Paul Van Ginkel, 1960 | Figurative / Abstract painter

Born in St. Boniface, Manitoba, Canada, Van Ginkel moved with his family to Calgary in 1973. In search of change and new stimulation he then moved to Vancouver in 1996, however, returned to Calgary in 2001.

Prior to earning a Master of Fine Arts degree from Syracuse University in New York, he was educated at the Alberta College of Art in Calgary.

After working as an illustrator for 6 years, Van Ginkel has been a fine art painter specializing in western themes since 1990.

Some artists who inspire and influence him include John Singer Sargent, Diego Velázquez and Frans Hals. Part of Van Ginkel's growth as an artist has come from extended painting trips to major art centres including New York, Italy, Australia, Mexico and Santa Fe.

In addition to collecting endless and inspiring subject matter as a result of global travel, Van Ginkel also attends reference photo shoots in various parts of the Southwest.

Ippolito Caffi | Solar eclipse in Venice, 6 July 1842

Born at Belluno in the Veneto, Ippolito Caffi🎨 (1809-1866) was a precocious landscape - architectural subjects and seascapes or urban vedute - painter and reporter.

His light-filled paintings are unsurpassed in immortalising the soul of the places and peoples he encountered during his many trips throughout Italy, Europe and the Mediterranean basin.

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

• Ippolito Caffi | Romantic / Visionary Landscape painter🎨

Carlo Canella | Vedutista painter

Carlo Canella (1800, Verona - 1879, Milan) was an Italian painter.

Having received his artistic training from his father Giovanni, a decorator and set designer, Canella took part in the Brera exhibitions on a regular basis as from 1829 with urban views, portraits and genre scenes of a Neo-Flemish character.

He also painted the occasional landscape but came to specialise in perspective views of various Italian cities, especially Milan and Verona, under the influence of his elder brother Giuseppe in the mid-1830s.

Wlastimil Hofman | Symbolist painter

Wlastimil Hofman (1881-1970) was a Polish painter, one of the more popular painters of the interwar and postwar years.

Hofman was born Vlastimil Hofmann in Prague to Ferdynand Hofmann, a Czech, and Teofila Muzyk Terlecka, a Polish woman. In 1889 Vlastimil's family moved to Kraków in Poland, where he attended St Barbara's School and then the Jan III Sobieski high school.

In 1896, he became a student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, where he studied under, i.a., Jacek Malczewski.

Marion Lucka, 1963 | Surrealist painter

German painter Marion Lucka was born in Kaiserhammer near Selb.

Since her childhood she wanted to express herself through her painting.

After finishing secondary school in Bayreuth, she began a vocational training to become a litographer in the resident porcelain industry.

Victor Gabriel Gilbert | Genre painter

French painter🎨 Victor Gabriel Gilbert (Paris, 1847 - Paris, 1933) was a genre painter🎨, particularly interested in the portrayal of market scenes and the picturesque details therein.

Gilbert was awarded🎨 the Bonnat prize in 1926.

Gilbert had been elected Chevalier de Legion d’Honneur and died in 1933.

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

• Victor Gilbert | Academic /Genre painter🎨

John Atkinson Grimshaw | Artworks

British Victorian-era artist John Atkinson Grimshaw was born in Leeds in 1836.

His father was a policeman but in 1848 he found work with the Great Northern Railway Company. Grimshaw's parents were strict Baptists and his mother strongly disapproved of his interest in painting and on one occasion she destroyed all his paints.

In 1852 Grimshaw became a clerk at the Great Northern Railway office in Leeds. The city had several art galleries and Grimshaw was able to see the work of Holman Hunt (The Light of the World), Henry Wallis (Death of Chatterton) and William Powell Frith (Derby Day).

Hans Andersen Brendekilde

Hans Andersen Brendekilde (1857-1942) was a Danish painter.

Hans Andersen Brendekilde grew up in Braendekilde, a small village close to Odense on the island of Funen.

He was a distant relation of Hans Christian Andersen, the famous writer of fairytales, and like his relation he had a very poor childhood.

The fathers of both were clog makers.

At the age of 4 Brendekilde left his parents and lived with his grandparents until the age of 10 when he made his living as a shepherd, getting board and lodging.

Gustave Courbet | Life and Artworks

Gustave Courbet was born in 1819 in Ornans, a small town in the heart of the Franche-Comté. He was the eldest of four children, and the only son. They were a close-knit family and prosperous, thanks to his father's extensive estates.

