5 Important artworks at the Tate Gallery

Tate is a family of art galleries in London, Liverpool and Cornwall, known as Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Tate St Ives and Tate Liverpool + RIBA North.

When Tate first opened its doors to the public in 1897 it had just one site, displaying a small collection of British artworks.

Today we have four major sites and the national collection of British art from 1500 to the present day and international modern and contemporary art, which includes nearly 70,000 artworks.

Henri Matisse | Reading Woman with Parasol, 1921 | Tate

Matisse painted this work while renting a house near Nice in the South of France.

The relaxed, relatively naturalistic style is typical of his work of the early 1920s.

It was bought by the Contemporary Art Society in 1926 with the intention of presenting it to the Tate Gallery.

Matisse wrote that the painting ‘will represent me as well as possible - moreover, I think that it will not frighten the acquisitions committee of the Modern Museum in London'.

In fact, the Tate initially turned it down, but accepted it in 1938.| Source: © Tate

Henri Matisse (French, 1869-1954) | Reading Woman with Parasol, 1921 | Tate Collection

10 masterpieces at the Museo Nacional del Prado

Fernando Yáñez de la Almedina | Santa Caterina, 1510 | Museo Nacional del Prado

This is one of the Spanish Renaissance’s most emblematic depictions of a female figure and the best known of Yáñez de la Almedina’s works.

Both considerations are due to the visibility this work has received at the Museo del Prado, where it has been one of the essential icons in its galleries of 16th-century Spanish painting ever since it arrived in 1946.

According to Jacopo de la Vorágine’s The Golden Legend, Saint Catherine of Alexandria was a young, wise and virtuous princess who loved the Lord.

Fernando Yáñez de la Almedina (1489-1536) | Santa Caterina, 1510 | Museo Nacional del Prado

Federico Garcia Lorca | Desiderio / Wish

Solo il tuo cuore ardente…

niente più.

Il mio paradiso…

un campo senza usignolo né lire,

con un fiume discreto e una fontanella.

Senza lo sprone del vento sopra le fronde

né la stella che vuole essere foglia.

Tranquillo Cremona | The ivy / Edera, 1878

Nydia Lozano, 1947 | Ladies with flowers

Nydia Lozano felt from a very young age, to her town of Alginet, the inclination to capture on paper her impressions of the countryside and the towns of Valencia.

His church towers and family faces interested Jose Espert, the first person to tell him what painting was and probably the only one who could talk to him about painters like Sargent in the early sixties.

He saw that Nydia’s path was already drawn and helped her follow him.

Joaquín Sorolla to Clotilde: “You are my flesh, my life and my brain”..

Clotilde García Castillo (1865-1929) married Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida (Spanish Realist/Impressionist painter, 1863-1923) at the age of 23 and they ended their days together.

The painter died six years before her, in 1923.

Clotilde donated all her assets to the State for the foundation of a museum in honour of her husband's work - the family home where the Sorolla Museum stands today.

Joaquín Sorolla | Clotilde seated on the Sofa (Clotilde sentada en un sofá), 1910 | Museo Sorolla, Madrid

Of all the portraits Sorolla painted of his wife, this is probably the most successful and is a fundamental work within the context of his artistic production.

The viewer is presented here with a refined lady, reflecting her social status and so mirroring her husband’s professional success.

Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida | Clotilde seated on the Sofa, 1910 | Museo Sorolla

Joaquín Sorolla, lo Spagnolo della Bella Époque

Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida (1863-1923) è stato un pittore Spagnolo, un luminare nel regno dell'arte, maestro della luce, del colore e dello spirito vibrante della Spagna.

Annoverato fra i rinnovatori della pittura spagnola in chiave impressionista, è tra i pittori più prolifici, con un catalogo di più di 2.200 opere.

Joaquín Sorolla nacque a Valencia in Spagna il 27 febbraio 1863.

Rimasto orfano di entrambi i genitori a soli due anni d'età fu allevato nella famiglia di una zia materna insieme alla sorella Eugenia.

Manifestò presto la sua attitudine al disegno.

José Mongrell i Torrent | Genre painter

José Mongrell i Torrent (1870-1937) was a Spanish painter, born in Valencia and died in Seville.

He studied at the San Carlos School of Fine Arts with Ignacio Pinazo (1849-1916).

During this formative period, he already showed his skills as a portraitist and entered the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in Madrid for the first time, where he would continue participating throughout his career.

Picasso and the still life

For Picasso, life in all its forms - its tragedies, joys, and banalities; his great loves and his children; the people, places and events that shaped him - fed his insatiable need to create.

Consequently, every one of his works is deeply autobiographical - a reflection of a time, emotion or state of mind.

Just as a portrait by the artist is never just a straightforward depiction of a sitter, so a still life is never solely a meaningless assortment of objects.

Ulpiano Checa y Sanz | Orientalist painter

Ulpiano Checa y Sanz (1860-1916) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, poster designer and illustrator, known in the art world as Ulpiano Fernández-Checa y Saiz.

