Arthur John Elsley | Genre painter

Arthur John Elsley (20 November 1860 - 19 February 1952) was an English painter of the late Victorian and Edwardian periods, famous for his idyllic genre scenes of playful children and their pets.

He achieved great popularity during his life and much of his work appeared in calendars, magazines and books.

Elsley was born in London, one of six children of John Elsley, coachman and amateur artist, and Emily Freer.

Elsley's father had exhibited at the British Institution Exhibition in 1845 but later in life contracted tuberculosis which forced him into early retirement.

Pasquale Celommi | A good catch, 1895

Pasquale Celommi (1851-1928) was an Italian painter, known for his outdoor scenes of Italian life in verist style.

Born in Montepagano, Abruzzo, Italy, he developed a keen eye for detail and depicted everyday life with a captivating realism.

Thanks to the help of a local landowner, Don Camillo Mezzopreti, and to a contribution of 30 lire by the Municipality, he managed to study until the year 1873, when he enrolled in the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence.

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.

Pasquale Celommi | Verist painter

Pasquale Celommi (1851-1928) was born in Montepagano - Italy, into a family of fishermen.

Celommi showed an early interest in art and often drew in his home as a child.

Celommi decided to receive academic training and moved Florence to study under Antonio Ciseri at the Academy of Florence.

He was a strong student and often praised by his teacher Ciseri. Celommi started exhibiting his work in various regions of Italy.

Celommi had a large exhibition in Turin and eventually in Rome.

Firmin Baes | A Master of Pastel painting

Firmin Baes (1874-1943) was a Belgian painter.

The son of the decorative painter Henri Baes, Firmin Baes was active as a portrait painter and a painter of still life subjects, figures, landscapes and interiors.

He studied under Léon Frédéric at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels between 1888-1894, and the elder artist’s influence is evident in many of Baes’s early paintings.

Pasquale Celommi | Four Seasons / Le Quattro stagioni, 1890-1901

In the series of the "Four Seasons", commissioned to Pasquale Celommi by the Commander Pasquale Ventilj, the pastoral world is reproposed through rustic "types” who reveal themselves rather self-conscious if compared to the more dramatic scenes of the same country artist Teofilo Patini.

The Four Seasons are part of the collection of the The Pinacoteca Civica of Teramo.

Pasquale Celommi | Winter / Inverno, 1890-1900 | Pinacoteca di Teramo

Gaetano Bellei | Academic / Genre painter

The Italian master Gaetano Bellei was born in Modena in 1857, died in the same city in March 1922.

A student of Adeodato Malatesta and companion of John Muzzioli.

Twenty-four he won the Retired Potetti that allowed him to travel to Rome for some time learning about yourself.

John Frederick Lewis | Orientalist painter

John Frederick Lewis RA (London, 1804-1876) was an British painter. He specialized in Oriental and Mediterranean scenes in exquisitely detailed watercolour or oils.

Lewis lived for several years in a traditional mansion in Cairo, and (after his return to England) painted highly detailed works showing both realistic Genre scenes of Middle Eastern life and more idealized scenes in upper class Egyptian interiors with no traces of Western cultural influence yet apparent.