Nguyen Tuan, 1963 | Figurative sculptor

Born in Vietnam, Nguyen Tuan experienced the fall of Saigon in 1975, survived a failed escape attempt from his native land in 1988, witnessed the death of his close friend in the same escape attempt, and was then cast into a concentration camp.
Almost miraculously, he escaped the camp and fled to the United States where he became captivated with sculpting.
In 1995, Tuan Nguyen received his fine art degree from the Art Institute of Southern California in Laguna Beach, CA.

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.

Claude Monet | Nymphéas / Water Lilies

Water Lilies / Nymphéas is a series of approximately 250 oil paintings by French Impressionist Claude Monet (1840-1926).

The paintings depict Monet's flower garden at his home in Giverny, and were the main focus of Monet's artistic production during the last thirty years of his life.

Many of the works were painted while Monet suffered from cataracts.

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.

Jimmy Law, 1970 | Abstract portrait painter

Jimmy Law is a self-taught artist and painter of expressive portraits and resides in Cape Town, South Africa.

'- I was born in Bloemfontein in the Orange Free State on 26 September 1970. I matriculated in 1989.

In 1990 I enrolled to study a three year Graphic Design Diploma course at the Technicon of the Orange Free State.

After my studies I was conscripted for National Service in the South African National Defence Force for one year'.

George Bodine | Figurative / Cityscape painter

George Bodine paints landscapes, cityscapes and people.

Recently, he has been travelling extensively in Europe, and his paintings reflect his unique vision here and abroad.

He paints almost exclusively in oils, many of which are from small, niche manufacturers.

George often hand stretches Belgian linen sized with rabbit-skin glue and primed with white lead, techniques dating from the 16th. century.

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.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir | La Balançoire / L'altalena, 1876

Renoir gives us the impression of surprising a conversation - as if in a snapshot, he catches the glances turned towards the man seen from the back. The young woman is looking away as if she were embarrassed. The foursome in the foreground is balanced by the group of five figures sketchily brushed in the background.

The Swing has many points in common with The Ball at the Moulin de la Galette. The two pictures were painted in parallel in the summer of 1876.

The models in The Swing, Edmond, Auguste Renoir's brother, the painter Norbert Goeneutte and Jeanne, a young woman from Montmartre, figure among the dancers in The Ball. The same carefree atmosphere infuses both pictures. As in The Ball, Renoir is particularly trying to catch the effects of sunlight dappled by the foliage.

Author: Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)*
Title: La balançoire [The Swing]
Date: 1876
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: H. 92; W. 73 cm
Current location: © Musée d'Orsay, dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt

A young man seen from the back is talking to a young woman standing on a swing, watched by a little girl and another man, leaning against the trunk of a tree.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir | Luncheon of the Boating Party, 1881

Luncheon of the Boating Party by Pierre-Auguste Renoir remains the best known and most popular work of art at The Phillips Collection, just as Duncan Phillips imagined it would be when he bought it in 1923.

The painting captures an idyllic atmosphere as Renoir's friends share food, wine, and conversation on a balcony overlooking the Seine at the Maison Fournaise restaurant in Chatou. Parisians flocked to the Maison Fournaise to rent rowing skiffs, eat a good meal, or stay the night.

The painting also reflects the changing character of French society in the mid- to late 19th century. The restaurant welcomed customers of many classes, including businessmen, society women, artists, actresses, writers, critics, seamstresses, and shop girls. This diverse group embodied a new, modern Parisian society.

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;

Claude Monet | The Houses of Parliament, 1900-1905 | Painting series

Claude Monet* painted a series of oil paintings of the Palace of Westminster, home of the British Parliament, in the fall of 1899 and the early months of 1900 and 1901 during stays in London. All of the series' paintings share the same viewpoint from Monet's window or a terrace at St Thomas' Hospital overlooking the Thames and the approximate canvas size of 81 cm x 92 cm (32 in x 36 3/8 in). They are however painted during different times of the day and weather circumstances.

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".

Carlo Wostry | La Belle Époque painter

A painter of historical and genre subjects, Carlo Wostry (1865-1943) was also a sculptor and engraver. He studied in Vienna and also at the Baviere School in Munich, so gaining a varied and comprehensive training as a young man.

His first exhibition was in his hometown of Trieste, Italy and he painted a number of fine portraits there and soon produced a good living from his vocation as an artist.

