Robert Kemm | Admiring the painting, 1880

Robert Kemm (1837-1895) was a British painter.

He was considered a Romantic painter of genre scenes, especially Andalusia landscapes and figures.

This artwork called "Admiring the painting" was painted in oil and is a highly staged piece of work.

The room setting could easily be the artists studio, with the easel, palette and assortment of props.

Felix Nussbaum | The Folly Square / La piazza della follia, 1931

"The Folly Square" / "Der tolle Platz" was created in 1931 by German-Jewish surrealist painter Felix Nussbaum (1904-1944).

It is part of the collection of the Berlinische Galerie.

Turbulent goings - on at Pariser Platz in Berlin: young artists unload their paintings outside the Prussian Academy of the Arts while its distinguished professors file through the door.

In the background we see Max Liebermann, the president of the Academy, on the roof of his house right next to the Brandenburg Gate.

He is working on a self-portrait held for him by Victoria, the goddess of victory.

She has torn herself off the Victory Column on the right of the frame, but in mid-flight she loses the laurel wreath which, since Ancient times, has been the mark of distinction for success.

Felix Nussbaum | The folly square, 1931 | Berlinische Galerie

In the foreground, in the centre of the beige-grey painting: a group of young artists in pale smocks with paintings.

More paintings are being unloaded from a vehicle on the right.

Left: professors dressed in black form a long queue three abreast.

In the background, Max Liebermann stands on a half-crumbling building.

Rainer Maria Rilke | Lascia che tutto ti accada / Let everything happen to you

Dio parla a ciascuno solamente prima ch’egli sia creato,

poi va con lui silente nella notte.

Ma le parole, quelle prima dell’inizio di ciascuno,

le parole, come nubi, sono queste:

Sospinto dal tuo intendere,

va’ fino al limite del tuo anelare;

dai a me una veste.

Vladimir Volegov

Giovanni Segantini | Mezzogiorno sulle Alpi / Midday in the Alps, 1891

"I am now working passionately in order to wrest the secret of Nature’s spirit from her.

"Nature utters the eternal word to the artist: love, love; and the earth sings life in spring, and the soul of things reawakens"

- Giovanni Segantini.

"Midday in the Alps" is an oil on canvas painting by Italian painter Giovanni Segantini (1858-1899) executed in 1891.

It currently resides at the Segantini Museum in St. Moritz.

Camille Pissarro | The Avenue, Sydenham, 1871

"The Avenue, Sydenham" is an 1871 oil painting by a Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter Camille Pissarro (1830-1903).

This work is a product of the Impressionism movement, measuring 48 x 73 cm.

It currently resides in the National Gallery in London, UK.

From The National Gallery, London: Following the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, Camille Pissarro and his family left France and moved to London.

This picture is one of 12 he painted while in self-imposed exile there.

One of the largest paintings in the group, this springtime scene, with the trees just coming into leaf, would have been completed in April or May 1871, shortly before Pissarro’s return to France.

Camille Pissarro | The Avenue, Sydenham, 1871 | National Gallery, London

Claude Monet | Le ninfee

Nel 1890 che Monet acquista la sua casa a Giverny ed un anno dopo realizza il suo bellissimo giardino fiorito, il Clos Normand, una vera e propria opera d’arte.

Marcel Proust (1871-1922) descriveva cosi il giardino di Monet nel suo "Alla ricerca del tempo perduto":

« [...] giacché il colore che creava in sottofondo ai fiori era più prezioso, più commovente di quello stesso dei fiori; e sia che facesse scintillare sotto le ninfee, nel pomeriggio, il caleidoscopio di una felicità attenta, mobile e silenziosa, sia che si colmasse verso sera, come certi porti lontani, del rosa sognante del tramonto, cambiando di continuo per rimanere sempre in accordo, intorno alle corolle dalle tinte più stabili, con quel che c'è di più profondo, di più fuggevole, di più misterioso - con quel che c'è d'infinito - nell'ora, sembrava che li avesse fatti fiorire in pieno cielo».

Vincenzo Cabianca | Macchiaioli painter

Vincenzo Cabianca (1827-1902) was an Italian painter of the Macchiaioli group.

He was born in Verona in modest circumstances. He began his artistic training at the Verona Academy under Giovanni Caliari, and then studied at the Venice Academy from 1845-1847.

An admirer of Giuseppe Mazzini, he became associated with the Young Italy movement and was taken prisoner while participating in the defense of Bologna in 1848.

After his release he lived in Venice from 1849-1853.