Vincent van Gogh | The Wheat Field series / La serie Campi di grano

The Wheat Field is a series of oil paintings executed by Vincent van Gogh in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. All of them depict the view Van Gogh had from the window of his bedroom on the top floor of the asylum: a field enclosed by stone walls just beneath his window and excluded from normal life by the rear wall of the asylum grounds; beyond this enclosure farm land, accompanied by olive groves and vineyards, ran up to the hills at the foot of the mountain range called Les Alpilles.

From May 1889-1890, Van Gogh recorded this view in changing settings: after a storm, with a reaper in the field, with fresh wheat raising in autumn and with flowers in the spring.

Alberto Sughi | Maestro del Realismo Esistenziale

Alberto Sughi (1928-2012) was born in Cesena. A self-taught painter, by the end of his formative years he had become one of the greatest Italian artists of his generation.

He started painting in the early 1950s, choosing realism in the debate between abstract and figurative art in the immediate post-war period. Even from his early works, however, Sughi’s paintings have avoided any attempt at social moralising.

They depict moments from daily life with no heroes, allowing Enrico Crispolti, in 1956, to define his work as "Existential realism".

His artistic expression proceeds, almost always, in thematic cycles, in the manner of film sequences.

Gino Romiti | Post-Macchiaioli painter

Gino Romiti (1881-1967) was born in Livorno, Italy, in a family of modest economic conditions, this does not prevent him from cultivating his passion for art.

Already at a young age he began to attend School Guglielmo Micheli, like many of his contemporaries Tuscan, where he was undoubtedly influenced by the great teacher inspires Giovanni Fattori.

Among his classmates there were some, as Llewelyn Lloyd, who became the leader of the interesting Post-Macchiaioli, consists of those who, although moving in directions autonomous artistic, always maintained a close relationship with the pictorial tradition of Tuscany.

Leonardo da Vinci | Dello Scultore e del Pittore

Trattato della Pittura

Parte prima | Capitolo 35

Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura | Testo Integrale

Lo scultore ha la sua arte di maggior fatica corporale che il pittore, cioè piú meccanica, e di minor fatica mentale, cioè che ha poco discorso rispetto alla pittura, perché esso scultore solo leva, ed il pittore sempre pone; lo scultore sempre leva di una materia medesima, e il pittore sempre pone di varie materie.

Lo scultore solo ricerca i lineamenti che circondano la materia sculta, ed il pittore ricerca i medesimi lineamenti, ed oltre a quelli ricerca ombra e lume, colore e scorto, delle quali cose la natura ne aiuta di continuo lo scultore, cioè con ombra e lume e prospettiva, le quali parti bisogna che il pittore se le acquisti per forza d'ingegno e si converta in essa natura, e lo scultore le trova di continuo fatte.

The Postcard Age | Retrò Pop-art style

Il Retrò (retrospettivo) è uno stile culturale che tende a dar rilievo a ciò che richiama le mode passate ed incentiva all'utilizzo di tutto ciò che attualmente è definito "d'epoca".

Lo stile che ora si chiama "Arte Retrò" è un genere di Pop Art sviluppata fra gli anni quaranta e cinquanta, in risposta al bisogno di una grafica audace ed accattivante, che fosse facile da riprodurre con dei torchi semplici. Ben distinguibile dallo stile moderno computerizzato, l'arte Retrò ha avuto un ritorno di popolarità grazie alle citazioni e parodie delle vecchie opere Pop Art.

Amit Bhar, 1973 | Abstract Watercolor painter

Amit Bhar is a famous Indian watercolor painting artist.

Amit Bhar was born in Hooghly chinsurah (west Bengal). Even as a child his first love was art. At the age of sixteen while at the Calcutta Govt. Art College, Amit was blessed with the guidance of Shri Paresh Das, a noted artist and gold medallist. Subsequently he gained further insights into art under the famous Subal Jana and Niloy Ghosh, who together enriched his style. He was also inspired by Bikash Bhattacharya and Suhas Roy during his initial period.

Alexei Antonov, 1957 | Still life painter

Aлексей Антонов: "I was born in Russia in 1957, and I've been trying both hands (I'm ambidextrous) at art ever since. I can remember my self from the age of two, and when I was three, I was the terror of my mother's make-up kit, as I loved to draw murals on the wallpaper with her lipstick.

All through my childhood I continued drawing, and in high school, though I left much to be desired in my other classes, I excelled in art and singing.

