William Shakespeare | Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Sonnet 18 (also known as "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day") is one of the best-known of the 154 sonnets written by English poet and playwright William Shakespeare.

In the sonnet, the speaker asks whether he should compare the Fair Youth to a summer's day, but notes that he has qualities that surpass a summer's day, which is one of the themes of the poem.

He also notes the qualities of a summer day are subject to change and will eventually diminish.

The speaker then states that the Fair Youth will live forever in the lines of the poem, as long as it can be read.

There is an irony being expressed in this sonnet: it is not the actual young man who will be eternalized, but the description of him contained in the poem, and the poem contains scant or no description of the young man, but instead contains vivid and lasting descriptions of a summer day, which the young man is supposed to outlive.

Nydia Lozano

Antoine Blanchard | Paris painting

Antoine Blanchard is the pseudonym of the French painter, Marcel Masson [1910-1988]. Blanchard was often introduced to collectors as the foremost artist of Parisian street scenes of his day. Like his predecessors, the French masters Galien-Laloue, Cortes, Loir, Utrillo and Francois Gerome, Blanchard has made an impact on contemporary art.Born in 1910 in a small village near Blois in the Loire Valley, Blanchard was encouraged at a young age to enter the arts. His parents first sent him as a young boy to an art school in Blois, and then relocated the entire family to Rennes in Brittany so that young Antoine could study there at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Three years later, in 1932, the young artist moved to Paris in order to Study at its world famous Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Upon completion of his studies, Blanchard was awarded the Prix de Rome, an honor rarely given to an artist of his young age.

Amaldus Nielsen | Naturalist painter

Amaldus Clarin Nielsen (23 May 1838 - 10 December 1932) was a Norwegian painter.

Early life

He was born in Halse as a son of shipmaster and merchant Niels Clemetsen Nielsen (1795-1845) and his wife Andrea Marie Møller (1802-1866). He grew up in Mandal in Vest-Agder county, Norway. He lived most of his childhood and adolescence without a father. He received some tuition from a traveling drawing teacher and traveled to Copenhagen to study in 1854.

Boltraffio | The Virgin and Child / Madonna col Bambino, c. 1493-1499

• Artist: Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio (1467-1516);
• Full title: The Virgin and Child;
• Date made: probably about 1493-1499;
• Medium and support: Oil on walnut;
• Dimensions: 92.7 x 67.3 cm;
• Located: National Gallery London;
• Acquisition credit: Bought, 1863;
• Inventory number: NG728.

Daniel Dell'Orfano | Romantic Realism painter

“I aspire to blend old fashion artistic integrity with modern perception. My paintings depict life, not as it may be, but more as it is remembered- a snapshot, not of a particular moment, but of an overall memory. It is the beauty of the emotion felt at an exacting time that I attempt to portray. Trying to capture the romantic yet realistic view one has of everyday life is at the root of all my work”.

Daniel Del Orfano was born and raised on Long Island, New York, Daniel decided to stay close to his roots and attend Dowling College in Oakdale, NY.

Boltraffio | Narcissus at the Fountain / Narciso alla fonte, c. 1500-1510

Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio | Narcissus at the Fountain,
Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Description: Narcissus at the Fountain;

Painted: shortly after 1500;

At the Uffizi: since 1894;

Author: Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio (1467-1516);

Framework: Tempera on wood, 19x31;

Located in: The Correggio Room, Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

Romee Kanis, 1953 | Figurative bronzes sculptor

Romee Kanis was born in Jutphaas in 1953. Currently she lives in St. Maartensbrug in Zijpe in a farmhouse, where her sculpture garden and her studio are located and she also works in her workshop in Schermerhorn. At age 18, Romee began in Spain and France with drawing portraits. On the Place du Tertre in Paris and by working in the major cities of Europe, she got a good look at the people around her.

Djordje Prudnikoff | Pittore figurativo

Djordje Prudnikoff (1939-2017) è stato un pittore, grafico e designer Russo-Serbo. Prudnikoff è nato a Užice ed è stato affermato come uno degli artisti contemporanei più originali emergenti dall'ex Jugoslavia.

Nel 1946 la famiglia si trasferì a Belgrado.