Courbet showed his affection for his family throughout his life. He left behind many portraits of them, sometimes among the figures in his great compositions.

He had a similar fondness for his native region which he used as a background in a number of his paintings. At various times in his life, Courbet travelled to the north of France where he was well liked. He lived in Paris, visited Saintonge, the birthplace of his friend Castagnary, went to Normandy with the American painter Whistler, and also to Montpellier at the invitation of Bruyas, his friend and patron. But he always returned to the Franche-Comté.

It was with "an unshakeable self-confidence and indomitable tenacity" (Castagnary) that Courbet launched into a prolific artistic career consisting of four key periods.

Danish Artists | Sitemap

Danish Art is the visual arts produced in Denmark or by Danish artists. It goes back thousands of years with significant artifacts from the 2nd millennium BC, such as the Trundholm sun chariot. For many early periods, it is usually considered as part of the wider Nordic art of Scandinavia.

Art from what is today Denmark forms part of the art of the Nordic Bronze Age, and then Norse and Viking art.

Danish medieval painting is almost entirely known from church frescos such as those from the 16th-century artist known as the Elmelunde Master.

The Reformation greatly disrupted Danish artistic traditions, and left the existing body of painters and sculptors without large markets.

Hans-Andersen-Brendekilde-Wooded-Path-In-Autumn-1902

John Palmer Wicker | Autumn, 1924 | Detroit Institute of Arts

John Palmer Wicker (1860-1931) was born in Ypsilanti, Michigan, Feb. 23, 1860; son of William W. and Charlotte Adelaide (Palmer) Wicker; studied art seven years in Paris, three and one-half years at Julian Academy under William Bouguereau, and three and one-half years in private classes of Ferdinand Cormon; married at Saginaw, Mich., July, 1897, Marie Louise Saxmann.

Exhibited portraits three times in Paris salons; exhibited three portraits at St. Louis Exposition, 1904; has taught for ten years; associate director Detroit Fine Arts Academy.

Thomas Gainsborough | Rococo portrait painter

Thomas Gainsborough🎨 (1727-1788) was an British🎨 portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker.

Along with his bitter rival, Sir Joshua Reynolds🎨 he is considered one of the most important British portrait artists of the second half of the 18th century.

He painted quickly, and the works of his maturity are characterised by a light palette and easy strokes. Despite being a prolific portrait painter, Gainsborough gained greater satisfaction from his landscapes.

He is credited (with Richard Wilson) as the originator of the 18th-century British landscape school.

Gainsborough was a founding member of the Royal Academy.

Marcel Nino Pajot, 1945 | Figurative painter

Marcel Nino Pajot, is an French painter and book illustrator born in Vergt, Dordogne, France.

He is a self-taught artist who improved his drawing skills communicating with other amateur artists.

The first time he participated in an art exhibition was at the age of thirty-six.

Presently, Marcel Nino Pajot is the well known artist who travels in international exhibitions and has earned awards and medals for his works.

Luis de Morales (El Divino) | Mannerist painter

Luis de Morales, byname El Divino (Spanish: “The Divine”), (born c. 1509, Badajoz, Spain - died May 9, 1586, Badajoz), painter who was the first Spanish artist🎨 of pronounced national character, considered to be the greatest native Mannerist painter🎨 of Spain.

He is remembered for his emotional religious paintings, which earned him his sobriquet and greatly appealed to the Spanish populace.

Morales may have studied with the Flemish painter🎨 Hernando Sturmio in Badajoz or with Pedro de Campaña in Seville.

He worked in Badajoz from 1546, leaving on occasional commissions but making his home there all his life. Summoned by Philip II of Spain to help in the decoration of El Escorial, he painted a Christ Carrying the Cross that did not please the king and was removed to the Church of San Jerónimo, Madrid.

Morales always worked on panels, often depicting subjects related to the Passion of Christ, such as Ecce Homo and Pietà (1560-70), and the Virgin and Child.

Perhaps the best known of these panels are 20 on the Life of Christ, painted for the Church of Arroyo del Puerco (1563-68).

All of his paintings are marked by detailed execution and anguished asceticism.

His work shows Flemish influences as well as some of the technical characteristics of Lombard Leonardesque painters; this has led scholars to believe that he might have traveled to Italy.

He remains an artist remarkably representative of his period and nation. | © Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Luis de Morales (Badajoz, 1509 - Badajoz, 9 maggio 1586) è stato un pittore Spagnolo🎨.