I think that I was not a good student in other areas, because I prefer to teach than to be taught. Eventually though, I learned to learn.

In 1972 I entered the State Art College in Baku, where impressionistic, realistic and abstract painting were taught...but no classical.

Andre Kosslick | Romantic Digital painter

German artist Andre Kosslick belongs to the galaxy of contemporary masters of painting. He lives in the city of Schwedt, which is located in Brandenburg, Germany.

Painting is his hobby. On his canvases, mountain peaks pile up, rivers flow rapidly, the sea rages, the wind rustles in the branches of mighty trees. Occasionally, a sad or pensive female silhouette flashes against the background of magnificent nature.

Lyrics and romanticism are inherent in all the paintings of the modern master of landscape painting.

Christian Fagerlund, 1973 | Realist Figurative painter

Christian Fagerlund was born in Ann Arbor, MI. He received his BA from the University of California - Santa Barbara in 1994 and his MFA from the New York Academy of Art in 2004, where he received the NYAA Postgraduate Fellowship.

In 2009, 2010, and 2011 he was artist-in-residence at Eden Rock Gallery on the island of St. Barths, French West Indies. Since 2004 his work has been shown both nationally and internationally in several solo and group exhibitions. He currently shows work with Arcadia Contemporary in Los Angeles and Winfield Gallery in Carmel, California.

Prior to his appointment at UNT, he served as adjunct instructor of Drawing and Painting at University of California - Berkeley Extension, Ohlone College in Fremont, CA, and The School of Classical Realism in Oakland, CA from 2007-2014. During this period he taught courses in: figure drawing/painting, anatomy for artists, still life, perspective, plein air landscape painting, and digital painting.

Serge Marshennikov, 1971 | Realist / Figurative painter

Serge Marshennikov🎨 /Сергей Маршенников is an Russian painter🎨, known for working in the Realist style.

He was awarded🎨 “Chairman’s Choice Award” at the 2008/2009 International Art Renewal Center’s salon, and received Certificate of Excellence for his outstanding achievement in art.

He was chosen as “Top 30” in 2008 by the Portrait Society of America.

Born on May 30, 1971 in Ufa (Bashkiria, USSR), Serge Marshennikov was raised and educated in the USSR.

For biographical notes -in english and italian- and other works by Marshennikov🎨 see:

• Serge Marshennikov, 1971 | Figurative painter🎨.
• Serge Marshennikov, 1971 | Figurative painter | VideoArt🎨.

Christine Ellger, 1948 | Surrealist Fine Art Photographer

German fine art photographer Christine Ellger was born in Dresden and took up photography as a hobby 11 years ago.

At first she was just capturing the scenes and objects around her but then she focused on digital editing and photo manipulation.

She says "My life has become interesting and exciting through this hobby.

It makes me perceive the Beauty.

All the time, often unconsciously, I am on the search for motifs".

Barbara J. Wachter | Abstract Figurative painter

Statement

Barbara J. Wachter expresses not only what she sees, but what she senses. That invisible quality takes her art to a level that really connects to the viewer. You can sense the emotion, beauty, even the weather in her paintings. An exciting new addition to her talents, encaustic painting, will also be on exhibit.

Art as defined by Webster is the human ability to make things: Creativity of man as distinguished from the world of nature.

Therefore, artwork being the personal work of the artist is as much invisible as it is apparent to the viewer’s eye, e.g. figurative works show the figure looking somewhere in the distance to those sights unseen.

Leonardo da Vinci | Come la Scultura è di minore ingegno che la Pittura..

Trattato della Pittura

Parte prima | Capitolo 34

Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura | Testo Integrale

Adoperandomi io non meno in scultura che in pittura, ed esercitando l'una e l'altra in un medesimo grado, mi pare con picciola imputazione poterne dare sentenza, quale sia di maggiore ingegno, difficoltà e perfezione l'una che l'altra.

Prima la scultura è sottoposta a certi lumi, cioè di sopra, e la pittura porta per tutto seco e lume e ombra.

E lume e ombra è la importanza adunque della scultura; lo scultore in questo caso è aiutato dalla natura del rilievo, ch'ella genera per sé; e il pittore per accidentale arte lo fa ne' luoghi dove ragionevolmente lo farebbe la natura; lo scultore non si può diversificare nelle varie nature de' colori delle cose; la pittura non manca in parte alcuna.