Dopo aver completato le scuole superiori, Prudnikoff fu ammesso all’Accademia delle Belle Arti. Pochi mesi dopo la abbandonò per iscriversi all’Accademia delle Arti Applicate dove si diplomò nella classe del Professor Mihailo Petrov.

Durante i suoi studi Prudnikoff venne premiato diverse volte per meriti nel campo del “graphic design”.

Platone | The Philosophy of Music / La Filosofia della Musica

Raffaello - Scuola di Atene -Platone / Raphael - The School of Athens (1509-1511)

"Music is a moral law.
It gives soul to the universe,
wings to the mind,
flight to the imagination,
and charm and gaiety to life and to everything".

Ilya Repin | A Parisian Cafe / Un caffè Parigino, 1875

Repin's time as an academic pensioner in Paris 1873-76 was a fruitful as well as confusing time for the rising young star of Russian realist painting and he responded to a bewildering variety of new stimuli with enthusiasm and uncertainty, painting both Russian motifs as well as the sights of contemporary France.

In particular it was a period of burgeoning experimentation as Repin (1844-1930) took cognisance of modern French artistic developments, the major outcome of which was his large canvas "A Parisian Café", which was sold in London in June 2011 for a record price by the artist.

Vasily Polenov | Woman Walking in a Forest Park, 1883

Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov / Васи́лий Дми́триевич Поле́нов (1844-1927)was born in Saint-Petersburg. His family placed great emphasis on the importance of art and culture. Indeed his father, Dmitri Vassilievitch Polenov (1806-1872) was a connoisseur of the artistic world, and his mother, Maria Alexeievna Voeïkova (1816-1895) a gifted portraitist of the Brullov school.

He spent his childhood in Saint-Petersburg, a major cultural center, and Carely, in the Olonentsky countryside.

Like his ancestors, Vasily Dmitrievitch studied law at the University of Saint-Petersburg, yet he dreamt of becoming a painter. He decided to take courses at the Academy of Painting (1863-1871).

While he was studying at the Academy, he was able to travel in Western Europe (Germany, Italy, Greece, France). He had a studio in Montmartre, an important center for Parisian art, and sought inspiration in Normandy.

Ernst Lorenz Murowana | Romantic Seascape painter

Ernst Hugo Lorenz-Murowana (Murowana Goślina (Poznan) 1872 - Berlin 1950) was an German painter, active in Berlin. His paintings show predominantly nocturnes views of Berlin, Potsdam, landscapes of Pomerania and from the Baltic Sea, flowers and interiors.

He worked as a painter as well as restorer, and used to live and work in Berlin until his death in 1950.

As he was born in Wielkopolska it is often mistakenly portrayed as a Polish painter.

Olivia Muus, 1985 | Museum of Selfies

Olivia Muus, a designer and marketer based in Denmark, has found a new fun idea that will make sure you won’t get bored the next time you visit a museum. Olivia, who works as an art director at an advertisement bureau, got the idea with a friend when the two of them were visiting the States Museum of Art (Statens Museum for Kunst).

“I Saw the paintings and thought that there was something selfie’ish in their expressions. I then played around with it a little bit and the result got to look really funny” She says about the images that were made by holding a phone in front of the images, so that it appears that the characters are in the middle of taking a selfie.

George Lundeen, 1948 | Departure / Partenza, 1986

"Departure", installed in the park near the library in Loveland, CO, is a life size bronze sculpture by the American artist, George Lundeen.
According to the artist, "The original piece came from a sketch I did in the Rome train station. There were a couple of kids across from me on the marble floor. It became the first life-size piece I ever did". The work was completed over two years, beginning in 1984.
George Lundeen is a native of Nebraska, and was a Fulbright-Hayes Scholar studying in Florence, Italy. He established his studio in Loveland, Colorado in the mid 1970s where he continues to live and work.

Pasquale Celommi | Four Seasons / Quattro stagioni, 1890-1901

Pasquale Celommi | Autumn - Autunno

In the series of the "Four Seasons", commissioned to Pasquale Celommi by the Commander Pasquale Ventilj, the pastoral world is reproposed through rustic "types” who reveal themselves rather self-conscious if compared to the more dramatic scenes of the same country artist Teofilo Patini.​

Pasquale Celommi (1851-1928) was an Italian painter, known for his outdoor scenes of Italian life. Celommi was born in Montepagano, Italy in 1851.

