Furcy de Lavault | Still life with flowers

Marie-Albert-Tibule Furcy De Lavault (1847-1915) was a fine painter of landscapes, still lifes and above all, flowers.

Marie-Albert-Tibule Furcy de Lavault was born in Saint-Genis (Charente-Inférieure), France.

He debuted at the Salon of 1880 with Fleurs de Printemps (Spring Flowers) and Nature Morte (Still Life).

These early Salon entries show Furcy de Lavault’s propensities towards the long-established tradition of still lifes and an interest in flowers.

Giacomo Leopardi | The Lonely Sparrow / Il Passero Solitario, 1835

D'in su la vetta della torre antica,

Passero solitario, alla campagna

Cantando vai finchè non more il giorno;

Ed erra l’armonia per questa valle.

Primavera dintorno

Brilla nell’aria, e per li campi esulta,

Sì ch’a mirarla intenerisce il core.

Odi greggi belar, muggire armenti;

Caspar David Friedrich | Il sognatore, 1835 | Hermitage Museum St Petersburg

Herbert Davis Richter | Floral still life painter

Herbert Davis Richter (1874-1955) was born in Brighton 10th May 1874. His family moved to Lansdown on the outskirts of Bath and it was at the Bath School of Art that Richter studied Furniture Design and Architecture.

He subsequently set up in business with his brother Charles, the Company Bath Cabinet Makers, with himself as Head of the Design Department.

In 1900, the Company was awarded Gold and Silver Medals at the Paris World Exhibition.

The Company was later awarded contracts for the furniture and fittings for the Cunard Liners, Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth.

Fritz Syberg | Naturalist painter

Christian Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Syberg, generally known as Fritz Syberg, (28 July 1862, Fåborg - 20 December 1939, Kerteminde) was a Danish painter and illustrator, one of the or Funen Painters (Fynboerne) living and working on the island of Funen.

Biography

Syberg, from a poor background in Fåborg, first served a house painter's apprenticeship under Syrak Hansen, the father of fellow artist Peter Hansen before attending the Copenhagen Technical School in 1882 where Holger Grønvold taught him drawing.

After a short period at the Danish Academy (spring 1884), he attended the Kunstnernes Frie Studieskoler (1885-1891) where he was the first of the Fynboerne to study under Kristian Zahrtmann.

Hanna Pauli | Genre painter

Hanna Hirsch, later Hanna Pauli (Stockholm, 13 January 1864 - 29 December 1940, Solna), was a Swedish painter; primarily of genre scenes and portraits.

Hanna Hirsch was a daughter of music publisher Abraham Hirsch. She was a friend of Eva Bonnier, and they followed each other through the painting school of August Malmström, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts in Stockholm.

Eva Bonnier (1857-1909)

Eva Fredrika Bonnier (1857-1909) was a Swedish painter and philanthropist.

Born in Stockholm as the daughter of publisher Albert Bonnier and a member of a leading family of publishers, Bonnier studied painting with August Malmström and became a student in the women's section of the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts in Stockholm in 1878.

Together with her friend and co-student Hanna Hirsch, she traveled to Paris in 1883, staying there until 1889.

Vincent van Gogh | Orchard in Blossom

Vincent van Gogh | Peach Trees in Blossom, April 1888 | Courtauld Gallery, London

This is van Gogh’s last view of a plain outside Arles that he often painted since settling in the south of France in 1888.

He wrote to the painter Paul Signac "everything is small there ... even the mountains, as in certain Japanese landscapes, which is the reason why the subject attracted me".

The snow-capped peak on the right (a deliberate echo of Mount Fuji in Japan) and blossoming trees create a peaceful atmosphere.

But the bent figure at left emphasises this is a man-made landscape. | © The Samuel Courtauld Trust, The Courtauld Gallery, London

Vincent van Gogh | Peach Trees in Blossom, April 1888 | Courtauld Gallery, London

Questa è l'ultima veduta di van Gogh di una pianura fuori Arles che dipinse spesso da quando si stabilì nel sud della Francia nel 1888.

Gotthardt Kuehl | Impressionist painter

Gotthardt Kuehl (28 November 1850 - 9 January 1915) was a German painter and a representative of early German Impressionism. He gained wide international recognition during his lifetime.

His father, Simon Kühl, was the Sexton and organist at St. Lorenz Church. He studied at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts (1867) and the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich, (1870).

From 1878-1889, he lived in Paris. He also made study trips to Italy and the Netherlands.

In 1888, he married Henriette Simonson-Castelli (1860-1921), daughter of the portrait painter, David Simonson.