Greatly influenced by Giovanni Boldini (1842-1931) the great portrait and genre painter from Ferare, Italy.

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;

Slava Korolenkov, 1958 | Figurative painter

Vyacheslav (Slava) Korolenkov / Вячеслав Короленков was born in the small city of Tula, not far from Moscow.

Before entering Art School he studied drawing with a sculptor, and as a result was accepted to the Moscow State Stroganov Academy of Industrial and Applied Arts on his first attempt.

While still a student one of his paintings represented the Stroganov Academy at an exhibition in Prague.

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.

Van Gogh | Small Bottle with Peonies and Blue Delphiniums, 1886 | Art in Detail

Title: Small Bottle with Peonies and Blue Delphiniums;

Author: Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)*;

Date: Paris, june - july 1886;

Medium: Oil on canvas;

Dimensions: cm 34.5x27;

Current location: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Vincent van Gogh Foundation.

Vincent van Gogh* began experimenting with color in his still life flower series. By the summer of 1885, the artist created some 40 paintings with a traditional approach, meaning that the flowers were in a vase and placed in the center of the canvas.

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.

The Master of the Story of Griselda | Il Maestro di Griselda | Artemisia, 1498

"Artemisia" - Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milano (Lombardia, Italy) - attributed to an anonymous Sienese master, known conventionally as the Master of the story of Griselda.

The Master of the Griselda Story is named from set of paintings which relate the story of Patient Griselda. Other paintings have been ascribed to him.
The style is typical of Sienese art in the late fifteenth century and reflects the manner of Luca Signorelli. His figures are notable for their elongated limbs, almost dancing motion and great elegance.

"Artemisia" symbolizes a widow's devotion to her husband's memory.

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.

Sir John Lavery R.A. | Plein Air / Portrait painter

Sir John Lavery R.A. (1856-1941)* was a well-known Irish-born British painter*, associated with the Glasgow Boys*, a group of artists who followed the French "En plein air*" movement.

Sir John Lavery R.A. was born in Belfast in 1856 and educated in Glasgow, London and Paris.

For biographical notes -in english and italian- and other works by Lavery see: Sir John Lavery R.A. | The Glasgow School of Art*.

Cristina Fornarelli, 1978 | Figurative Palette knife painter

Cristina Fornarelli was born in Bari, Italy. After art school, she attended the Institute of Industrial Design in Rome where she still lives and works.

She has taken part in many national and international art fairs.

The subjects of her paintings are always women in equilibrium, hanging on swings, dangling in the air, dancing in an indefinite space emphasizing this delicate atmosphere. Her dreamlike subjects are relaxed and nostalgic, where the image seems crystallized and frozen.

Lord Frederic Leighton | Cymon and Iphigenia, 1884

Cymon and Iphigenia is an oil on canvas painting by Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton PRA.

The painting does not bear a date but was first exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in 1884.

The Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, purchased it at a Christie's auction in London in 1976.

Lorenzo Lotto | High Renaissance painter

Lorenzo Lotto, (born c. 1480, Venice [Italy]-died 1556, Loreto, Papal States), late Renaissance Italian painter* known for his perceptive portraits and mystical paintings of religious subjects. He represents one of the best examples of the fruitful relationship between the Venetian and Central Italian (Marche) schools.

Master of the Female Half-Lengths | Renaissance painter

The Master of the Female Half-Lengths*, active ca.1530-1540, was a Dutch* Northern Renaissance painter* or likely a group of painters of a workshop.

The name was given in the 19th century to identify the maker or makers of a body of work consisting of 67 paintings to which since 40 more have been added.

The works were apparently the product of a large workshop that specialized in small-scale panels depicting aristocratic young ladies at half-length.

Guy Denning, 1965 | Abstract painter

Guy Denning, born in North Somerset, has been obsessed with visual art since childhood and started painting in oils at the age of eleven after receiving a set of old paints from a relative that had grown bored with them.

Through the 1980s he was repeatedly unsuccessful in his applications to study painting at degree level but continued painting whilst studying art history with the Open University and learning painting technique from older painters he knew in the west of England.

Cayetano De Arquer Buigas | Impressionist painter

Cayetano de Arquer Buigas (1932-2012) was a Catalan contemporary figurative painter, especially known for capturing the beauty, sensitivity and delicacy of women of his era through pastel, oil and charcoal techniques.

