Albrecht Dürer | Hands study

Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) was a painter, printmaker and theorist of the German Renaissance.

Born in Nuremberg, Dürer established his reputation and influence across Europe when he was still in his twenties, due to his high-quality woodcut prints.

He was in communication with the major Italian artists of his time, including Raphael, Giovanni Bellini and Leonardo da Vinci, and from 1512 he was patronized by emperor Maximilian I.

Albert Carrier-Belleuse | La Melodie, 1887

Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (born Albert-Ernest Carrier de Belleuse; 12 June 1824 - 4 June 1887) was a French sculptor. He was one of the founding members of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, and was made an officer of the Legion of Honour.

His work encompassed all manner of sculptural subjects and materials, and his naturalism incorporated a breadth of styles: unembellished Realism, neo-Baroque exuberance, and Rococo elegance.

For biographical notes notes -in english and italian- on Carrier de Belleuse see Albert Carrier-Belleuse ~ Chryselephantine sculpture.

Albert Carrier-Belleuse | Rembrandt sitting with book

Albert Carrier-Belleuse (1824-1887) was instrumental in popularising the fashion for ideal portraits of historical personalities. After his return from England in 1855, he created a lively series of fantasy busts of great artists.

The Rembrandt was one of the first of the sculptor's series of busts and was exhibited at the 1863 Union Centrale in Faience with a bust of Durer. These two were soon followed by portraits of Beethoven, Mozart, Michelangelo and Raphael, and in 1874, Rubens, van Ostade, Velazquez and Murillo were added to the series.

Paul Gagni | Paris painting

Paul Gagni (1893-1962) was a Post-Impressionist Artist. He studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. He exhibited at the Autumn Salon and the Salon of Independent Artists. He is well known for his Paris street scenes.

Arthur Schopenhauer / Antonio Nunziante | Quotes / Aforismi

Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.

• All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.
• Great men are like eagles, and build their nest on some lofty solitude.
• If you want to know your true opinion of someone, watch the effect produced in you by the first sight of a letter from him.
• The discovery of truth is prevented more effectively, not by the false appearance things present and which mislead into error, not directly by weakness of the reasoning powers, but by preconceived opinion, by prejudice.
• To live alone is the fate of all great souls.

Louis Toffoli | Abstract Cubist painter

Louis Toffoli (1907-1999) was a French modernist artist, born in 1907, known for his characteristic post-cubist transparent paintings.

A twentieth century French painter and printmaker, Louis Toffoli studied art at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Trieste in 1924. In 1928 he exhibited his paintings in that city and was promptly condemned by Mussolini's fascist regime.

Two years later Toffoli emigrated to Paris and began regularly exhibiting at the Salon d'Automne, Salon des Independants, Salon des Peintres Temoins de leur Temps and elsewhere.

With the outbreak of the Second World War (1939-1945) Louis Toffoli sought refuge in the countryside of Touraine and worked for the French Resistance. After the war he returned to Paris and received his French citizenship in 1947.

John Haag, 1980 | Realist / Impressionist painter

John Haag is a professional artist whose work has been described as a fusion of impressionism and realism. Specializing in oil and charcoal, Haag began painting at the age of 18 and selling his work at age 21. He had his first solo show at age 24 in Park City, UT. Working primarily as a portrait artist in his early career, Haag’s work can be found in private collections throughout the US and has been commissioned by many prominent Americans, including the late world renowned author/speaker Steven R. Covey.

Rainer Maria Rilke ~ Do not be afraid, it’s me / Non aver paura, sono io..

William Zorach (1887-1968) Spring in Central Park, 1914

Do not be afraid, it’s me.
You do not feel that I infringe on you,
with all your senses?
He put wings, my heart,
and now, white flies around your face.
Do not you see my soul before you,
adorned with silence?
And my prayer of May,
not ripe to your eyes, like a tree?
If you dream, I’m your dream,
but if you’re awake, I am your will;
master of all glory arch my silence starry