Janis Rozentāls | Art Nouveau painter

Janis Rozentāls (1866-1916) was a famous Latvian painter.

Rozentāls was born in Bebri Farmstead, Saldus parish, Courland Governorate in the Russian Empire.

He was the son of a blacksmith. He received the basic education at H.Krause's Elementary School in Saldus and Kuldīga District School.

At the age of fifteen he left for Riga aiming to achieve his dream of becoming an artist, later attending Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts.

Johann Baptist Reiter | Genre painter

Johann Baptist Reiter (28 May 1813, Linz - 10 January 1890, Vienna) was an Austrian portrait and genre painter of the Biedermeier period.

His father was a master carpenter. He spent three years as an apprentice at his father's company, painting furniture, signs and crosses.

Encouraged by the lithographer and art dealer, Josef Hafner, he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna.

His teachers there included Leopold Kupelwieser and Thomas Ender.

Martin Drolling | Genre painter

Martin Drolling (Oberhergheim, September 19, 1752 - Paris, April 16, 1817, aka Drolling the Elder) was a French painter.

He was father to Michel Martin Drolling, and to Louise-Adéone Drölling, one of the few successful female painters of the time.

Martin Drolling, a native of Oberhergheim, near Colmar, was born in 1752.

He received his first lessons in art from an obscure painter of Schlestadt, but afterwards went to Paris and entered the École des Beaux-Arts.

Cecilia Beaux | Impressionist painter

Cecilia Beaux (1855-1942) è stata una pittrice Statunitense.

Ritrattista, fu un'esponente autorevole dell'impressionismo Americano.

Iniziò la sua attività artistica dipingendo su porcellana e producendo litografie e disegni.

Fu allieva di Catharine Ann Drinker nel 1871, e dell'olandese Francis Adolf van der Wielen dal 1872-1873; si iscrisse alla Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts di Filadelfia dal 1877-1878 per studiare ancora con Camille Piton nel 1879 e con William Sartain dal 1881-1883.

Léon Lhermitte | Les Halles, 1895

From: Petit Palais - City of Paris Fine Art Museum

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Léon Lhermitte was chosen in 1889 to create a monumental painting for Paris City Hall.

The painter’s choice of a contemporary subject, the delivery of goods to Les Halles, broke with the tradition of an allegorical theme.

Originally from Picardy, Lhermitte was a master of Realism, an artistic movement which developed in France at the end of the 19th century, following on from Courbet and influenced by the novels by Zola.

The painter’s aim was to testify to life at the time, and he drew scenes of everyday life on the spot, which he then used to paint large compositions.

In 1882 he painted Paying the harvesters (Musée d’Orsay), which was his first major success.

Winslow Homer | The Life Line, 1884

The Life Line is a late 19th-century painting by American artist Winslow Homer (1836-1910).

Done in oil on canvas, the painting depicts the rescue of a passenger from a stricken ship.

The work - one of Homer's most iconic - is in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

From: Philadelphia Museum of Art

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The dramatic rescue from a foundering ship shown here was made possible by a recent innovation in lifesaving technology, the breeches buoy.

Secured firmly to ship and shore, the device permitted the transfer of stranded passengers to safety by means of a pulley that was hauled back and forth by crews at either end.

Ardith Starostka, 1962 | Figurative painter

Ardith Starostka is an American Portraits and figurative painter. Beginning at the age of twelve, Ardith Starostka has had the desire to create works of art that capture the likeness of the human face and form.

Basically self taught, Starostka found her inspiration in museums through the works of 19th century French academic painter William Adolphe Bouguereau and Dutch artist Rembrandt.

Starostka is a graduate of the University of Nebraska with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and an Associates degree in Art.