Eugene de Blaas | Academic /Genre painter

Eugene de Blaas also known as Eugenio De Blaas or Eugen von Blaas, was born on July 24th in the Italian village of Albano, near Rome in 1843, to Austrian parents.

His career was enriched by a talented and artistic family.

His father, Carl von Blaas (1815-1894), was one of the most notable portrait painters of Roman society, a successful history portrait and fresco painter of the late Biedermeier period.

Modigliani, the Secret of empty eyes in his portraits

"When I know your soul, I will paint your eyes" - Amedeo Modigliani (Italian painter and sculptor of the École de Paris, 1884-1920) once said.

Of all the striking characteristics seen in Modigliani’s portraits, be they the elongated visages or the disfigured features, the mysterious, hazy eyes of the sitters capture the true essence of the painter’s style.

In fact, while he would outline the eyes, he'd rarely paint the pupils, except when he had a close, nurturing relationship with them - enabling a basis for emotional intelligence.

Johann Strauss | Morning Papers, Op 279 | Viennese waltz

Morgenblätter (Morning Papers), Op. 279, is a Viennese waltz composed by Johann Strauss II (1825-1899) in 1863 and first performed on 12 January 1864 at the Sofiensaal in Vienna.

The work's genesis was attributed to the composition of a waltz by Jacques Offenbach later titled "Abendblätter" when Offenbach dedicated his work to the influential Vienna Authors' and Journalists' Association (Presseclub Concordia).

Camille Claudel | La valse, 1889-1905

Torna a Surriento!

"Torna a Surriento" is a Neapolitan song composed in 1894 by Italian musician Ernesto De Curtis to words by his brother, the poet and painter Giambattista De Curtis.

The song was copyrighted officially in 1905, and has become one of the most popular of this traditional genre.

Others include:

╰┈➤ "O sole mio",

╰┈➤ "Funiculì funiculà",

╰┈➤ "Santa Lucia".

Richard Wagner | Ride of the Valkyries

The Ride of the Valkyries (German: Walkürenritt or Ritt der Walküren) is the popular name of the prelude to the first scene of the third and last act of Die Walküre, the second of the four epic music dramas that constitute the operatic cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (English: The Ring of the Nibelung), composed by Richard Wagner.

As a separate piece, the "Ride" is often heard in a purely instrumental version, which may be as short as three minutes.

Peter Nicolai Arbo (Norwegian historical painter, 1831-1892) | The Valkyrie

Paul Seignac | Genre painter

During the 19th century, genre scenes were a popular subject throughout Europe.

The French painter Paul Guillaume Seignac (1826-1904) specialized in genre paintings depicting children, rural life and everyday scenes.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, incidental music by German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) written to accompany performances of Shakespeare’s play "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" at the Prussian royal court.

Mendelssohn became familiar with Shakespeare by reading German translations as a boy, and in 1827, at age 17, he was inspired to write a piece capturing the atmosphere of Shakespeare’s comedy.

The piece, a concert overture, quickly became a popular favourite throughout Europe.

Marc Chagall | La branche de gui or Le rêve, 1928

Claude Debussy | Danse Sacrée

"Dances for Harp and String Orchestra", in full in the original, "Danses pour harpe chromatique avec accompagnement d'orchestre d'instruments à cordes" (Dances for chromatic harp with string orchestra accompaniment), is a 1904 work by Claude Debussy.

There are two sections: Danse sacrée and Danse profane, and the work is sometimes billed accordingly.

It is a two-movement work, of about ten minutes' duration.

MAuguste Alexandre Hirsch | Calliope enseignant la musique à Orphée, 1865 | Musée d'art et d'archéologie du Périgord

Adolphe Alexandre Lesrel | Academic / genre painter

Adolphe Alexandre Lesrel (1839-1929) was a French painter.

Throughout his career, Lesrel collected awards, medals and official recognitions.

In 1889, at the Salon of the Society of French Artists and at the Universal Exhibition, Lesrel received an honorable mention.

François-Alfred Delobbe | Genre painter

François-Alfred Delobbe, (13 October 1835, Paris - 10 February 1920, Paris) was a French painter in the Naturalist style.

He was a student of Thomas Couture and William Bouguereau at the École des Beaux-arts, where he had been admitted at the age of sixteen, and had his debut at the Salon in 1861 with a portrait of his mother.

