Liudmila Kondakova /Людмила Кондакова, 1956

A classic painter whose artistic vision is expressed through "romantic realism", Liudmila Kondakova is one of Russia's most treasured exports.

Born in Russia, Людмила Кондакова immigrated to the United States in 1991.

A graduate of the Grabar Center in Moscow, she also attended Russia’s School of Sacred Arts, the Moscow Pedagogical Institute and the Moscow Art Institute.

Kondakova connects her highly trained background to her artistic expression this way: "In my art, the essence and beauty has always rested in the details".

Kerry Hallam, 1937 | Abstract Impressionism painter

Kerry Hallam is a British impressionist artist who has produced approximately twelve thousand paintings and whose work is included in collections held by Brigitte Bardot and Björn Borg as well as decorating the permanent residence of Monaco's Ambassador to the United States. Hallam was trained in Chesterfield and London, and has been based in Nantucket since 1981. Hallam has developed a reputation as a wise rogue and enjoyed success with exhibitions worldwide, including one entitled figure Paintings of Other Men's Future Ex-Wives. His work has been shown at art galleries in New York, London, Paris, Tokyo and Beverly Hills.

Gerrit Dou | Baroque painter

Gerrit (Gerard) Dou (1613-1675) was born in Leiden - an cultural, intellectual and commercial crossroads for much of Europe in the seventeenth century.

Situated halfway between The Hague and Amsterdam, it had a prosperous textile industry and the first Protestant university in The Netherlands.

Dou's father, Douwe Jansz, owned a successful glass engraving workshop in Leiden.

Dou himself studied the craft for two and a half years with a leading glassmaker, developing an eye for fine details that became characteristic of his painting style.

Lorenzo Bartolini | Venus (after Titian)

The Venus of Urbino was one of the inspirations for Édouard Manet's 1863 Olympia in which the figure of Venus is replaced with the model Victorine Meurent.

Reclining Venus, after Titian by Lorenzo Bartolini at the Uffizi Museum was perhaps commissioned in 1820 by Lord Robert Castlereagh, Marquis of Londonderry.

For the realization of the sculpture, Bartolini availed himself of the presence in Florence of his friend Ingres, for whom in 1821 he obtained permission of the Uffizi Gallery to realize a copy of Titian's Venus.

Evgeny Kouznetsov, 1960 | Romantic Lovers

Russian painter Евгений Кузнецов was born in Stavropol. In 1979 he graduated from the Stavropol art school. 1988 - art-graphic faculty of the Kuban State University (Krasnodar).

Member of the Union of Artists of Russia since 1991. He is also one of the founders of the International Community of Artists "Solar Square".

He participated in international fairs and exhibitions of contemporary art, which took place in Germany, Spain, Switzerland, France, India and Russia.

Leonardo da Vinci | Differenza dalla Pittura alla Scultura

Trattato della Pittura

Parte prima | Capitolo 39

Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura | Testo Integrale

La prima maraviglia che apparisce nella pittura è il parere spiccata dal muro od altro piano, ed ingannare i sottili giudizi con quella cosa che non è divisa dalla superficie della parete; qui in questo caso lo scultore fa le opere sue che tanto paiono quanto elle sono, e qui è la causa che il pittore bisogna che faccia l'ufficio della notizia nelle ombre, che sieno compagne de' lumi.

Vicki Sullivan, 1961 | Portrait /Figurative /Realist painter

Vicki Sullivan is an Australian Realist painter who focuses on portraiture.

She is a member of Portrait Artists Australia and the Melbourne Society of Women Sculptors and Painters founded in 1902, has participated in National and International exhibitions with her portraits, and has been a finalist in several Art Renewal Center International Salon Competitions.

Johan Zoffany | Neoclassical painter

Known primarily as a painter of portraits, conversation pieces and theatrical subjects, Johan Zoffany (1733-1810) was born Johannes Josephus Zauffaly, in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany.

The son of an architect and court cabinet maker, he was brought up at the court of Alexander Ferdinand, Prince von Thurn und Taxis, and enjoyed court patronage throughout his career.

When the Prince took up residence at Regensburg, Johan was apprenticed to a local painter, Martin Speer (c.1702-65).