He used both impressionistic and academic techniques, and painted mainly historical subjects.

Checa participated in numerous Salons of Paris and in many of them was awarded.

He studied at the Academy of fine arts of San Fernando in Madrid, where he was student of Federico de Madrazo, Alejandro Ferrant, Manuel Domínguez and Pablo Gonzalvo.

José Luis Corella, 1959 | Classical realism painter

"A painting should be vivid, and not a mere composition of paint" - José Luis Corella.

Jose Luis Corella is a notable and prominent representative of Contemporary Spanish Realism.

The subtlety of the realism of his portraits encompasses the profound complexity of the human being, with everyday images transformed into wonderful works of art.

José Luis Corella was born in Valencia, Spain.

Romà Ribera | Painter of the Belle Époque

Romà Ribera i Cirera (Barcelona, 1848-1935) was a Catalan genre painter.

He specialized in contemporary scenes from upper-class social events, rendered in meticulous detail, but also did numerous scenes from life in the 17th and 18th centuries.

He studied at the Escola de la Llotja and at the private school operated by Pere Borrell del Caso.

In 1873, he went to Rome to complete his studies.

While there, he met Marià Fortuny, who works would influence his style.

Rosario de Velasco | Magic Realism painter

Rosario de Velasco Belausteguigoitia (Madrid, 1904 - Barcelona, 1991) Spanish painter.

Born in Madrid, in her early years she started an active painting career.

Pupil of Fernando Álvarez de Sotomayor y Zaragoza, developed a neo-traditional style imbued with Magic Realism.

Her favourite subjects were seascapes, portraits and landscapes.

Salvador Dalí | Fleurs, 1948

Salvador Dalí often showcased his sense of humor and imagination by painting flowers.

In 1972, Dalí released 15 color lithographs of “Surrealist Flowers”, featuring many of his most famous symbols.

In one print, the petals of white lilies morph into melting clocks.

In another, a bouquet of tulips sprouts actual lips.

The suite also features roses covered in drawers, anemones growing forks and gladioli wearing hoop earrings.

Dalí returned to florals in 1981, painting a playful mix of butterflies, insects and roses in a series he self-referentially titled “Flordalí”.

While Flordali II (1981) exceeded $320,000 at a Christie’s auction in 2016, editioned prints of the motif remain on the market.

Pablo Picasso | My Love has withered away / Il mio amore è appassito..

I have walked through starless nights not caring what the world cared for

Amidst sighs of desperation and exasperation, i 'ave walked; only for you

you were always like the fresh mist of dawn

Yet, like the honey of the bee.

Pablo Picasso | The Meeting / The-Embrace, -1900 | Pushkin Museum, Moscow, Russia

Joan Llimona | Romantic painter

Joan Llimona i Bruguera (1860-1926) was a Spanish artist who rose to popularity at end of the Romantic movement in Europe.

Llimona was a key contributor to the modernist movement.

Despite his brief life, Llimona made a lasting impact on the modernist movement in European art during the early 20th century.

Jose Antonio Bernad, 1977

Award-winning artist Jose Antonio Bernad was born in Albacete, Spain.

He graduated with a Degree in Fine Arts from UPV (Universidad Politécnica de Valencia).

In 2011 he participated in a workshop by Master Antonio López, and it is after that inspiring experience when he decided to devote his time completely to painting.

Arcadi Mas i Fondevila | Luminist painter

Arcadi Mas i Fondevila, or Fontdevila (1852-1934), was a Catalan painter and graphic artist.

He was the son of a tailor.

His father recognized his artistic talent at an early age and enrolled him at the Escola de la Llotja, where he studied with Claudi Lorenzale and Antoni Caba.

At the age of twenty, he held his first exhibition at the salon of the "Associació Artística de Barcelona".

Tomás Moragas | Orientalist painter

Tomàs Moragas i Torras (1837-1906) was a Spanish painter, known for his Orientalist and genre scenes.

Due to political turmoil, his family moved to Barcelona when he was still a baby.

He showed some talent for art at an early age and was apprenticed to a silversmith.

Later, in 1850, he attended the Escola de la Llotja, where his primary instructors were Claudi Lorenzale and Pau Milà i Fontanals.

Motherhood by Pablo Picasso

The subject of mother and child runs through the various stages of Picasso’s artistic production, although it appears more frequently in his early works.

Picasso's Maternities belong to the artist's neoclassical period, during which he developed a style reminiscent of classicism and used mythological images such as centaurs, minotaurs, nymphs, and fauns.

He created at least a dozen pictures inspired by and dedicated to motherhood and the special relationship between mother and child.

Marcos Rey, 1978 | Realist painter

Marcos Rey is a self-taught Spanish painter born in the Galician city of Vilagarcía de Arousa, Spain.

He has devoted his life to painting professionally for more than ten years.

Drawing was always a very important part of his life since he was a child.

At 26 years old he started making commissions, as he mastered his technique helped by books and his own artistic intuition.