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.