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.