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

• Pasquale Celommi | Outdoor scenes of Italian life ➦
• Pasquale Celommi | A good catch ➦

Vermeer | Lady with Her Maidservant Holding a Letter, 1667

Lady with Her Maidservant Holding a Letter is a painting produced by Jan Vermeer (Delft, 1632-1675), now in the Frick Collection in New York City.

The work of Johannes Vermeer (also known as Jan), is well known for many characteristics that are present in this painting. The use of yellow and blue, female models, and domestic scenes are all signatures of Vermeer. This oil on canvas portrays two women, a Mistress and her Maid, as they look over the Mistress' love letter.

Mistress and Maid was painted over the years 1666-1670 on a canvas. The painting shows an elegant mistress and her maid as they look over a love letter that the mistress just received.

D. Eleinne Basa, 1967 | Plein Air / Tonalist painter

D. Eleinne Basa is an Award Winning American Landscape painter represented by several Galleries across the United States.

A Classically trained artist, Basa began painting at the young age of 8. Her early training still influences her as it is when she is painting "en plein air" that she is brought back to a time in her childhood when "painting was pure and comes from someplace deep within".

Basa’s landscapes allure the viewer to move into the work with their radiant light and luminescent qualities reminiscent of the early Luminists and Tonalists of the American School. She is inspired by painters like Thomas Moran, George Inness and is continually striving to achieve a certain timelessness to her work.

Matt Abraxas, 1974 | Figurative Impressionist / Realist painter

Matt Abraxas is an internationally recognized fine artist whose work is collected throughout the U.S., Europe and the Middle East.

Studied "Restructured Realism" under Ted Seth Jacobs in France, and the Abstraction Method under Jeffrey Watts in California.

Currently showing at SmithKlein Gallery in Boulder, CO.

Jacques Le Nantec, 1940 | Scultore figurativo

Jacques Le Nantec, vero nome Jacques Métayer - è uno scultore Francese nato a Nantes.

Alla età di tredici anni, ripristinò una statuetta rotta e scoprì la passione per la scultura.

Nell’ottobre del 1957, ad Annecy espose le sue prime quindici opere, tra cui due a grandezza naturale.

Francois Lassere, 1960 | Oppositionist Art Movement

Born in Puy de Dôme, France, in 1960, François Lassere is a self-taught painter who practices several techniques. He was interested in hyperrealism for many years, then moved on to working in raw material, when a painter in Paris suggested to him to expand to new techniques.
Lassere then embarked on a new trend, which he calls “Oppositionism”. From this point on his work will mostly consist of highlighting heterogeneous styles to extract harmony from them. He was awarded a gold medal at the Rome academy in 1998, and has been referenced in the international valuation guides since 2000.

Anne Bachelier, 1949

Anne Bachelier is an French contemporary painter, printmaker, ballet designer and illustrator, known for working in the Surrealist style.

For more than 35 years, Bachelier has captured dreams on canvas.

She has been dubbed ‘art’s enchanting Scheherazade’ (Gallery and Studio), a reputation established through international exhibitions of an ever-growing gallery of sorceresses, chimeras and other mythical creatures.

William Blake | Symbolist painter

Tigre! Tigre! divampante fulgore
Nelle foreste della notte,
Quale fu l'immortale mano o l'occhio
Ch'ebbe la forza di formare

La tua agghiacciante simmetria?
Amor non cerca di compiacer se stesso
Né per se stesso ha cura
Ma per un altro ogni favor rassegna
E il Cielo erige in un oscuro inferno.

Gianni Gueggia, 1956 | Expressionist painter

Italian painter Gianni Gueggia was born in Trenzano, Brescia, Italy in 1956. 

He began exhibiting his works since 1973. He has participated in numerous national and international awards and received many favors from the critics. Numerous solo and group exhibitions in which he exhibited his works, including at the Cultural Club "Don E. Verzeletti". Lives and works in Castrezzato - Brescia, Italy.

Pasquale Celommi | A good catch

Pasquale Celommi (1851-1928) was an Italian painter, known for his outdoor scenes of Italian life. Celommi was born in Montepagano, Abruzzo, Italy in 1851.