Claude Debussy | Arabesque No. 2. | Allegretto scherzando

The second arabesque in G major is noticeably quicker and more lively in tempo.

It opens with left hand chords and right hand trills.

The piece makes several transpositions and explores a lower register of the piano.

Again notable is a hint of the pentatonic scale.

It closes in a similar fashion to the first arabesque.

Claude Monet | Flower Beds at Vétheuil | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Sidney Richard Percy | Angera Maggiore, 1866

This exquisite painting, completed in 1866, captures the tranquil beauty of Lago Maggiore, located in Northern Italy.

In "Angera, Maggiore", Sidney Richard Percy (British landscape painter of the Victorian era, 1822-1886) portrays a serene moment alongside the shimmering waters of the lake.

The scene is set against a backdrop of majestic mountains and lush, verdant terrains that draw the eye towards the horizon.

Offenbach's Can-can | The scandalous Moulin Rouge's dance

The French Cancan dance is an eight-minute performance facing the audience, during which dancers measuring 5’7” tall lead the dance to a piece of music by German-born French composer Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880).

It’s an art that requires Parisian cabaret dancers to have balance, flexibility, acrobatic ability and rhythm.

They have to be able to do the splits and perform impressive moves like the “port d’armes”, the “cathedral” and the “military salute”.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec | At the Moulin Rouge, the Dance, 1889-90 | Philadelphia Museum of Art

Paquita

Paquita is a ballet in two acts and three scenes originally choreographed by Joseph Mazilier to music by Édouard Deldevez and Ludwig Minkus.

Paul Foucher received royalties as librettist.

Paquita is the creation of French composer Édouard Deldevez and Paris Opéra Ballet Master Joseph Mazilier.

Sergiy Lyacevitch | Dancing flower

Léopold Robert | Romantic genre painter

Louis Léopold Robert (1794-1835) was a Swiss painter.

He was born at La Chaux-de-Fonds (Neuchâtel) in Switzerland, but left his native place with the engraver Jean Girardet at the age of sixteen for Paris.

He was on the eve of obtaining the grand prix for engraving when the events of 1815 blasted his hopes, for Neuchâtel was restored to Prussia, and Robert was struck off the list of competitors as a foreigner.

Radetzky March

The "Radetzky March", Op. 228, is a march composed by Johann Strauss (Senior) which was first performed on 31 August 1848 in Vienna to celebrate the victory of the Austrian Empire under Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky von Radetz (the piece's namesake) over the Italian forces at the Battle of Custoza, during the First Italian War of Independence.

Augustus Edwin Mulready | From morn til night, 1889

“From morn til night” is an oil on canvas artwork by British genre painter Augustus Edwin Mulready, created in 1889.

The painting is part of the collection of the Christie's London.

Augustus Edwin Mulready (1844-1904) came from a family of artists.

Augustus Edwin Mulready | From morn til night, 1889 | Christie's

Franz Liszt | La Campanella

"La campanella" (Italian for "The little bell") is the subtitle given to the third of Franz Liszt's six Grandes études de Paganini, S. 141 (1851). It is in the key of G-sharp minor.

"La campanella" is a revision of an earlier version from 1838, the Études d'exécution transcendante d'après Paganini, S. 140.

Its melody comes from the final movement of Niccolò Paganini's Violin Concerto No. 2 in B minor, where the tune was reinforced by a "little handbell".

Louis-Ernest Barrias | Romantic / Art Nouveau sculptor

Louis-Ernest Barrias (1841-1905) was a French sculptor of the Beaux-Arts school.

In 1865 Barrias won the Prix de Rome for study at the French Academy in Rome.

Barrias was involved in the decoration of the Paris Opéra and the Hôtel de la Païva in the Champs-Élysées.

His work was mostly in marble, in a Romantic realist style indebted to Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux.

Nikolay Bogdanov-Belsky | At School Doors, 1897

Descending from peasant class, Nikolai Bogdanov-Belsky dedicated a significant portion of his work to rural schoolchildren.

His heroes hover indecisively at the classroom door, solve problems at the blackboard, read books or converse with the teacher.

The master's idealistic paintings upheld the notion that education was capable of improving public morality and overcoming the backwardness of the Russian countryside.

This lovingly painted and slightly sentimental canvas was possibly inspired by the personal memories of the artist, who attended Sergei Rachinsky's village school in Tatevo, Smolensk Province.