William Etty | Victorian era painter

William Etty (10 March 1787 - 13 November 1849) was an British artist. He was the first significant British painter of figures and still lifes. Born in York, he left school at the age of 12 to become an apprentice printer in Hull.

He completed his apprenticeship seven years later and moved to London, where in 1807 he joined the Royal Academy Schools.

There he studied under Thomas Lawrence and trained by copying works by other artists. Etty earned respect at the Royal Academy of Arts for his ability to paint realistic flesh tones, but had little commercial or critical success in his early years in London.

Jacques Volpi, 1948 | Palette Knife painter

Jacques Volpi is a very famous painter from southern France, of the school of painting cévenole and Provençal.

He is born in 1948 in the town of Ales in the Gare.

Winner of numerous awards and medals.

He paints by using the technique of the "knife". The subjects are animated by persons, the colours are lively. It is famous for his persons in the rain of noon of France. He exposes internationally and the works are a part of prestigious collections all over the world.

Liudmila Kondakova /Людмила Кондакова, 1956

A classic painter whose artistic vision is expressed through "romantic realism", Liudmila Kondakova is one of Russia's most treasured exports.

Born in Russia, Людмила Кондакова immigrated to the United States in 1991.

A graduate of the Grabar Center in Moscow, she also attended Russia’s School of Sacred Arts, the Moscow Pedagogical Institute and the Moscow Art Institute.

Kondakova connects her highly trained background to her artistic expression this way: "In my art, the essence and beauty has always rested in the details".

Kerry Hallam, 1937 | Abstract Impressionism painter

Kerry Hallam is a British impressionist artist who has produced approximately twelve thousand paintings and whose work is included in collections held by Brigitte Bardot and Björn Borg as well as decorating the permanent residence of Monaco's Ambassador to the United States. Hallam was trained in Chesterfield and London, and has been based in Nantucket since 1981. Hallam has developed a reputation as a wise rogue and enjoyed success with exhibitions worldwide, including one entitled figure Paintings of Other Men's Future Ex-Wives. His work has been shown at art galleries in New York, London, Paris, Tokyo and Beverly Hills.

Gerrit Dou | Baroque painter

Gerrit (Gerard) Dou (1613-1675) was born in Leiden - an cultural, intellectual and commercial crossroads for much of Europe in the seventeenth century.

Situated halfway between The Hague and Amsterdam, it had a prosperous textile industry and the first Protestant university in The Netherlands.

Dou's father, Douwe Jansz, owned a successful glass engraving workshop in Leiden.

Dou himself studied the craft for two and a half years with a leading glassmaker, developing an eye for fine details that became characteristic of his painting style.