For biographical notes -in english and italian- and other works by Celommi see: Pasquale Celommi | Outdoor scenes of Italian life ➦

Pasquale Celommi | Outdoor scenes of Italian life

Pasquale Celommi (1851-1928) was born in Montepagano, Italy in 1851. Celommi showed an early interest in art and often drew in his home as a child. Celommi decided to receive academic training and moved Florence to study under Antonio Ciseri at the Academy of Florence.

Celommi was a strong student and often praised by his teacher Ciseri. Celommi started exhibiting his work in various regions of Italy. Celommi had a large exhibition in Turin and eventually in Rome.

Pasquale Celommi nel suo studio con la moglie, Giuseppina Giusti

Odysseas Oikonomou, 1967 | Children portrait painter

Albanian-born Greek painter Odysseas Oikonomou /Οδυσσέας Οικονόμου was born in Dhuvjan, Albania to Greek parents.

He paints from the age of five years old.

At the age of 14 years old, ending eight-year primary school, and after double competition (in Gjirokaster, Berat,) wins a place in the Artistic Liceu "Ajet Xhindole" in Berat.

After a four-year studying, ending in 1985 with excellent the school.

His first teacher was the eminent painter Sotir Capo «Artist i Merituar».

In 1990 he graduated from the Pedagogical Institute of Gjirokastra «Eqerem Çabej».

Craig Mooney | Abstract Landscape/ Figurative painter

Craig Mooney makes paintings of dramatic moments and heightened emotionality that are known for being expansive and expressive. Though a representational painter, the artist incorporates a myriad of abstract qualities throughout his paintings.
In his figurative work, Mooney romanticizes his subjects and presents them in an atmospheric lens that is best described as dreamlike.
His paintings appear to be capturing a moment suspended in time. While his work feels familiar, it is not specific. Rather it is, on a very basic level, symbolism of what could have been, has been or will be...

Amedeo Modigliani | Quotes / Aforismi

When I know your soul, I will paint your eyes.

Quando conoscerò la tua anima, dipingerò i tuoi occhi.

It is your duty in life to save your dream.

Il tuo unico dovere è salvare i tuoi sogni.

Antonio Canova | Paolina Borghese, 1805-1808

The reclining Paolina Borghese as Venus Victrix in the center of the room holds an apple in her hand, evoking the Venus Victrix in the judgement of Paris, who was chosen to settle a dispute between Juno (power), Minerva (arts and science) and Venus (love).

The same subject was painted on the ceiling by Domenico de Angelis (1779), framed by Giovan Battista Marchetti's tromp d'oeil architecture, and was inspired by a famous relief on the façade of the Villa Medici.

This marble statue of Pauline in a highly refined pose is considered a supreme example of the Neoclassical style.

Mark Ashkenazi | Pop Art /Vintage style painter

'Each piece of artwork showcases my feelings and thoughts in the moment'..

Mark Ashkenazi, an Israeli photo artist, based in New York, focus on eclectic mediums.

Mark's portfolio ranges from eye-catching figure art, pop art, comics and cartoons to portraits and colorful animal art.

Adam Miller, 1979 | Renaissance / Baroque style painter

Adam Miller's paintings explore the intersection between mythology, ecology and humanism.

Visually inspired by baroque and Hellenistic narrative painting they take a polytheistic approach to contemporary folklore, questions of progress and the experience of human narrative in the face of technological change and the struggle to find meaning in a world poised between expansion and decay.

Miller's work is mannerist in it's use of the human form as a vehicle of feeling and thought beyond the literal representation of a particular person.

Nikki Marie Smith | Abstract /Vintage style painter

"I am an artist, a mother, and an entrepreneur. My artwork and tutorials are regularly featured in Cloth Paper Scissors and Cloth Paper Scissors Pages magazines. I am following my passions and creating art that I love for the sheer joy of it! I hope it resonates with you as well.

I believe music and art have the power to move and inspire; to change the way we see the world.

My award winning Music Lovers series combines my passions for music, art and self-expression in a signature style uniquely my own".

Edouard Vuillard | Les Nabis Group

Édouard Vuillard, in full Jean-Édouard Vuillard (born Nov. 11, 1868, Cuiseaux, France-died June 21, 1940, La Baule), French painter, printmaker, and decorator who was a member of the Nabis group of painters in the 1890s.

He is particularly known for his depictions of intimate interior scenes.

Vuillard studied art from 1886-1888 at the Académie Julian and the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.