Xing Jianjian, 1959 | Ballet dancers

Chinese painter Xing Jianjian / 邢健健 is from Nantong, in southeastern Jiangsu province.

In 1986, he graduated from Nanjing University of the Arts majoring in oil painting with a bachelor's degree and stayed on as a teacher there.

He is currently a professor and master tutor at the School of Fine Arts of Nanjing University of the Arts.

Jianjian is member of China Artists Association. Director of Jiangsu Oil Painting Society.

Vincent van Gogh | Montmartre series

The Montmartre paintings are a group of works that Vincent van Gogh created in 1886 and 1887 of the Paris district of Montmartre while living there, at 54 Rue Lepic, with his brother Theo.

Rather than capture urban settings in Paris, van Gogh preferred pastoral scenes, such as Montmartre and Asnières in the northwest suburbs.

Of the two years in Paris, the work from 1886 often has the dark, somber tones of his early works from the Netherlands and Brussels.

Richard Telford, 1950 | Cityscape painter

Richard Telford was born in Dorchester and spent his childhood in this most picturesque part of England.

He developed a keen interest in painting professionally from an early age when his talent was recognized by a local gallery.

For a while, after graduating from art college, he took up a career as a graphic designer, which in time he abandoned in order to further his ambition of painting full time.

Mark Twain: "Fate attenzione a leggere libri sulla salute. Si può morire di un errore di stampa!"

Citazioni sui Libri

• "Ho degli amici - i libri, la cui società è per me deliziosissima; sono uomini di tutti i paesi e di tutti i secoli; distinti in guerra, in pace e nelle lettere, facili a mantenersi, pronti sempre ai miei cenni, li chiamo e li congedo quando più mi aggrada… essi non van mai soggetti ad alcun capriccio, ma rispondono a tutte le mie domande".

Francesco Petrarca

• "I libri pesano tanto: eppure, chi se ne ciba e se li mette in corpo, vive tra le nuvole".

Luigi Pirandello

Giuseppe Arcimboldo | The Librarian, 1566 | Skokloster Castle, Sweden

Félicie Schneider | Genre painter

Félicie Schneider or Felicie Fournier (1831-1888) was a French portrait painter.

Schneider was born in Saint-Cloud and first learned to paint from her father, Amable Nicolas Fournier, and later went to the school run by Leon Cogniet.

She showed works at the Paris Salon from 1849.

Her work "The Last Survivors of a Family" was included in the book Women Painters of the World.

Louise Moillon | Baroque painter

Louise Moillon (1610-1696) was a French still life painter in the Baroque era.

It is recorded that she became known as one of the best still life painters of her time, as her work was purchased by King Charles I of England, as well as French nobility.

Louise Moillon is also known for her Flemish style that is present in her artwork.

Moillon created about 40 artworks during her lifetime which are held in museums and private collections.

Joseph-Marie-Augustin-Gabriel Ferrier (1847-1914)

Gabriel-Joseph-Marie-Augustin Ferrier è stato un è stato un ritrattista ed orientalista Francese.

Gabriel Joseph Marie Augustin Ferrier nacque nel sud della Francia, a Nîmes.

Suo padre era farmacista e rispettò la vocazione artistica di suo figlio lasciandolo partire per Parigi, dove il giovane Ferrier si iscrisse all'École des beaux-arts. Ferrier fu quindi allievo di Ernest Hébert e di Isidore Pils.