chirico raggiunge il fratello Alberto a Parigi dove conosce i principali artisti dell'epoca, comincia quindi a dipingere quadri con uno stile più sicuro. Subisce l’influenza di Gauguin da cui prendono forma le prime rappresentazioni delle piazze d’Italia.