La Mano del Desierto / The Hand of the Desert, 1992

The "Mano de Desierto", or "Hand of the Desert", or "Mano del Desierto" is a large-scale sculpture of a hand located in the Atacama Desert in Chile, 75 km to the south of the city of Antofagasta, on the Panamerican Highway. The nearest point of reference is the "Ciudad Empresarial La Negra", La Negra Business City.

The sculpture was constructed by the Chilean sculptor Mario Irarrázabal* at an altitude of 1,100 meters above sea level. Irarrázabal used the human figure to express emotions like injustice loneliness, sorrow and torture.

Its exaggerated size of is said to emphasize human vulnerability and helplessness. The work has a base of iron and cement, and stands 11 metres (36 ft) tall.

Funded by Corporación Pro Antofagasta, a local booster organization, the sculpture was inaugurated on March 28, 1992.

Winslow Homer | The Poet of the Sea

American painter Winslow Homer (1836-1910) is considered one of the foremost painters in 19th century America and a preeminent figure in american art.

Largely self-taught, Homer began his career working as a commercial illustrator.

He subsequently took up oil painting and produced major studio works characterized by the weight and density he exploited from the medium.

He also worked extensively in watercolor, creating a fluid and prolific oeuvre, primarily chronicling his working vacations.

Some major artists create popular stereotypes that last for decades; others never reach into popular culture at all.

Jimmy Law, 1970 | Abstract portrait painter

Jimmy Law is a self-taught artist and painter of expressive portraits and resides in Cape Town, South Africa.

'- I was born in Bloemfontein in the Orange Free State on 26 September 1970. I matriculated in 1989.

In 1990 I enrolled to study a three year Graphic Design Diploma course at the Technicon of the Orange Free State.

After my studies I was conscripted for National Service in the South African National Defence Force for one year'.

George Bodine | Figurative / Cityscape painter

George Bodine paints landscapes, cityscapes and people.

Recently, he has been travelling extensively in Europe, and his paintings reflect his unique vision here and abroad.

He paints almost exclusively in oils, many of which are from small, niche manufacturers.

George often hand stretches Belgian linen sized with rabbit-skin glue and primed with white lead, techniques dating from the 16th. century.

Dmitri Spiros, 1971 | Impressionist painter

Dmitri Spiros is a Russian contemporary Impressionist artist. Dmitri comes from a family with Greek roots.

From ancient times onward there has formed a small Greek population in the Southern part of Russia on the shores of the Black Sea.

Spiros was born in Tashkent, in one of the former USSR republics, and lived there until 1998.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir | Bal du moulin de la Galette, 1876

Author: Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)
Title: Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette
Date: 1876
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: H. 131; W. 175 cm
Current location: © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée d'Orsay) / Jean-Gilles Berizzi

Bal du moulin de la Galette [Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette] is doubtless Renoir's* most important work of the mid 1870's and was shown at the Impressionist* exhibition in 1877.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir | La Balançoire / L'altalena, 1876

Renoir gives us the impression of surprising a conversation - as if in a snapshot, he catches the glances turned towards the man seen from the back. The young woman is looking away as if she were embarrassed. The foursome in the foreground is balanced by the group of five figures sketchily brushed in the background.

The Swing has many points in common with The Ball at the Moulin de la Galette. The two pictures were painted in parallel in the summer of 1876.

The models in The Swing, Edmond, Auguste Renoir's brother, the painter Norbert Goeneutte and Jeanne, a young woman from Montmartre, figure among the dancers in The Ball. The same carefree atmosphere infuses both pictures. As in The Ball, Renoir is particularly trying to catch the effects of sunlight dappled by the foliage.

Author: Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)*
Title: La balançoire [The Swing]
Date: 1876
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: H. 92; W. 73 cm
Current location: © Musée d'Orsay, dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt

A young man seen from the back is talking to a young woman standing on a swing, watched by a little girl and another man, leaning against the trunk of a tree.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir | Luncheon of the Boating Party, 1881

Luncheon of the Boating Party by Pierre-Auguste Renoir remains the best known and most popular work of art at The Phillips Collection, just as Duncan Phillips imagined it would be when he bought it in 1923.

The painting captures an idyllic atmosphere as Renoir's friends share food, wine, and conversation on a balcony overlooking the Seine at the Maison Fournaise restaurant in Chatou. Parisians flocked to the Maison Fournaise to rent rowing skiffs, eat a good meal, or stay the night.

The painting also reflects the changing character of French society in the mid- to late 19th century. The restaurant welcomed customers of many classes, including businessmen, society women, artists, actresses, writers, critics, seamstresses, and shop girls. This diverse group embodied a new, modern Parisian society.