Ming Feng, 1957 | Impressionist painter

Award winning Artist Ming Feng was born in Guangzhou, China. He was admitted to the Guangzhou municipal Teenage Art School and graduated from the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts in 1986.

There, he studied artistic theories and Chinese and Western art philosophy. Before arriving in the United States, Ming achieved prominence as an acclaimed artist in his native China. First, he worked as a stage designer with the Modern Drama Troupe of Guangzhou.

Later, he worked for the Guangzhou Art Design company where he created layouts, advertisement designs, product placards, and book illustrations.

In 1984 he became a member of the prestigious Chinese Artist Association, the nation’s top professional artist organization. His paintings are kept in a permanent collection in the Guangzhou Fine Art Museum.

Barbara Flowers | En plein air /Figurative painter

Barbara Flowers is an international artist who lived most of her life in a small village near the Rhine Valley in Germany. A deep desire to create art began at a young age. Barbara’s parents encouraged her artistic growth with private art lessons and visits to Europe’s museums to see the collections of masterpieces.

She was educated in foreign languages and had a successful career as a foreign language correspondent.

Ultimately, Barbara’s passion to create art became so strong that she closed the door on her career and opened a new door to the world of art. She has never regretted making that decision. Every day Barbara looks forward to creating art that will convey the same sense of beauty to the viewer that inspired the artist.

Eyvind Earle | Conceptual Illustrator

Born in New York in 1916, Eyvind Earle began his prolific career at the age of ten when his father, Ferdinand Earle, gave him a challenging choice: read 50 pages of a book or paint a picture every day. Earle choose both.

From the time of his first one-man showing in France when he was 14, Earle’s fame had grown steadily.

At the age of 21, Earle bicycled across country from Hollywood to New York, paying his way by painting 42 watercolors. In 1937, he opened at the Charles Morgan Galleries, his first of many one-man shows in New York.

Nishant Dange, 1982 | Abstract painter

Born in Nagpur, Maharashtra-India, Nishant Dange earned a BFA at Government Chitrakala Mahavidyalaya, Nagpur, in 2004.

Group Shows - Numerous group shows in India at, among others, the Nehru Centre, Mumbai, and Shridharani Art Gallery, New Delhi, and abroad including Singapore (2012), and Dubai, United Arab Emirates (2011).

Solo Shows - 2005/2010: Four solo shows in Mumbai and Bangalore.

Zdzisław Beksiński | Surreal architecture painter

Zdzisław Beksiński (24 February 1929 - 21 February 2005) was a Polish painter, photographer and sculptor, specializing in the field of dystopian surrealism.

Beksiński did his paintings and drawings in what he called either a 'Baroque' or a 'Gothic' manner. His creations were made mainly in two periods. The first period of work is generally considered to contain expressionistic color, with a strong style of "utopian realism" and surreal architecture, like a doomsday scenario. The second period contained more abstract style, with the main features of formalism.

Bernie Fuchs | Abstract Figurative painter and illustrator

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Bernie Fuchs, 76, Dies; Illustrator Defined Mid-Century Era

By Adam Bernstein © The Washington Post

Bernie Fuchs, 76, an illustrator whose influential work for magazines ranging from Cosmopolitan to Sports Illustrated seamlessly blended qualities of traditional narrative with hints of abstract composition, died of esophageal cancer Sept. 17 at a care facility in Fairfield, Conn. He lived in nearby Westport.

Mr. Fuchs was adept at balancing art and commerce. He met the needs of mass-circulation magazines accustomed to Norman Rockwell-style realism, but he injected a fresh vitality and impressionism that became hugely popular and transformed the illustration field. He even experimented with bold designs based on the abstract expressionism movement popularized by painters Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning.

Markey Robinson | Expressionist /Primitive Naif painter

David Marcus Robinson, known as Markey Robinson (February 7, 1918 - January 28, 1999 (aged 80)), was an Irish painter and sculptor with a primitive representational style. His main passion was painting, but he also produced sculptures and designed some stained glass panels.

Robinson was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the son of a house painter. He trained at the Belfast College of Art. He took part in boxing matches, under the name "Boyo Marko", and later worked as a merchant seaman. Robinson's first exhibitions were in Belfast during World War II. He became better known through over 20 exhibitions of his work at the Oriel Gallery in Dublin, where he used the upstairs framing room as his studio.

