Cesare Maggi | At least there's fire! / Almeno c'è il fuoco! 1898

An early work by Italian divisionist painter Cesare Maggi (1881-1961), "At least there's fire!" - signed and dated "Firenze 1898"- was one of two exhibited by the artist, not yet eighteen, at the fifty-second annual exhibition of the Society of Fine Arts in Florence (1898-1899).

Alexi Torres, 1976 | Symbolist painter

Cuban painter Alexi Torres creates works that capture the creative powers of the universe as well as the problems facing it.

He grapples with how to express the influences of the past, possibilities of the future and the responsibilities of the now.

Torres creates woven canvasses which immortalize influential figures and emblems past and present.

Romel de la Torre, 1963 | Figurative painter

"I find spiritual beauty in all the things that I paint.

The innocence of a child's face, the endless blue color of the sky, the smell of flowers in the garden, the sound of raindrops falling on the roof.

These gives joy in my heart, inspiration, and gratitude... of being an artist" - Romel de la Torre

Born in Cebu City, Philippines in a community of artists, Filipino painter Romel de la Torre's artistic interest started at a very young age.

With the encouragement of his parents he began sketching the world around him.

Silvia Cordedda, 1991 | Fractal Garden

Italian artist Silvia Cordedda was born in Carrara, Italy.

Cordedda attended Chemical Engineering in University of Pisa and took Japanese lessons in her free time.

She creates extraordinarily beautiful fractal flowers that look like they could only exist in our dreams or in a wonderfully magical world.

She has been fractalist since January 2012.

John Ruskin: "All great and beautiful work has come of first gazing without shrinking into the darkness"

Quotes and paintings by John Ruskin

• "All great and beautiful work has come of first gazing without shrinking into the darkness".

• "Tutte le opere grandi e bellissime nascono dall’aver prima guardato, senza indietreggiare, nell'oscurità".

• "We blanch cotton, and strengthen steel, and refine sugar, and shape pottery; but to brighten, to strengthen, to refine, or to form a single living spirit, never enters into our estimate of advantages".