Ladies with flowers

Cogli questo piccolo fiore,

prendilo! Non indugiare!

Temo che appassisca

e cada nella polvere.

Se non può trovare posto

tra i fiori della tua ghirlanda

onoralo almeno

con il tocco della tua mano

anche se doloroso.

Pierre Auguste Cot (1837-1883)

William Harnett | Trompe-l'œil still lifes painter

William Michael Harnett (1848-1892) was an Irish-American painter**, known for his trompe l'oeil still lifes of ordinary objects.

Harnett painted musical instruments, hanging game, and tankards, but also painted the unconventional Golden Horseshoe 1886, a single rusted horseshoe shown nailed to a board.

Jean Béraud | Belle Époque painter

Jean Béraud (January 12, 1848 - October 4, 1935) was a French painter renowned for his numerous paintings depicting the life of Paris, and the nightlife of Paris society.

Pictures of the Champs Elysees, cafés, Montmartre and the banks of the Seine are precisely detailed illustrations of everyday Parisian life during the "Belle Époque". He also painted religious subjects in a contemporary setting.

Beppo Zuccheri, 1973

Beppo Zuccheri, Italian painter, graphic designer and video-manipulator was born from the Tagliamento river in 1973. After his classical studies he pretended to attend the Fine Arts' Academy in Bologna and the Faculty of literary and philosophical studies in Bologna, too. He got his diploma at the International graphic-advertising School in Venice. Since 2006 he has been cooperating with the “ONOFF” group, which was founded by himself.

Harbin Snow Sculpture Festival, 2012

In frigid northeastern China, in the city of Harbin is hosting its 26th annual International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival. Massive buildings built of ice from the frozen surface of the nearby Songhua River, large scale snow sculptures, ice slides, festival food and drinks can be found in several parks in the city. At night, visitors who endure the bitter cold will see the lights switched on, illuminating the sculptures from both inside and outside.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir | Still life

The Impressionism, a movement, first in painting and later in music, that developed chiefly in France during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Impressionist painting comprises the work produced between about 1867-1886 by a group of artists who shared a set of related approaches and techniques.

The most conspicuous characteristic of Impressionism in painting was an attempt to accurately and objectively record visual reality in terms of transient effects of light and colour.

In music, it was to convey an idea or affect through a wash of sound rather than a strict formal structure.

Paris 1925: Art Dèco gazzled the World / L'Art Déco abbagliò il mondo

Art Déco Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes - Esposizione internazionale delle arti decorativi e industriali moderni, tenutasi a Parigi nel 1925 - e per quest'ultimo motivo noto anche come Stile 1925 - viene considerato un fenomeno del gusto che interessò sostanzialmente il secondo ed il terzo decennio del secolo XX: riguardò le arti decorative, le arti visive, l'architettura, la moda.

Kate Lightfoot - Pop Surrealism painter

I'm a self-taught Aussie artist who lives in a quiet Melbourne town-house with my lovely boyfriend, two demanding cats and a bright blue Siamese fighting fish called Jet Li.
During the day, I work in the creative department of an advertising agency. At night, I draw my girls.
I like to work in pencil as I have absolutely no patience and I hate waiting for paint to dry. Watercolour is also great fun (and dries quickly!) - it has a mind of its own and I love the surprise results you can get from it.