Nguyen Tuan, 1963 | Figurative sculptor

"Art is vital for me. It is almost a religion.

It means to believe in people, in life, in love.

It is a response to what is beautiful and simple.

As an artist I do what I do for no other purpose than to express my feelings" - Nguyen Tuan

Camille Pissarro | Rue Saint-Honoré, in the afternoon, 1897

Rue Saint-Honoré, dans l'après-midi. Effet de pluie ("Rue Saint-Honoré, in the afternoon. Effect of rain") is an 1897 oil painting by Camille Pissarro.

The work was made towards the end of Pissarro's career, when he abandoned his experiments with Pointillism and returned to a looser Impressionist style.

It is part of a series of works that Pissarro made in 1897-98 from a window of the Grand Hôtel du Louvre, looking down across the edge of the Place du Théâtre Français (now the Place André-Malraux) and along the rue Saint-Honoré, portraying the people, carriages and buildings, the trees, fountains and streetlamps, in an early afternoon shower of rain.

Camille Pissarro | Rue Saint-Honoré, in the afternoon. Effect of rain, 1897 | Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

Johan Messely, 1953 | The Secret Gardens

Johan Messely is a painter from Belgium.

Johan Messely grew up in the artistic world of his father Paul Messely, also a painter, who served as his great example and motivation.

After his studies into technical engineering and later photography, Johan settled as a professional photographer in Menen, Belgium, but eventually decided to turn painting from being just a hobby into his main occupation.

Leonard Cohen / Jack Vettriano | Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the wedding now

dance me on and on dance me very tenderly

and dance me very long we’re both of us beneath our love

we’re both of us above

dance me to the end of love

The Belle Époque: A Dream of Times Gone by Vittorio Corcos

Italian painter Vittorio Matteo Corcos (1859-1933) was known for genre works depict winsome and finely dressed young men and women, in moments of repose and recreation.

Born in Livorno, Italy, he studied drawing and painting at the Academia di Belle Arti in Florence under Enrico Pollastrini.

He then traveled to Paris where he met Léon Bonnat, and signed a contract with the Goupil and Cie, he was able to supplement his income as a portrait painter with illustrations for magazines.