Vittorio Corcos | An Elegant Lady in a Pink Hat and Dress, 1888

Vittorio Matteo Corcos (1859-1933) was an Italian painter, known for his portraits.

Many of his genre works depict winsome and finely dressed young men and women, in moments of repose and recreation.

He was born to Jewish parents, in Livorno. He trained at the Academy of Fine Arts of Florence under Enrico Pollastrini.

Between 1878-1879 he worked under Domenico Morelli in Naples.

Giovanni Battista Lombardi | Ruth, 1864

Commissioned in 1859 by contessa Marietta Mazuchelli Longo, Lombardi's Ruth was the first of the artist's Old Testament subjects; a series which also included his Rebecca, Deborah, Susanna and Sulamite.

Lombardi's reputation had been built on his sensitive and innovative memorial sculpture, which he produced with his brother Giovita, in the studio in Rome which they set up in 1852.

The contessa Longo was a long-time supporter of Lombardi and indeed had previously commissioned a funerary monument to her deceased husband from the artist.

Olga Boznanska | Hands detail

Olga Boznańska (1865-1940) was a Polish painter, active in Munich and Paris.

Stylistically associated with the French impressionism, Boznańska received the French Legion of Honour in 1912, the Golden Laurel of the Polish Academy of Literature in 1936, the Grand Prix at the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques la Vie Moderne in 1937, and the Order of Polonia Restituta in 1938.

For biographical notes -in english and italian- and other works by Boznańska see:

• Olga Boznanska | Impressionist painter

Adolph von Menzel | Drawing

Adolph Friedrich Erdmann von Menzel (1815-1905) was a German🎨 Realist artist noted for drawings, etchings and paintings.

Along with Caspar David Friedrich🎨, he is considered one of the two most prominent German painters🎨 of the 19th century, and was the most successful artist of his era in Germany.

First known as Adolph Menzel, he was knighted in 1898 and changed his name to Adolph von Menzel🎨.

For biographical notes -in english and italian- and other works by von Menzel see:

• Adolph von Menzel | Realist painter🎨

Trent Gudmundsen, 1978 | Spring Morning

Gudmundsen's depictions of people and landscapes may seem steeped in nostalgia, but actually symbolically reflect the artist's own life: one in which he strives to live simply and tries to make time for the important moments.

Often using his own children and relatives as models in his paintings, Trent encourages and then captures authentic moments of quiet conversation or contemplation; people learning and teaching, talking and interacting, or simply enjoying a moment in thought in that fleeting time between work and play.