Mikhail Lermontov | Demon, 1829 | Chapter II

Demon / Демон is a poem by Mikhail Lermontov, written in several versions in the years 1829-1839.

It is considered a masterpiece of European Romantic poetry.

Lermontov began work on the poem when he was just 14 or 15, but completed it only during his Caucasus exile.

Lermontov wrote six major variations of the poem, and the final version was not published until 1842, after his death.

Wilhelm Gause | Genre painter

Wilhelm Gause (March 27, 1853 - June 13, 1916) was a German🎨 - Austrian painter🎨. He studied at the Düsseldorf Academy, and in 1888 exhibited his work in Vienna.

Perhaps Gause’s most famous work is “Court Ball at the Hofburg🎨”.

Created in 1900, it hangs today within the walls of the Wien Museum Karlsplatz, Vienna, Austria.

It depicts aristocrats crowding around Franz Joseph I of Austria at the Hofburg Imperial Palace.

On January 28, 2011, Another painting of his, Party on the Ice🎨, 1909 was sold at Sotheby's in New York for $13,750.

Vincent van Gogh | Wheatfield under Thunderclouds, 1890

Landscapes inspired overwhelming, but also very complex emotions in Vincent van Gogh🎨 (1853-1890).

The paintings of wheatfields are an expression of extreme sadness and loneliness, while they at the same time embody the strength he derived from them.

In 1890, an emotionally unsettled, humorless and argumentative Van Gogh was sent by his brother to the rural French city of Auberge Ravoux where he lived under the care and supervision of Dr. Cachet.

For almost three months until his death on July 29th of that year Van Gogh made about 70 paintings, thirteen of which focused on the wheat harvest from the middle of late July.

Gaetano Chierici | Genre painter

Gaetano Chierici (1838-1920) was an Italian painter🎨, mainly of genre works🎨.

He was born in Reggio Emilia, and attended the Reggio Emilia School of Fine Arts in 1850 and 1851.

Chierici continued his studies at the academies of Modena and Florence before completing his training in Bologna under the guidance of Giulio Cesare Ferrari.

His early work was in Italy influenced by the Neo-classicism of his uncle, the artist Alfonso Chierici and of Adeodato Malatesta, but subsequently by the innovations of the Macchiaioli painters🎨.

Josef Lauer | Still Life painter

Josef Lauer was born 1818 in Vienna. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in the class of Sebastian Wegmayr, Joseph Mössmer, Thomas Ender and Franz Steinfeld.

Lauer focused on painting still lifes with flowers and fruits, where he was the first depicting floral still lifes integrated in landscapes.

His first exhibition was 1840, then he showed his works in different exhibitions also at the Austrian Kunstverein.

Since 1861 he was also a member of the Viennese Künstlerhaus. He lived and worked solely in Vienna.

Josef Lauer died 1881 in Vienna.