Ousmane Sow | The Auguste Rodin of Senegal

Ousmane Sow, Sculptor of Larger-Than-Life Figures, Dies at 81

By William Grimesdec. 1, 2016 © The New York Times, December 2, 2016

Ousmane Sow, often called the Auguste Rodin of Senegal, who earned an international reputation for his expressive sculptures of the Nuba, Masai and other African peoples, died on Thursday in Dakar, Senegal.

He was 81.

Mr. Sow (pronounced So) spent much of his life as a physical therapist but in his 50s became a full-time sculptor.

La Mano del Desierto / The Hand of the Desert, 1992

The "Mano de Desierto", or "Hand of the Desert", or "Mano del Desierto" is a large-scale sculpture of a hand located in the Atacama Desert in Chile, 75 km to the south of the city of Antofagasta, on the Panamerican Highway. The nearest point of reference is the "Ciudad Empresarial La Negra", La Negra Business City.

The sculpture was constructed by the Chilean sculptor Mario Irarrázabal* at an altitude of 1,100 meters above sea level. Irarrázabal used the human figure to express emotions like injustice loneliness, sorrow and torture.

Its exaggerated size of is said to emphasize human vulnerability and helplessness. The work has a base of iron and cement, and stands 11 metres (36 ft) tall.

Funded by Corporación Pro Antofagasta, a local booster organization, the sculpture was inaugurated on March 28, 1992.

Winslow Homer | The Poet of the Sea

American painter Winslow Homer (1836-1910) is considered one of the foremost painters in 19th century America and a preeminent figure in american art.

Largely self-taught, Homer began his career working as a commercial illustrator.

He subsequently took up oil painting and produced major studio works characterized by the weight and density he exploited from the medium.

He also worked extensively in watercolor, creating a fluid and prolific oeuvre, primarily chronicling his working vacations.

Some major artists create popular stereotypes that last for decades; others never reach into popular culture at all.

Dmitri Spiros, 1971 | Impressionist painter

Dmitri Spiros is a Russian contemporary Impressionist artist. Dmitri comes from a family with Greek roots.

From ancient times onward there has formed a small Greek population in the Southern part of Russia on the shores of the Black Sea.

Spiros was born in Tashkent, in one of the former USSR republics, and lived there until 1998.

Rabindranath Tagore | Stay in front of my eyes / Rimani davanti ai miei occhi

Laurie Blank

Stay in front of my eyes, and let
that your eyes inflame my songs.
Remains one of your stars, and their light
let me turn on my worship.
The land remains on hold
the roadside of the world;

Lindsey Kustusch | Cityscape painter

Lindsey Kustusch - "I am an oil painter based out of the San Francisco Bay Area. My ambition is to try and capture the fleeting moments in life using this medium as an opportunity to see the world with a more interesting and colorful perspective. To stay present and aware by seeing the extraordinary in the mundane, challenging the insignificant versus the significant, and at the end of the day creating a deeper connection with the world around me".

Edward J. (Ted) Reed | Classical Realism painter

Edward J. (Ted) Reed lives in Vienna, Virginia, with his wife and two daughters. He paints in his home studio and teaches portrait, figure and still-life painting at The Art League School located in The Torpedo Factory in Alexandria -Virginia.

Ted grew up in an artistic family and studied the basics of art in college, but did not complete his art education or begin painting in earnest until his late 30's. In the eight years since then, he has won numerous international and national awards*.

Misawa Hiroshi 三澤 寛志, 1961 | Figurative painter

Japanese painter Misawa Hiroshi was born in Tokyo in 1961.

He is interested in educating younger generations, so now he works in two art schools.

He has a fund of knowledge about human body anatomy, so he describes his works in profound perspective. He has the great art of sketching.

• 1984 - Graduated from Musashino Art University;
• 1984 - MAU Best Graduation Award* Shin-Seisaku Exhibition (from this time on annually);
• 1984 - Japan and France Art Exhibition;

Arvind Kolapkar, 1975 | Figurative painter

Arvind Kolapkar, Indian painter, born in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra and completed a Diploma in Art Education from the Abhinav Kala Mahavidyalaya, Pune, in 2000. Prior to that, he received a General Diploam in art in 1999 and an Art Teacher's diploam in 1993, both from the same institution.

