Raymond Leech, 1949 | Impressionist painter

Raymond Leech was born at Great Yarmouth in East Angila and spent his childhood by the seaside.

He was influenced to take up an artistic career by his father, who taught him to draw.

In particular, he was inspired by the work of the Newlyn School, the french impressionists, Edgar Degas 1834-1917, Pierre-Auguste Renoir 1841-1919 and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec 1864-1901.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Love

Renoir’s joyful, discreet and tender vision, devoid of any hint of sentimentality, ribaldry or drama, distinguishes him from the other painters of his day.

The artist locates the interactions he depicts in his paintings in the public space, the new, modern social and natural settings - theaters, restaurants, guinguettes, boulevards and gardens - frequented by various social classes.

Theses popular "scenes" of modern love encouraged greater freedom of morals and the blossoming of "illicit" loves, in an era when bourgeois conventions and religious morality still governed romantic and sexual relationships.

Richard Savoie, 1959 | Romantic painter

Richard Savoie is a Quebec painter born in Moncton New Brunswick. He comes from a family of artists, the works of his uncle Roméo Savoie is part of Canada’s National Gallery.

Savoie spent part of his childhood by the sea and is still inspired by the sounds of its many moods, from the gentle lapping of waves on the shore to the thundering roar of surf whipped by a wild wind.

He studies art with Gabrielle Messier and Yolaine Lefebvre and becomes a full time artist by the 1980s.

Emily Dickinson: "Quando sentiamo il bisogno di un abbraccio..."

"Ho imparato che ogni giorno dovresti spingerti a toccare qualcuno. La gente ama una carezza affettuosa, o soltanto un amichevole pacca sulla schiena".

Maya Angelou

"Una delle migliori sensazioni al mondo è quando abbracci qualcuno e lui ricambia stringendoti più forte".

Charles Bukowski

"Quando sentiamo il bisogno di un abbraccio, dobbiamo correre il rischio di chiederlo".

Emily Dickinson

Peter Wever, 1950

Kim Starr, 1956 | Romantic Realism painter

Kim Starr, American painter, is the preeminent painter of Romantic Realism.

Her meticulous attention to detail, combined with the artistic sensitivity of earlier masters, results in contemporary works of unparalleled beauty.

For much of her life as a painter, Kim Starr created her art in serene and beautiful villages on the islands of Kauai and Maui.

Chien Chung-Wei 簡忠威, 1968 | Impressionist Watercolor painter

Chien Chung-Wei 簡忠威 is the first artist in Taiwan to become a signature member and Dolphin Fellowship of the American Watercolor Society.

Chien Chung-Wei aimed to be a painter at age 10.

He earned the master degree in Fine Arts, National Taiwan Normal University and was selected as one of the 30 painters in One Hundred Years of Watercolor in Taiwan in 2009.

In 2010, he set up the world’s first live demonstration teaching system in Chung-Wei Chien’s Art Studio for teaching watercolor.

Robert Finale | Romantic scenery painter

Cuban painter Robert Finale is no stranger to struggles and adversity.

At the tender age of two, he along with his family fled the communist ruled country of Cuba for a life of freedom and opportunity in the United States.

Here Robert learned the value of hard work and discipline and realized his potential to pursue his passion for art.

This passion, Finale explains, began very early in life.

Shawn Mackey, 1984 | Abstract expressionist painter

Shawn Mackey was born in Edmonton, Canada.

Growing up in the long cold winters of Canada, he had ample time to draw and let his creativity flourish.

Mackey’s parents, who were both teachers, would bring home boxes of scrap photocopy paper for him to draw on.

He would cover hundreds of sheets with pictures of everything from Italian sports cars, to the elaborate floor plans of luxury mansions, to a variety of superheroes and cartoon characters pulled from his own imagination.

Salvatore Postiglione | Genre painter

Salvatore Postiglione (1861-1906) was born to father Luigi (1812-1881), who was a painter of sacred subjects.

His brother, also named Luigi Postiglione and his nephew, and Luigi's son, Lucawere also painters. He studied at the Neapolitan Institute of Fine Arts under his uncle, Raffaele and Domenico Morelli.

Raimondo Roberti, 1947 | Impressionist painter

Raimondo Roberti was born in Naples, Italy.

Members of his family, who were high military officers of the Royal Fleet, strongly influenced Roberti and his lifelong attraction to all things pertaining to the sea.

His family’s isolated villa was very near the grounds of G. Gigante.

