Rembrandt | The Jewish Bride /La sposa ebrea, 1667

Portrait of a Couple as Isaac and Rebecca, known as "The Jewish Bride", Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn, c.1665-1669.

Two contemporaries had themselves portrayed by Rembrandt in historicizing costumes as characters from the Bible. The couple"s tender embrace is at the centre of this poignant painting: the man"s loving gesture is returned with a gentle caress.

The figures and their poses agree with the study, only the figure of King Abimelech spying on them is missing. We, the viewers, assume his role as witnesses of their clandestine love. | © Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Richard Oversmith, 1971 | Plein Air painter

American painter Richard Oversmith received formal training in Fine Art and Illustration at Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, Michigan. While at Kendall he was invited to study at the Royal College of Art in London, England. There he gained experience in plein air painting and found direction in his work as an oil painter. He graduated from Kendall College with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1995 and moved back to his home state of North Carolina to pursue his dream of becoming a professional artist.

Art of El Greco

El Greco (1541-1614) painted many of his paintings on fine canvas and employed a viscous oil medium.

He painted with the usual pigments of his period such as azurite, lead-tin-yellow, vermilion, madder lake, ochres and red lead, but he seldom used the expensive natural ultramarine.

Scholars' conclusions about El Greco's aesthetics are mainly based on the notes El Greco inscribed in the margins of two books in his library.

El Greco discarded classicist criteria such as measure and proportion.

He believed that grace is the supreme quest of art. But the painter achieves grace only if he manages to solve the most complex problems with obvious ease.

Brent Cotton, 1972 | Tonalist/Luminist painter

Raised on his family's cattle ranch in Idaho, Brent's first lessons in art were taught by his grandmother, a talented watercolorist. He grew up sketching the cowboys and horses he observed every day. His family moved to Lindsborg, Kansas when he was in the 5th grade. In this little town steeped in it's Swedish heritage and love of the arts, Brent's creativity flourished. In high school an influential instructor encouraged him to pursue a career in art. Upon graduation, he spent several seasons as a hunting and fishing guide in the vast wilderness of Idaho and Alaska, experiences that led to many painting ideas. He focused on wildlife art and taught himself woodcarving as a way to express himself. His specialty became gamefish and songbirds.

Botond Kuti, 1984 | Abstract ainter

Botond Kuti is an Hungarian artist from Transylvania.

Botond Kuti was born in Marosvásárhely (Tg. Mures) and growing up in the heart of Transylvania, in a town called Szováta (Sovata), influenced by his father’s paintings, he soon turned to art himself.

Given this artistic and creative background, he was determined to become a painter by the age of 14. From 1999-2003 Botond was a scholarship student in the Department of Painting at Palló Imre High School of Fine Arts in Székelyudvarhely (Odorheiu Secuiesc).

Paulo Coelho /Catrin Welz-Stein ~ Quotes /Aforismi

Catrin Welz-Stein ~ Surrealist Digital painter

Paulo Coelho de Souza, 1947 - Brazilian lyricist and novelist

Culture makes people understand each other better. And if they understand each other better in their soul, it is easier to overcome the economic and political barriers. But first they have to understand that their neighbour is, in the end, just like them, with the same problems, the same questions.
• I can control my destiny, but not my fate. Destiny means there are opportunities to turn right or left, but fate is a one-way street. I believe we all have the choice as to whether we fulfil our destiny, but our fate is sealed.
• Waiting is painful. Forgetting is painful. But not knowing which to do is the worse kind of suffering.

Justyna Kopania | Ballet Dancers

Justyna Kopania* is a Polish painter who creates beautifully textured oil paintings of marine vessels, seascapes, portraits of ships at sea, landscapes and cityscapes.
Kopania’s* work is a bit of a refreshing break to see how she manipulates and uses this traditional medium in a different way.

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

• Justyna Kopania ~ Abstract Palette Knife painter.

Henri Lamy, 1985 | Portrait Palette Knife painter

Henri Lamy is a French figurative painter, born in 1985. Seduced by the immediacy and spontaneity of the acrylic, the quality of his work is enhanced by the lively colors and his expressive compositions, as well as the use of palette knife.

Initiated at a very young age by his father, Henri is an admirer of Pollock and "drip painting". His painting appears to be more abstract at close range but becomes more figurative from a distance.