William Shakespeare | Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Sonnet 18 (also known as "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day") is one of the best-known of the 154 sonnets written by English poet and playwright William Shakespeare.

In the sonnet, the speaker asks whether he should compare the Fair Youth to a summer's day, but notes that he has qualities that surpass a summer's day, which is one of the themes of the poem.

He also notes the qualities of a summer day are subject to change and will eventually diminish.

The speaker then states that the Fair Youth will live forever in the lines of the poem, as long as it can be read.

There is an irony being expressed in this sonnet: it is not the actual young man who will be eternalized, but the description of him contained in the poem, and the poem contains scant or no description of the young man, but instead contains vivid and lasting descriptions of a summer day, which the young man is supposed to outlive.

Nydia Lozano

Antoine Blanchard | Paris painting

Antoine Blanchard is the pseudonym of the French painter, Marcel Masson [1910-1988]. Blanchard was often introduced to collectors as the foremost artist of Parisian street scenes of his day. Like his predecessors, the French masters Galien-Laloue, Cortes, Loir, Utrillo and Francois Gerome, Blanchard has made an impact on contemporary art.Born in 1910 in a small village near Blois in the Loire Valley, Blanchard was encouraged at a young age to enter the arts. His parents first sent him as a young boy to an art school in Blois, and then relocated the entire family to Rennes in Brittany so that young Antoine could study there at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Three years later, in 1932, the young artist moved to Paris in order to Study at its world famous Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Upon completion of his studies, Blanchard was awarded the Prix de Rome, an honor rarely given to an artist of his young age.

Amaldus Nielsen | Naturalist painter

Amaldus Clarin Nielsen (1838-1932) was a Norwegian painter.

Early life

He was born in Halse as a son of shipmaster and merchant Niels Clemetsen Nielsen (1795-1845) and his wife Andrea Marie Møller (1802-1866).

He grew up in Mandal in Vest-Agder county, Norway.

He lived most of his childhood and adolescence without a father.

He received some tuition from a traveling drawing teacher and traveled to Copenhagen to study in 1854.

Romee Kanis, 1953 | Figurative bronzes sculptor

Romee Kanis was born in Jutphaas in 1953. Currently she lives in St. Maartensbrug in Zijpe in a farmhouse, where her sculpture garden and her studio are located and she also works in her workshop in Schermerhorn. At age 18, Romee began in Spain and France with drawing portraits. On the Place du Tertre in Paris and by working in the major cities of Europe, she got a good look at the people around her.

Djordje Prudnikoff | Pittore figurativo

Djordje Prudnikoff (1939-2017) è stato un pittore, grafico e designer Russo-Serbo. Prudnikoff è nato a Užice ed è stato affermato come uno degli artisti contemporanei più originali emergenti dall'ex Jugoslavia.

Nel 1946 la famiglia si trasferì a Belgrado.

Dopo aver completato le scuole superiori, Prudnikoff fu ammesso all’Accademia delle Belle Arti. Pochi mesi dopo la abbandonò per iscriversi all’Accademia delle Arti Applicate dove si diplomò nella classe del Professor Mihailo Petrov.

Durante i suoi studi Prudnikoff venne premiato diverse volte per meriti nel campo del “graphic design”.

Vasily Polenov | Woman Walking in a Forest Park, 1883

Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov / Васи́лий Дми́триевич Поле́нов (1844-1927)was born in Saint-Petersburg. His family placed great emphasis on the importance of art and culture. Indeed his father, Dmitri Vassilievitch Polenov (1806-1872) was a connoisseur of the artistic world, and his mother, Maria Alexeievna Voeïkova (1816-1895) a gifted portraitist of the Brullov school.

He spent his childhood in Saint-Petersburg, a major cultural center, and Carely, in the Olonentsky countryside.

Like his ancestors, Vasily Dmitrievitch studied law at the University of Saint-Petersburg, yet he dreamt of becoming a painter. He decided to take courses at the Academy of Painting (1863-1871).

While he was studying at the Academy, he was able to travel in Western Europe (Germany, Italy, Greece, France). He had a studio in Montmartre, an important center for Parisian art, and sought inspiration in Normandy.

Ernst Lorenz Murowana | Romantic painter

Ernst Hugo Lorenz-Murowana (1872-1950) was an German painter, active in Berlin.

His paintings show predominantly nocturnes views of Berlin, Potsdam, landscapes of Pomerania and from the Baltic Sea, flowers and interiors.

He worked as a painter as well as restorer, and used to live and work in Berlin until his death in 1950.

As he was born in Wielkopolska it is often mistakenly portrayed as a Polish painter.

George Lundeen, 1948 | Departure / Partenza, 1986

"Departure", installed in the park near the library in Loveland, CO, is a life size bronze sculpture by the American artist, George Lundeen.
According to the artist, "The original piece came from a sketch I did in the Rome train station. There were a couple of kids across from me on the marble floor. It became the first life-size piece I ever did". The work was completed over two years, beginning in 1984.
George Lundeen is a native of Nebraska, and was a Fulbright-Hayes Scholar studying in Florence, Italy. He established his studio in Loveland, Colorado in the mid 1970s where he continues to live and work.