The Leshan Giant Buddha / Il Buddha gigante di Leshan

The Leshan Giant Buddha (乐山大佛) was built during the Tang Dynasty (618–907AD). It is carved out of a cliff face that lies at the confluence of the Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers in the southern part of Sichuan province in China, near the city of Leshan. The stone sculpture faces Mount Emei, with the rivers flowing below his feet. It is the largest stone Buddha in the world and it is by far the tallest pre-modern statue in the world.
The Mount Emei Scenic Area, including Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. It was not damaged by the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

William Waterhouse | The Modern Pre-Raphaelite

British painter of classical, historical, and literary subjects, John William Waterhouse (1849-1917) was born in Rome, where his father worked as a painter.

In the 1850s the family returned to England. Before entering the Royal Academy schools in 1870, Waterhouse assisted his father in his studio.

His early works were of classical themes in the spirit of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema and Frederic Leighton, and were exhibited at the Royal Academy, the Society of British Artists and the Dudley Gallery.

Cha Soo Griffith | Cityscape painter

Korean painter Soo Cha Griffith lives in Knoxville, but her artist's spirit lives in the picturesque villages and gardens of Italy and France. Griffith paints and sketches a wide variety of subjects, but her favorites are old-world towns, streets, coastal areas, open meadows, flower gardens and people. Her favorite place to paint, she said, is around Lake Como in northern Italy, Griffith said.

Elena Drobysheva, 1976

Елена Дробышева is an Ukrainian painter, known for working with Watercolor in the Figurative style. Дробышева was born on 1976 in Ukraine, Russia.

Jacques Guignard, 1946 | French Surrealist painter

French painter Jacques Guignard “J.G” paints his first work at the age of 15. He studies at the renowned school l'École des Beaux Arts in Paris and as did Le Corbusier, follows the 2 careers of architect and painter.
With the turn of the century, comes his inspiration to transpose the world into a floral expression. Through a work rich in colors and precise in shapes and forms, “J.G” leads us a more detached look at the world around us. Our imagination wonders through his painting to sometimes reach poetry.