He has had solo exhibitions of his work at Atelier Art Gallery, Mumbai, in 2008; Alankritha Art Gallery, Hyderabad, in 2007; and Singapore Art Gallery, Singapore, in 2006. He has also participated in the Singapore Art Festival in 2004-2006.

His work has been a part of group shows at Nehru Centre, Mumbai, and Heritage Art Gallery, Ahmedabad. Kolapkar was awarded the State Art Painting Award in 2002.

Tzviatko Kinchev, 1980 | Digital painter

Freelance Artist / Illustrator Tzviatko Kinchev was born in Sofia, Bulgaria and has developed a very unique digital painting style.

He is studing engraving in National Academy of Fine Arts, Sofia and also working for Haemimont Games as an 2D artist. Check out his works and how he uses a great colorful palette of warm colors.

Richard Currier, 1960

Florida based painter Richard Currier depicts each subject in a magnified, almost hyper-realistic manner, whether it is a face, hand, flower or piece of fruit.

Educated at the Ringling College of Art and Design, with further studies in Europe, Richard has been the recipient of numerous awards🎨 and honors. Richard has exhibited extensively throughout the United States and is represented in several museums, as well as prestigious collections.

Currier has exhibited widely throughout the Southern United States for 20 years. He received his artistic training at the Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida, as well as independent studies in Amsterdam and Paris.

François Batet (1921-2015) | Art Déco painter

Spanish painter Francisco Batet Pellejero was born in Barcelona.

He studied painting at the Academia Tárrega. He meets there another painter, Angelina Lavernia, whom he will marry on January 5, 1949.

Before devoting himself to painting on the theme of the 30s, the legendary "Roaring Twenties" and this from 1977, he abandoned his long career as an illustrator -including Hachette, Gautier-Languereau, France-Soir, France Dimanche, Confidences - and became known in Spain by drawing the famous "El Coyote" until 1951.

François Batet then worked as an illustrator for various magazines (France-Soir, France Dimanche, Confidences).

He then turned to the illustration of novels for young people, first on behalf of the Gautier-Languereau editions then for that of the Hachette editions (Pink Library, Green Library and Ideal-Library collections).

It illustrates in particular numerous novels by Jules Verne as well as several classics of the adventure novel.

Giuseppe Tirelli, 1957 | Figurative sculptor

Giuseppe Tirelli was born in Tanzania and now lives and works in Piacenza, where he attended the Art Institute "Gazzola" in the late '80s.

He began his personal artistic journey by fusing together classical sculpture with a contemporary, futuristic and cibernetic atmosphere. The great art critic Edward Lucie-Smith has placed Tirelli amongst the artists of "Neofigurative Italian sculpture".

Gustave Caillebotte | Stile e contenuti

Nonostante l'impegno impressionista Caillebotte interpretò gli stilemi del movimento in modo assolutamente personale, senza abdicare alla propria formazione e ubbidendo soprattutto alla propria sensibilità.

Alla poetica dell'attimo fuggente e irripetibile, colto in un solo battito di ciglia, egli preferì infatti la solida costruttività del disegno, già appreso durante il discepolato con Bonnat: in aperta controtendenza con l'impostazione impressionista, d'altronde, egli era solito meditare a lungo sulle composizioni, realizzando talora diversi schizzi preparatori.

L'originalità del Caillebotte, dunque, sta proprio nel mirabile equilibrio con cui riusciva a fondere la sua dichiarata matrice accademica con gli spunti di modernità, intelligentemente soppesati e impiegati.

Non desta meraviglia, pertanto, che lo stile di Caillebotte non è interamente impressionista, bensì presenta anche contaminazioni accademiste e realiste.

Marilyn Simandle | Plein air painter

Marilyn Simandle has always known that she would become an artist. Learning from her mother, a musician and painter, Marilyn started painting watercolors at age 6. She received her BA Arts Degree from San Jose State Univ. and went on to share her inspiration with the world.

A native Californian, she now resides in the Santa Ynez Valley where she explores all her passions: Painting, gardening and playing the piano. The former stewardess is an avid traveler and photographer that keep her fully stocked with subject matter for painting. Her late husband and acclaimed artist, Ted Goerschner, graduated to be with the Lord in 2012.