A causa della fama avuta in vita dovuta alla sua predilezione per tempi religiosi, venne soprannominato «El divino Morales».

La sua attività artistica si svolse principalmente in Estremadura, sebbene le sue opere furono oggetto di ammirazione in tutta la penisola.

Nelle sue opere si nota un allargamento delle figure, oltre all'uso della tecnica dello sfumato leonardesco, il che farebbe pensare ad una certa influenza delle scuole pittoriche straniere. Ciò nonostante, il suo particolare stile di rappresentazione è facilmente identificabile.

• Vita e formazione

Sebbene lo storico e pittore Antonio Palomino collochi la nascita di Morales all'inizio del secolo, la data più probabile è senza dubbio più tarda, intorno al 1520, come afferma la maggioranza degli studiosi.

Il critico d'arte spagnolo Juan Antonio Gaya Nuño ha invece reso improbabile un'altra ipotesi, sostenuta da Palomino, che situa la data di nascita dell'artista tra il 1509- 1510, a causa delle difficoltà cronologiche legate alla prima parte della sua vita.

Per questo altri storici ritardarono la data; per esempio, August L. Mayer la collocò nel primo quarto del XVI secolo, senza fornire altri dettagli.

Elizabeth du Gué Trapier la situò «probabilmente nella prima metà del secolo», mentre il tedesco Werner Goldschmidt posticipò la data della sua nascita al 1543, attualmente ritenuta impossibile, dato che il figlio dell'artista nacque sei anni dopo.

Secondo Gaya Nuño, Morales nacque intorno al 1520, e al tempo del suo matrimonio aveva trent'anni. Questa ipotesi confermerebbe dunque che l'età del pittore era sulla sessantina quando Filippo II passò da Badajoz, desidoroso di conoscerlo.

Altrettanto incerte sono le vicende relative alla sua formazione. Seguendo lo studio di Gaya Nuño, è possibile dividere in tre tappe la sua formazione: una prima a Siviglia, una in Italia e un'altra in Portogallo.

A Siviglia, Morales imparò le prime nozioni d'arte dal già affermato maestro Pedro de Campaña.

Non è comunque da scartare l'ipotesi di una formazione a contatto con altri maestri, città e botteghe, allora particolarmente fiorenti nella città spagnola, capitale bassa dell'Estremadura. | © Wikipedia

Gustav Klimt | Drawings

In 1963, the Albertina museum in Vienna began researching the drawings of Gustav Klimt.

The research project Gustav Klimt. Die Zeichnungen, has since been associated with intensive exhibition and publication activities.

Between 1980 and 1984 Alice Strobl published the three-volume catalogue raisonné, which records and describes all drawings by Gustav Klimt known at the time in chronological order.

An additional supplementary volume was published in 1989.

George Bellows | Ashcan School painter

George Wesley Bellows, (1882-1925), American painter and lithographer noted for his paintings of action scenes and for his expressive portraits and seascapes.

Bellows attended Ohio State University before moving in 1904 to New York City, where he studied at the New York School of Art under Robert Henri, leader of the group of American realist painters called The Eight.

Johannes Vermeer | The Girl with a Pearl Earring, 1665

Girl with a Pearl Earring / Meisje met de parel is Vermeer’s most famous painting.

It is not a portrait, but a ‘tronie’ - a painting of an imaginary figure. Tronies depict a certain type or character; in this case a girl in exotic dress, wearing an oriental turban and an improbably large pearl in her ear.

Johannes Vermeer was the master of light. This is shown here in the softness of the girl’s face and the glimmers of light on her moist lips. And of course, the shining pearl. | © Mauritshuis Museum in Hague

Michelangelo Buonarroti: "Non ha l'ottimo artista alcun concetto" | Sonetto 151

Non ha l’ottimo artista alcun concetto

c’un marmo solo in sé non circonscriva

col suo superchio, e solo a quello arriva

la man che ubbidisce all’intelletto.

Vincent Giarrano, 1960 | Life in the city

American painter Vincent Giarrano, also known as Vince Giarrano, was born in Buffalo, New York.

Giarrano started drawing at an early age, teaching himself by studying other artists.

Following his degree in Fine Art from State University, New York, 1982 and his Masters in Fine Art from Syracuse University, 1985, he chose to pursue a career in illustration working, amongst others, for the large publishers DC Comics and Marvel Comics.