Pelle Swedlund | Symbolist painter

Per (Pelle) Adolf Swedlund [1865-1947] was a Swedish painter and curator at Thiel Gallery in Stockholm 1932-1946.
Pelle Svedlund was born, lived and died in Gävle. He was a pupil at the Swedish Academy (1889-92) and completed his education in Paris and Brittany, where he met Paul Gauguin and together they experimented in making woodcuts. His contact with the Nabis circle of painters lead him in 1898 to visit Bruges, a place which was to fascinate and inspire him throughout his career. At the turn of the century, Bruges, which was known as Bruges-La-Morte following Georges Rodenbach’s novel of that title, was a cult gathering place for Symbolist and mystical painters and writers and was particularly significant for certain Swedish painters.

Kolja Tatic, 1962 ~ Surrealist Digital painter

Born in Jagodina, Serbia, Kolja Tatic was drawn to the arts at an early age. When asked about childhood influences, Tatic replied, "My father was my first teacher, and when I was about 12, I saw for the first time paintings from Giorgio de Chirico and Dali". He went on to say, "...when I first saw "Love Song" and "The Mystery and Melancholy of a Street" from de Chirico and "Premonition of Civil War" from Dali, I saw 'mysterious, enigmatic worlds...'" He said he considers secrecy, mystery, and premonition to be among the most important factors in quality artwork and wishes to create "enigmatic, mysterious, silent places" through his artwork. In this, I believe, he has certainly succeeded.

Albert Ryder ~ Tonalist/Symbolist painter

Albert Pinkham Ryder, (born March 19, 1847, New Bedford, Mass., U.S. - died March 28, 1917, Elmhurst, N.Y.), American painter, noted for his highly personal seascapes and mystical allegorical scenes.

About 1870 Ryder settled permanently in New York City, where he briefly studied painting. His formal training, however, did little to affect his early work, consisting largely of naive and idyllic landscapes. He made several short trips to Europe, but the paintings in art museums interested him little. He was an imaginative, solitary painter. His lifework of about 150 paintings was produced slowly; his works are, therefore, difficult to date with certainty.

Eugène Carrière | Symbolist painter

Eugène Anatole Carrière (1849-1906) was a French Symbolist painter of the Fin de siècle period. His paintings are best known for their brown monochrome palette. He was a close friend of the sculptor Rodin and his work influenced Picasso. Some see traces of Carrière's monochrome style in Picasso's Blue Period.

Aurélien Bigot / Richard Forestier ~ Abstract impressionist photography

A photo project titled "The Impressionist Windows" is the fusion between photography and painting, perfectly organic, without any editing. Photographer Richard Forestier collaborated with art director Aurélien Bigot to create “The Impressionist Experience”. The series tries to capture and turn real life into still images.

Bigot uses the key characteristics of famous painters: religious pose, nudity, antique drapery, etc. “If we recreate scenes with those elements and shoot them with this special technique that imitates the painting texture, we can bring together Impressionist art and photography creating the first impressionist photographs. This will lead the observer to doubt, unsure if faced with a painting or not, eventually realizing that it is indeed an absolutely unedited photograph”, explains the artist.

Santiago Rusiñol i Prats ~ Modernist/Symbolist painter

Santiago Rusiñol i Prats (25 February 1861 - 13 June 1931) was a Spanish painter, poet and playwright. He was one of the leaders of the Catalan Modernisme movement.

He influenced Pablo Picasso as a Modern artist, and also left a number of Modernist buildings in Sitges, a town in Catalonia.

Pietro Canonica ~ Classical sculptor

“The aim of the artist is to study truth in its purest form, concentrating the greatest possible emotion on it”, with these words Pietro Canonica declared his predilection for an art capable of idealising and yet at the same time expressing the most secret motions of the soul. In his sculptures he combines the proportions and balance of classical art, the refined models of fifteenth century Florentine work, the lightness of touch of neoclassicism, Romantic disquietude and nineteenth century sensibility. Gifted with an absolute mastery of technique and great ability and speed in working the material, he received commissions from the aristocracy of all Europe, who sought after his refined taste and idealization. Although these were the years of the historical avant guarde, Canonica continued to create “classical” art, remaining faithful to his image of himself and his own instinct to trust in “beauty”.