With an equal mastery, he explored portraiture, figure studies, equestrian subjects, landscapes, scenes of daily life, maternity, taverns and more.

Arquer Buigas stands as perhaps one of the most emblematic inheritors of 19th-century Catalan and French Impressionist style (seen in artists such as Ramón Casas and Eduard Degás).

With his elegant, restrained color palette and compelling balance between composition and subject choices, Buigas’s output has afforded him the status of a beloved, enduring master.

Master of the Female Half-Lengths / Maestro delle mezze figure | Santa Caterina, 1530

Title: Saint Catherine

Author: Master of the Female Half-Lengths (1525-1550)

Date: 1530

Medium: Oil on panel

Dimensions: cm 45 x 36

Current location: Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan

Juan Fortuny, 1939 | Impressionist / Realist / Figurative painter

Juan Fortuny* is an Spanish painter*, known for working in the Realist, Impressionist* e Figurative style.

Juan Fortuny was born in Badalona, a small fishing town near to Barcelona, on the 20th of April, 1939.

For biographical notes -in english and italian- and other works by Juan Fortuny see: Juan Fortuny, 1939 | Impressionist / Realist painter ➠.

Miloslava Vrbova-Stefkova | Ballet dancers

Czech artist Miloslava Vrbova-Štefková (1909-1991) was an traditionalist post-impressionist painter.

During the 1937-1938 Miloslava Vrbova-Štefková studied at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris with Czech Abstract painter František Kupka (September 23, 1871 - June 24, 1957).
Besides the dancers, the ballet scenes and portraits, Miloslava Vrbova also painted landscapes and the Prague urban motifs, religious scenes (the Crucifixion in the church Žinkovie), still lifes and flowers.

Carlo Crivelli | Santa Maria Maddalena, 1470-1473 | Trittico di Montefiore

Santa Maria Maddalena è un dipinto appartenente al registro centrale del Polittico di Montefiore di Carlo Crivelli (1430/5 - 1494)*, realizzato con tecnica a tempera e oro su tavola nel 1471-72 e misura 174 x 54 cm. Il riquadro è custodito chiesa di Santa Lucia, Montefiore dell’Aso, provincia di Ascoli Piceno.

Nel Polo museale di San Francesco a Montefiore restano oggi sei pannelli che sono stati ricomposti a formare un arbitrario trittico, detto Trittico di Montefiore.

Annick Bouvattier | Pittrice figurativa

Più attratta dalle sfilate che dalle boutique di moda, Annick Bouvattier inizia la sua vita lavorativa nel cinema e nella pubblicità.

Costumista, lavora spesso negli studi di Cinecittà a Roma.

Dei suoi soggiorni in Italia conserva il sapore dei colori caldi, sensuali, profondi: gli ocra solari, i rossi sordi, gli azzurri intensi, i verdi profondi.

Annick Bouvattier è la pittrice dei silenzi, dei piccoli gesti insignificanti compiuti ogni giorno, dei momenti banali, degli sguardi fugaci, delle parole non dette, delle storie senza parole - ma molti collezionisti hanno già sentito quei silenzi.

Lorenzo Lotto | The Recanati Polyptych / Il Polittico di Recanati, 1506-1508

The Recanati Polyptych is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Lorenzo Lotto*, executed in 1506-1508 and housed in the Civic Museum of Villa Colloredo Mels, Recanati, Italy. The work is dated and signed Laurent[ius] Lotus MDVIII.

Lotto began to work on the piece in 1506 as a devotional for the church of San Domenico in Recanati. The work was seen and described complete and in situ by Giorgio Vasari* in his Vite, who said Lotto was still young and followed partly the manner of the Bellini*, partly that of Giorgione*.

Sarah Myers | Figurative sculptor

Sarah Myers - Art-design, sculpture, handicraft.

"The art of museums inspires me, as does atmospheric design. Since 2003 I often use ceramic clays from formulas invented by my sister Amy Myers - material I mix and knead up by hand.

My sculpture goes from dust to moist clay, then to a figure glowing white-hot in the kiln at degrees ranging from 1940-2305 degrees Fahrenheit... and forward to a sculpture that looks at you, that stands ready or falls asleep, that carries or dances".