Eugene J. Paprocki, 1971 | Plein Air /Impressionist /Cityscape painter

Eugene J. Paprocki, is an American painter, known for working in the Impressionist / En plein air style. Eugene J. Paprocki was born in Chicago, IL in 1971.
For biographical notes -in english and italian- and other works by Paprocki, see:

• Eugene J. Paprocki, 1971 | Plein Air Impressionist painter ➦;
• Eugene Paprocki, 1971 | The impressionist city ➦;
• Eugene J. Paprocki, 1971 | Chicago painting ➦.

Francisco Goya | The Marquise of Santa Cruz / La marchesa di Santa Cruz, 1805

Joaquina Téllez-Girón y Pimentel (1784-1851) was the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Osuna and Marchioness of Santa Cruz by her marriage to José Gabriel de Silva y Walstein in 1801. A friend of poets and literati, she was one of the most admired women of her time.

Goya presents her wearing white crêpe and reposing on a canapé upholstered in red velvet. She is crowned with grape leaves and clusters. This headdress and the lire -shaped guitar identify her as Erato, the muse of Love Poetry- a clear reference to her love of poetry and music.

Francisco Goya | The Disasters of War / I disastri della guerra, 1810-1820

The Disasters of War /Los desastres de la guerra / I disastri della guerra are a series of 82 prints created between 1810 and 1820 by the Spanish painter and printmaker Francisco Goya (1746-1828). Although Goya did not make known his intention when creating the plates, art historians view them as a visual protest against the violence of the 1808 Dos de Mayo Uprising, the subsequent Peninsular War of 1808-14 and the setbacks to the liberal cause following the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in 1814. During the conflicts between Napoleon's French Empire and Spain, Goya retained his position as first court painter to the Spanish crown and continued to produce portraits of the Spanish and French rulers.

Benvenuto Cellini ~ Perseus with the Head of Medusa, 1554

Perseus with the Head of Medusa is a bronze sculpture made by Benvenuto Cellini in 1545. The sculpture stands upon on a square base with bronze relief panels depicting the story of Perseus and Andromeda, similar to a predella on an altarpiece. It is located in the Loggia dei Lanzi of the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy. The second Florentine duke, Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici, commissioned the work with specific political connections to the other sculptural works in the piazza. When the piece was revealed to the public on 27 April 1554, Michelangelo’s David, Bandinelli’s Hercules and Cacus, and Donatello’s Judith and Holofernes were already erected in the piazza.

Leonardo da Vinci | Comparazione della Pittura alla Scultura

Trattato della Pittura

Parte prima | Capitolo 36

Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura | Testo Integrale

La pittura è di maggior discorso mentale e di maggiore artificio e maraviglia che la scultura, conciossiaché necessità costringe la mente del pittore a trasmutarsi nella propria mente di natura, e a farsi interprete infra essa natura e l'arte, comentando con quella le cause delle sue dimostrazioni costrette dalla sua legge, ed in che modo le similitudini degli obietti circostanti all'occhio concorrano co' veri simulacri alla pupilla dell'occhio, e infra gli obietti eguali in grandezza quale si dimostrerà maggiore ad esso occhio, e infra i colori eguali qual si dimostrerà piú o meno oscuro, o piú o men chiaro; e infra le cose di eguale bassezza, quale si dimostrerà piú o men bassa; e di quelle che sono poste in altezza eguale, quale si dimostrerà piú o meno alta; e degli obietti eguali posti in varie distanze, perché si dimostreranno men noti l'un che l'altro.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, uomo ed artista universale

Oltre ai suoi autoritratti e ad un ritratto fattogli dal Gaulli (Roma, Gall. Corsini), il Bernini è stato descritto fisicamente e moralmente da numerosi autori: basti ricordare lo Chantelou, ed il figlio Domenico, che lo disse "aspro di natura, fisso nelle operazioni, ardente nell'ira".

Egli fu l'artista più intimamente legato al cattolicesimo risorgente nella temperie postridentina, e non può esserci dubbio sulla sua convinzione religiosa; pare che negli anni successivi al 1630 la sua fede si fosse approfondita e che nell'ultimo periodo della sua vita frequentasse assiduamente gesuiti e oratoriani: era amico intimo dei padre G. P. Oliva, gesuita, per il quale disegnò il frontespizio al secondo volume delle Prediche (1664) e ebbe come consigliere spirituale anche un suo nipote, padre Marchesi, oratoriano.

