Erté (Romain de Tirtoff)

Romain de Tirtoff (1892-1990) was a Russian-born French painter and designer known by the pseudonym Erté, a French pronunciation of initials R.T. Tirtoff was born as Roman Petrov de Tyrtov /Роман Петрович Тыртов in St. Petersburg, Russian Empire in a very distinguished family with roots traced back to 1548.

His father Pyotr Ivanovich de Tyrtov was a Fleet Admiral.

In 1910-1912 Romain moved to Paris to pursue a career as a designer.

This decision was made over strong objections of his father, who wanted Romain to continue a family tradition and to become a naval officer.

Le Nain Brothers | The Adoration of the Shepherds, 1640

A group gathers around a manger to adore the newborn Christ.

On the right, the Virgin Mary and Joseph gaze reverently at the infant, alongside two small angels.

On the left are two young boys and an old, barefooted man: they are the shepherds mentioned in the Gospel of Luke (2: 8-20).

Le Nain Brothers (fl. 17th century) | The Adoration of the Shepherds, 1640 | The National Gallery, London

Romain de Tirtoff | Art Déco fashion illustrator

Nessun altro stilista ha avuto un'influenza maggiore di Erté nel XX secolo.

Le sue creazioni sgargianti hanno caratterizzato uno dei decenni più opulenti ed iconici della storia: gli anni '20.

Attraversando molti ambiti della cultura visiva, tra cui illustrazioni per riviste di moda, costumi per l'opera e il balletto, scultura e scenografia per il teatro, lo stile inconfondibile di Erté ha segnato l'era moderna.

When Christmas was prohibit

While Christmas is celebrated globally, throughout history, various nations and regions have banned Christmas celebrations for religious, political, or ideological reasons.

These bans ranged from 17th-century religious reformations to 20th-century state-sponsored atheism.

Even today, in 2025, there are nations that maintain strict bans or significant restrictions on Christmas celebrations.

A 1931 edition of the Soviet magazine Bezbozhnik, published by the League of Militant Atheists, depicting an Orthodox Christian priest being forbidden to take home a tree for the celebration of Christmastide, which was banned under the Marxist-Leninist doctrine of state atheism.

Charles-Clos Olsommer | Art Nouveau painter

Of French origin, Charles-Clos Olsommer (1883-1966) in Sierre, Switzerland, is naturalized in Neuchâtel in 1899.

He studied painting at the Art School in La Chaux-de-Fonds from 1901-1902 Professor Charles L'Eplattenier.

He attended the Kunstgewerbeschule in Munich (1902-1903) and the School of Fine Arts of Geneva (1904-1905).

He settled permanently in Veyras in 1912. He created there, in a style out of common, the totality of his works.

Claude Monet | The Houses of Parliament, 1900-1905

Claude Monet painted a series of oil paintings of the Palace of Westminster, home of the British Parliament, in the fall of 1899 and the early months of 1900 and 1901 during stays in London.

All of the series' paintings share the same viewpoint from Monet's window or a terrace at St Thomas' Hospital overlooking the Thames and the approximate canvas size of 81 cm x 92 cm (32 in x 36 3/8 in).

They are however painted during different times of the day and weather circumstances.

Robert Antoine Pinchon | Post-Impressionist painter

Claude Monet referred to him: "As a surprising touch in the service of a surprising eye".

Among Robert Antoine Pynchons' important works are a series of paintings of the River Seine, mostly around Rouen and landscapes depicting places in or near Upper Normandy.

Robert Antoine Pinchon (1886-1943) was a French Post-Impressionist landscape painter of the Rouen School- l'École de Rouen.

He was consistent throughout his career in his dedication to painting landscapes en plein air.

Igor Talwinski | Ballet dancers

Igor Talwinski (1907-1983) was a notable Polish-born French painter, active primarily in France and England, known for his portraits and figure studies, particularly female figures.

His work is characterized by a figurative style, with soft modeling of faces and bodies often contrasted by lively brushwork in the backgrounds.

He was mobilized in September 1939 and was taken prisoner by the Germans.

Philippe Jacquot, 1966 | Figurative painter

Philippe Jacquot's favorite subject is the representation of characters.

Later he sought expression in both portraits and figure.

He works the pencil and pastels, as well as red chalk drawing, oil and acrylic.

After several experiences in decorative painting and design, in 1990 he decided to devote himself exclusively to his painting.

Paul Chabas | Figurative painter

Paul Émile Chabas (1869-1937) was a French painter and illustrator and member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts.