Gigante was one of the foremost exponents of Neopolitan classical painting, a painting style known as the School of Posillipo, an artistic style that Roberti would study later in life.

Craig Mooney, 1969 | Abstract painter

Craig Mooney makes paintings of dramatic moments and heightened emotionality that are known for being expansive and expressive.

Though a representational painter, the artist incorporates a myriad of abstract qualities throughout his paintings.

In his figurative work, Mooney romanticizes his subjects and presents them in an atmospheric lens that is best described as dreamlike.

William Blake | Pittore Simbolista / Romantico

Tigre! Tigre! divampante fulgore

Nelle foreste della notte,

Quale fu l'immortale mano o l'occhio

Ch'ebbe la forza di formare

La tua agghiacciante simmetria?

Amor non cerca di compiacer se stesso

Né per se stesso ha cura

Ma per un altro ogni favor rassegna

E il Cielo erige in un oscuro inferno.

Douglas Girard, 1969 | Imaginative realism painter

"...It is as if the artist has created his own mythology.

It is a very romantic, evocative painting, technically well balanced and very strong, formally" - Lucinda Barnes, curator of the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art commenting on the painting "Journey".

Douglas Girard: The results are in for the Art Renewal Center’s 2014/2015 Salon! 2500 paintings were submitted from around the world by 1050 artists. 31% were chosen as finalists.

Hamish Blakely, 1968 | Love letters to my wife

Like many great artists, British painter Hamish Blakely has a muse.

And it is none other than his wife Gail!

The artist explains: "We men folk have a lot to learn, and I have learned a great deal from her since we met.

My art celebrates that mystifying blend of feminine beauty and strength.

While loyal to that enduring genre of the celebrated figure and venerated goddess in art, I also explore the majesty of a woman's presence".

Yarek Godfrey | Magic realism painter

Yarek Gofrey (real name Jaroslaw Pawel Nowicki, Olsztyn, Poland 1957 - Paris, 2014) was a Polish artist of French, British and Austrian origins.

In 1982 he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow and the Studies for Stage Costume design for theater in Cracow.

In 1983 he moved to Paris, where he lived until his death in 2014.

Johann Jungblut | Romantic Landscape painter

Johan Jungblut (1860-1912), a Düsseldorf school, painted winter landscapes of rural Netherlands, Germany, and Norway in an old master style.

Jungblut was born in Sarrebourg on the French/German border in April of 1860, although in 1885 he made the German city of Dusseldorf his home.

Johan Jungblut was a solitary figure who lived alone; he made frequent trips to Holland to paint, specialising in Winter scenes infused with tranquil light.

Remembering Steve Hanks, the Master of Watercolor

Steve Hanks (1949-2015), the Master of Watercolor and Figures passed away in Albuquerque, New Mexico on April 22 after a battle with cancer.

"Art comes from a deep inner sense of direction.It starts with a re-evaluation of your own life, from a search for the source of the impulses and mystery of it all. I think of myself as an emotional realist. Emotion is what I want to portray. Realism is just my way of doing it"- Steve Hanks

Kevin Beilfuss, 1963

Kevin Beilfuss è un pittore Americano, esperto nella pittura ad olio, nella pittura acrilica e nell'arte dei pastelli.

Ha frequentato l'Illinois State University, conseguendo il Bachelor of Fine Art Degree in pittura nel 1985.

Dopo aver lavorato in un'agenzia pubblicitaria per un anno, Beilfuss ha frequentato l'American Academy of Art, dove si è concentrato sulla pittura e l'illustrazione.

Carolina Landea, 1964 | Pittrice Romantica

Carolina Landea è una pittrice Cilena le cui opere si avvalgono di un uso peculiare di luce e colore, trasmettendo atmosfere costiere, in particolare quelle crepuscolari, con un certo tono infantile e malinconico.

L'artista si è cimentata anche nella moda, nella danza, nella ginnastica e nel teatro, evidenziando il suo lavoro come produttrice di moda e modella per la rivista "Paula".

Membro di una nota famiglia di pittori, inizia la sua formazione artistica all'età di tredici anni.

Ha studiato con José Luis Asparren, professore presso l'Accademia Reale di San Fernando a Madrid.

Diane Leonard | Romantic Impressionist painter

Diane Leonard is an internationally acclaimed Impressionist Artist known for her incredible use of light.

A self-taught artist, Diane began painting in her early twenties while she lived in Boston.

- "Late afternoon is my favorite time to paint!

Whether I am on the beach or painting in my yard, capturing that golden light with colors that are enhanced by the warm sun is exciting!