Diego Velázquez | Baroque Era painter

Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez[a] (baptized June 6, 1599 - August 6, 1660) was a Spanish painter, the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV, and one of the most important painters of the Spanish Golden Age.

He was an individualistic artist of the contemporary Baroque period.

He painted initially in a precise tenebrist style, but later developed a free manner characterized by bold brushwork that produced an illusion of form only when viewed at a suitable distance.

Vincent van Gogh | Study of hands

• Cos'è disegnare? Come ci si arriva? È l'atto di aprirsi un passaggio attraverso un muro di ferro invisibile che sembra trovarsi tra ciò che si sente e che si può.
• Faccio sempre ciò che non so fare per imparare come va fatto.
• L'arte è gelosa... bisogna lavorare a lungo e duramente per afferrarne l'essenza. Quello a cui miro è maledettamente difficile, eppure non penso di mirare troppo in alto.
• Soffrire senza lamentarsi è l'unica lezione da imparare in questa vita.

Andrew Kish, 1980 | Conceptual painter

Andrew Kish III is an award winning🎨 master Watercolor painter who is constantly pushing the boundries of contemporary watercolor. Andrew holds a BFA from Kutztown University and resides in eastern Pennsylvania.

Born in 1980 in Bethlehem Pennsylvania, Andrew M. Kish III has emerged as one of the premier watercolor painters of his generation. Kish received his B.F.A. in painting from Kutztown University. His paintings explore social subjects ranging from politics to spirituality and dive deeply into the contemporary human experience.

His unique ability to blend thought provoking concepts with powerful compositions is evolving the landscape of contemporary watercolor. Kish’s current work deals with the morality of social paradigms and challenges the viewer with rich provocative and metaphoric imagery.

Karen Hollingsworth, 1955 | WindowScape painter

Early in her career as an artist, Karen Hollingsworth painted mostly portraits and still life arrangements.

Then, around 2002, while Karen was moving furniture around her studio to set up the scene for a new still life, she placed a chair in front of a window and thought, "Now that’s a painting!"

That’s when Karen switched her focus and began mainly painting compositions of chairs and windows. From there she evolved into painting open windows with a variety of scenes beyond them.

Barbara Jaenicke, 1964 | Plein Air /Still life /Pastel painter

Barbara Courtney Jaenicke (pronounced JAN-i-kee) loved to draw and paint as a teenager and decided at an early age to pursue an art career in one form or another. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1986 from The College of New Jersey, taking as many fine art courses as she could, while also taking painting classes outside of her college studies. But with the desire to have a steady income right after college, she geared her education toward the commercial side and spent a little over a decade of her early career in advertising as an art director, then later shifted gears to a corporate role in marketing communications.

Hughie O'Donoghue RA, 1953 | Abstract Expressionism painter

© The Royal Academy of Arts /Hughie O’Donoghue RA was born in England but lived and worked for many years in County Kerry, Ireland. He graduated from Goldsmiths in 1982 and was Artist in Residence at the National Gallery, London from 1984-85.

His work is characterised by an engagement with the past. He uses figuration and abstraction to explore themes of human identity, memory and experience; and draws on history, mythology and personal records to create works which resonate with emotional intensity.

Camille Monet, Monet's Muse

Camille Doncieux (15 January 1847 - 5 September 1879) was the first wife of French painter Claude Monet. She was the subject of a number of paintings by Monet, as well as Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Édouard Manet. She was mother to two sons with Monet.

She modeled for her husband on several occasions, including for the painting Camille (The Woman in the Green Dress), which received critical acclaim at the Paris salon and earned him 800 francs when sold to Arsène Houssaye.

In addition to being Monet's favoured model, she also modelled for Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Édouard Manet.

Camille Doncieux (15 gennaio 1847 - 5 settembre 1879) fu la prima moglie del pittore francese Claude Monet. È stata oggetto di numerosi dipinti di Monet, oltre a Pierre-Auguste Renoir e Édouard Manet. Era madre di due figli con Monet.
Ha modellato per il marito in diverse occasioni, anche per la pittura Camille (La donna nel vestito verde), che ha ricevuto il plauso della critica al salone di Parigi e gli è valsa 800 franchi quando è stata venduta ad Arsène Houssaye.

Oltre ad essere la modella favorita di Monet, ha anche modellato per Pierre-Auguste Renoir ed Édouard Manet.