He was born in Nantes, and had his artistic training under William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Tony Robert-Fleury. He first exhibited at the Salon in 1890.

He was awarded a gold medal at the Exposition Universelle of 1900 and in 1912 received the Médaille d’honneur.

His preferred subject was a young girl in a natural setting.

Valentin De Boulogne | Baroque painter

With the exception of Valentin de Boulogne's baptismal record, bearing a disputed date of either 1591 or 1594, the artist's early life is undocumented.

The son of a painter and stained glass worker, Valentin likely received his first training with his father in his native Coulommiers, near Paris.

He may subsequently have studied with an artist in Paris or in Fontainebleau.

It is not known when he departed for Italy, where he resided the remainder of his short life.

Joachim von Sandrart remarked (1675) that Valentin reached Rome before Simon Vouet (1590-1649), who arrived around 1614.

Valentin de Boulogne | The Crowning with thorns, 1620

This masterpiece of Baroque naturalism is among the first known works painted by Valentin de Boulogne, Caravaggio’s most accomplished French follower and arguably his greatest acolyte.

Painted in Rome in 1615 or shortly thereafter, it shows to what extent and how quickly the Frenchman had absorbed Caravaggio’s radical innovations.

Valentin de Boulogne | The Crowning with thorns, 1620 (detail) | Sotheby's

Othon Friesz | Fauve painter

Achille-Émile Othon Friesz (6 February 1879 - 10 January 1949), who later called himself Othon Friesz, a native of Le Havre, was a French artist of the Fauvist movement.

Othon Friesz was born in Le Havre, the son of a long line of shipbuilders and sea captains.

He went to school in his native city.

It was while he was at the Lycée that he met his lifelong friend Raoul Dufy.

Félix Vallotton | Landscapes and seascapes

Vallotton's landscapes and seascapes avoided conventional views and techniques, and presented unusual viewpoints and perspectives.

The scene is sometimes seen from above, with the horizon very high in the picture, or without the sky being visible at all.

The forms are simplified, and the figures are often small and almost unrecognizable.

Felix-Vallotton | The Ball, 1899 | Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Henri Matisse | Orientalist Odalisque

In 1917 Matisse relocated to Cimiez on the French Riviera, a suburb of the city of Nice.

His work of the decade or so following this relocation shows a relaxation and a softening of his approach.

This "return to order" is characteristic of much art of the post-World War I period and can be compared with the neoclassicism of Picasso and Stravinsky as well as the return to traditionalism of Derain.

Odilon Redon | Hommage a Goya, 1885 | The series

Homage to Goya (Hommage à Goya) is an portfolio of 6 lithographs on chine appliqué reveal Redon's admiration for the Spanish painter and printmaker, who died in 1828.

This series is one of many that Odilon Redon created throughout his career.

Nearly two-thirds of his lithographs took the form of portfolios - prints connected conceptually by a theme or narrative and physically by a folder or binding.

Odilon Redon | Hommage a Goya, 1885 | Scharf Gerstenberg Collection

Paul Gauguin | The Siesta, 1892-94

The unaffected grace and communal ease of Tahitian women impressed Gauguin enormously.

The artist worked on this painting over an extended period, incorporating numerous changes.

The skirt of the woman in the foreground, for example, was originally bright red; there was a dog in the position now occupied by the basket at lower right; and the woman seated at the left edge of the porch was previously situated further to the left. | © The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Paul Gauguin quotes: "Art = a mad search for individualism"

• "L'arte è un'astrazione: spremetela dalla natura sognando di fronte ad essa e preoccupatevi più della creazione che del risultato".

• "When the physical organism breaks up, the soul survives. It then takes on another body".

Felix Vallotton | Still life with gladioli, 1924

Félix Vallotton's still life paintings are characterized by their formal simplicity, striking compositions, and a cool, detached sensibility.

While still lifes were a minor subject for him earlier in his career, they became prominent in his work from around 1910 onwards.

In his later years, painting in his studio in Honfleur, Vallotton concentrated particularly on still lifes, particularly flowers, fruits and vegetables, very carefully arranged and painted with extreme precision.

Constant Troyon | The Barbizon school of painters

Constant Troyon (1810-1865), French painter, was born in Sèvres, near Paris, where his father was connected with the famous manufactory of porcelain.

Troyon was an animal painter of the first rank, and was closely associated with the artists who painted around Barbizon.

The technical qualities of his methods of painting are most masterly; his drawing is excellent, and his composition always interesting.

It was only comparatively late in life that Troyon found his métier, but when he realized his power of painting animals he produced a fairly large number of good pictures in a few years.