Jaroslav Seifert / John Singer Sargent | Viaggio a Venezia

Si può dire forse cosí:

l’amore va e va e va

e non v’è angolo

dove non sia a casa sua.

E i baci si allungano veloci

come a primavera le giornate.

Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506)

Mantegna, Andrea - Pittore ed incisore padovano, nato nel 1431, probabilmente a Isola di Carturo, allora in territorio di Vicenza, morto a Mantova il 13 settembre 1506. Fu l'iniziatore del Rinascimento nel Veneto e il rinnovatore della pittura nell'Italia settentrionale.

Era figlio di contadini; ne scoprì il genio e lo indirizzò all'arte Francesco Squarcione; strana figura di pittore e più di pedagogo e d'imprenditore, arrivato all'arte a trentadue anni dalla sartoria, a cui la vecchia storiografia, per vanità provinciale, assegnò il compito d'inventore d'un rinascimento particolare, non possibile in una terra ancora sotto il fascino pieno dell'arte bizantina e della gotica, e che il mondo non ebbe se non da Firenze.

Bernard Pras, 1952 | Surrealist sculptor

F rench artist⏭ Bernard Pras combines surrealism⏭ and anamorphosis by assembling commonplace materials that can be seen as recognisable people when photographed from the precise position of alignment.

The assembled objects are not arbitrary but are selected to marry with the theme of the portrayed person.

Djordje Prudnikov (Serbian, 1939-2017)

Đorđe Prudnikov / Djordje Prudnikov /Ђорђе Прудников was an Russo-Serbian painter, graphic artist and designer, championed as one of the greatest and most original contemporary artists to emerge from the former Yugoslavia.

It was the hand of God that joined a serbian woman and a russian man, who had come to Serbia as boy, with his parents, after the October Revolution in Russia.

So, on April 19th 1939 in Uzice, they got their son: Djordje Prudnikov.

In 1946, the family moved to Belgrade. After completing his grammar school, Djordje was admitted to the Academy of Fine Arts.

Few months later he left it to enroll at the Academy of Applied Arts where he graduated in the class of Professor Mihailo Petrov.

Jaume Huguet | Early Renaissance painter

Jaume Huguet (1412–1492) was a Catalan painter.

Originally from Valls, he moved to Tarragona to stay with his uncle Pere Huguet, who was also a painter. When they moved to Barcelona he was exposed to modern trends of the time. Between 1440-1445 he worked in Zaragoza and later in Tarragona, where he was influenced by the Flemish style of Luis Dalmau.

A retablo from Huguet is in the Monastery of Pedralbes, while another, depicting the Adoration of the Magi (or Epiphany) is housed in the Chapel of St. Agatha in Barcelona's Palau Reial Major.

Guido Reni | La Vita

Fonte: La Galleria Borghese, Roma

Guido Reni (1575-1642) nasce a Bologna nel 1575, da Daniele Reni musicista e maestro della Cappella di San Petronio, e Ginevra Pozzi.

Nel 1584 abbandonati gli studi di musica entra come apprendista nella bottega del pittore fiammingo Denijs Calvaert, dove incontra altri artisti destinati a grande successo, i giovani Francesco Albani e Domenichino.

Nel 1594 lascia questa bottega per accedere all’Accademia degli Incamminati, la scuola di pittura fondata dai Carracci nel 1582, dove approfondisce lo studio della pittura ad olio e dell’incisione a bulino.

Guido Reni | Baroque painter

Guido Reni, (born Nov. 4, 1575, Bologna, Papal States [Italy]-died Aug. 18, 1642, Bologna) early Italian Baroque painter noted for the classical idealism of his renderings of mythological and religious subjects.

First apprenticed to the Flemish painter Denis Calvaert at the age of 10, Reni was later influenced by the novel naturalism of the Carracci, a Bolognese family of painters.

Andrea Mantegna | Renaissance painter

Andrea Mantegna, (born 1431, Isola di Cartura [near Vicenza], Republic of Venice [Italy]-died September 13, 1506, Mantua), painter and engraver, the first fully Renaissance artist of northern Italy. His best known surviving work is the Camera degli Sposi ("Room of the Bride and Groom"), or Camera Picta ("Painted Room") (1474), in the Palazzo Ducale of Mantua, for which he developed a self-consistent illusion of a total environment. Mantegna’s other principal works include the Ovetari Chapel frescoes (1448-55) in the Eremitani Church in Padua and the Triumph of Caesar (begun c. 1486), the pinnacle of his late style.

Melozzo da Forlì | Early Renaissance painter

Melozzo da Forlì ⏩, original name Melozzo degli Ambrogi, (born June 8, 1438, Forlì, near Ravenna, Italy - died November 8, 1494, Forlì), early Renaissance painter⏩ whose style was influenced by Andrea Mantegna⏩ and Piero della Francesca ⏩.
Melozzo was one of the great fresco artists of the 15th century, and he is noted for his skilled use of illusionistic perspective and foreshortening.

Onorio Marinari (1627-1715) | Sant’Agnese

Onorio Marinari (1627 - January 5, 1715) was an Italian painter ⏭ and printmaker of the Baroque period ⏭, active mainly in Florence.

