George Inness (1825-1894)

George Inness seated in his studio Smithsonian Institution

Michail Lermontov | Il Demone, 1829 | Prima parte

Michail Jur'evič Lermontov /Михаил Юрьевич Лермонтов (1814-1841) è una delle personalità letterarie più importanti del Romanticismo russo.

Poeta, scrittore e drammaturgo fu contemporaneo di Aleksandr Sergeevič Puškin (1799-1837) e come lui, morì in duello.

Autore del poema “Il Demone” e di “Un eroe del nostro tempo”, il suo capolavoro in prosa che uscì nel 1840, un anno prima della sua morte.

"Il Demone" / Демон rappresenta uno dei capolavori della Letteratura Russa, oltre che della Letteratura Romantica Europea.

"Il Demone" fu iniziato nel 1829 da un Lermontov sedicenne e concluso nel 1841. Lermontov scrisse ben otto redazioni del poema.

Berthe Morisot | Subjects

Berthe Morisot (1841-1895) painted what she experienced on a daily basis.

Most of her paintings include domestic scenes of family, children, ladies, and flowers, depicting what women's life was like in the late nineteenth century.

Instead of portraying the public space and society, Morisot preferred private, intimate scenes.

This reflects the cultural restrictions of her class and gender at that time.

Berthe Morisot | Lo stile artistico

Berthe Morisot (Bourges, 14 gennaio 1841 - Parigi, 2 marzo 1895) è stata una delle interpreti più significative, fantasiose e vivaci del movimento impressionista.

È importante notare inoltre come la Morisot, insieme a Mary Cassat, Eva Gonzalès e Marie Bracquemond, sia stata una delle poche pittrici impressioniste.

Thomas Cole

Charles Warren Mundy, 1945 | From Venice to Paris

Born in Indianapolis, Mundy received his undergraduate degree in art from Ball State University and his Masters of Fine Art at Long Beach State in Los Angeles.

Over the years he has received numerous awards from his participation in both regional and national juried exhibits, including the prestigious Hoosier Salon.

He was awarded the honor of Signature Membership in Oil Painters of America in 1993. Most recently, his plein air landscapes done in France, Italy, Spain, New England and most recently, Martha’s Vineyard, have received critical acclaim.

Berthe Morisot | Style and technique

Because she was a female artist, Morisot's paintings were often labeled as being full of "feminine charm" by male critics, for their elegance and lightness.

In 1890, Morisot wrote in a notebook about her struggles to be taken seriously as an artist: "I don't think there has ever been a man who treated a woman as an equal and that's all I would have asked for, for I know I'm worth as much as they".

Her light brushstrokes often led to critics using the verb "effleurer" (to touch lightly, brush against) to describe her technique.

In her early life, Morisot painted in the open air as other Impressionists to look for truths in observation.