His father, Sigismondo di Pietro Marinari, was also a painter, and he trained with his cousin, Carlo Dolci ⏭, later being also influenced by Simone Pignoni and Francesco Furini ⏭.

His fresco in the Palazzo Capponi, Florence, is dated 1707. In 1674 he published his illustrated Fabbrica ed uso dell'Annulo Astronomico. Bartolomeo Bimbi was one of his pupils.

Jaroslav Seifert / Roberto Ferri | Scruto la tua fronte..

Scruto la tua fronte

come un pilota il pannello degli strumenti

quando vola nella tempesta.

Ti ho incontrata così tardi

e così all’improvviso.

Emma Ekwall (1838-1925) | Genre / Portrait painter

Emma Amalia Ekwall was an Swedish painter;

Birthdate: 18 Gennaio 1838;

Birthplace: Säby församling (F-län), Jönköpings län (på Gransbo);

Death: Died 1 Febbraio 1925 in Gustav Vasa församling, Stockholms län;

Parenti stretti: Daughter of Nils Fredrik Ekwall e Emilia Bernardina Carolina Carolina Ekwall;

Sister of painter Knut Alfred Ekwall.

Marcel Duchamp | Dadaist / Surrealist Conceptual painter

Born in Blainville, Normandy, Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) was the son of a notary and the younger brother of the painter Jacques Villon and the Cubist sculptor Raymond Duchamp-Villon.

He studied at the Académie Julian in 1904-5. His early figure paintings were influenced by Matisse and Fauvism, but in 1911 he created a personal brand of Cubism combining earthy colours, mechanical and visceral forms, and a depiction of movement which owes as much to Futurism as to Cubism.

His Nude Descending a Staircase, No.2, 1912 (Philadelphia Museum of Art), created a sensation at the 1913 New York Armory Show.

Duchamp did very little painting after 1912, creating the first of his 'readymades' in 1913. These were ordinary objects of everyday use, sometimes slightly altered, and designated works of art by the artist.

His earliest readymades included Bicycle Wheel (1913), a wheel mounted on a wooden stool, and a snow shovel entitled In Advance of the Broken Arm (1915).

Jaroslav Seifert | Domandate che sanno fare ancora le donne?

Camille Claudel (1864-1943) | La Valse, 1883-1905 ⎆

Domandate che sanno fare ancora le donne?

Ma tutto!

Se qualcuno distende sopra un abisso

tre fili di paglia,

vi passano sopra con piede leggero.

Come, non so spiegare,

ma ricordate

che i loro piedi hanno inventato la danza.

Johann Wolfgang Goethe | Mentre andavo / Im Vorübergehn

Andavo per i campi

così, per conto mio,

e non cercare niente

era quello che volevo.

Lisete Alcalde, 1981 | Visionary painter

Lisete Alcalde, Mexican painter, was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, second child of four children, daughter of Sergio Alcalde Justiniani and Patricia Salas.

Having very unique parenting from her father's profession in iridology and her mother's in emotional therapy, Lisete received both health and spiritual guidance.

At the age of 15 Lisete’s artistic talents started to blossom, once she realized her pastime went beyond painting.

Pieter de Hooch (1629-1684) | Baroque Era painter

Pieter de Hooch ⎆ (20 December 1629 (baptized) - 24 March 1684) was a Dutch ⎆ Golden Age painter famous for his genre works of quiet domestic scenes with an open doorway.

He was a contemporary of Jan Vermeer ⎆ in the Delft Guild of St. Luke, with whom his work shares themes and style.

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

Pieter de Hooch | Baroque Era painter ⏭

Emily Dickinson | Dear March / Caro Marzo

Caro Marzo - Entra

Come sono felice

Ti aspettavo da tanto

Posa il Tuo Cappello

Devi aver camminato

Come sei Affannato

Caro Marzo, come stai tu, e gli Altri

Hai lasciato bene la Natura

Oh Marzo, Vieni di sopra con me

Ho così tanto da raccontare..

Franz von Stuck [1863-1928]

Micko-Vic | Cityscape painter

Maltese painter Micko-Vic is a self taught artist with a flair for creativity running through his genes. He first sketches out the scene with pencil and brush, and then adds a combination of acrylic and impasto gel with a palette knife layer upon layer within each scene to get the final, textured effect.

During the last 12 years living in Malta, he studied the culinary arts.

Whilst working as a chef, painting was a hobby limited to free time but, by studying and delving deeper into artistic methods he gradually created a style of expressive and innovative art.

His main inspiration towards his artistic journey has been lead mainly with time and experimentation of colours. His technique is versatile always being developed to bring his paintings to high quality.

His palette is made up of a rich array of colours, with his preferred medium being acrylic.

Micko blends his colours and builds his paintings layer by layer, keeping in mind detail and equality.

Colour, texture and depth are the main focus in his technique.

This explains how with a successful combination of the 3, any ordinary scene is taken to another level.

The recent years Micko has developed a style in his paintings that is distinct and striking allowing him to dedicate more time as an artist and exploit his talent to colour up people’s lives.