Van Gogh: "Disegnare a parole è anch'essa un'arte"

""Siamo tanto attaccati a questa vecchia vita perché, accanto ai momenti di tristezza, abbiamo anche momenti di gioia in cui anima e cuore esultano - come l'allodola che non può fare a meno di cantare al mattino, anche se l'anima talvolta trema in noi, piena di timori" - Vincent Van Gogh - Lettere a Theo, Amsterdam, 30 maggio 1877

Van Gogh | Figures study

"And my aim in my life is to make picture and drawings, as many and as well as I can, then, at the end of my life, I hope to pass away, looking back with love and tender regret, and thinking: "Oh, pictures I might have made!"

Theo, I declare I prefer to think how arms, legs, head are attached to the trunk, rather than whether I myself am or am not more or less an artist" - Quote in his letter to brother Theo, from Drenthe, The Netherlands, Autumn 1883; as quoted in Vincent van Gogh, edited by Alfred H. Barr; Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1935

Van Gogh: "I call myself a peasant painter"

"When I call myself a peasant painter, that is a real fact, and it will become more and more clear to you in the future, I feel at home there" - Quote of Vincent, Summer 1885

Charmaine Olivia, 1988 | Abstract painter / illustrator

Charmaine Olivia is a self-taught fine artist from southern California. She was raised by spiritual parents who began teaching her in yoga and meditation since she was four. She began painting when she was 7 and started working as a professional artist at the age of 17.

Spirituality, mysticism and mythology are strong influences in her work and in her life.

Charmaine is aware that there is more to this physical world that we can see with our eyes, so she uses painting as a means to explore the other dimensions of mind and thought.

Pieter de Hooch | Baroque Era painter

Pieter de Hooch, Hooch also spelled Hoogh or Hooghe (baptized Dec. 20, 1629, Rotterdam, Neth-buried March 24, 1684, Amsterdam), Dutch genre painter of the Delft school, noted for his interior scenes and masterful use of light.

De Hooch was a pupil of Claes Berchem at Haarlem. From 1653 he was in the service of Justus de Grange and lived in Delft, The Hague, and Leiden. He was a member of the painters’ guild of Delft from 1654-1657, but after that date there are no traces of his career until about 1667, when his presence was recorded in Amsterdam.

Vladimir Mukhin, 1971 | Figurative painter

Vladimir Mukhin🎨 /Владимир Мухин is an Russian Award winning🎨 painter, known for working in the Figurative style.

Mukhin was born in Karaganda a small city in the country of Kazakhstan.

For biographical notes -in english and italian- and other works by Mukhin🎨 see: Vladimir Mukhin /Владимир Мухин, 1971🎨.

Marc Chagall | Four Seasons, Chicago ,1974

Four Seasons is a mosaic by Marc Chagall ⎆ that is located in Chase Tower Plaza in the Loop district of Chicago, Illinois.

The mosaic was a gift to the City of Chicago by Frederick H. Prince (via the Prince Charitable Trusts); it is wrapped around four sides of a 70 feet (21 m) long, 14 feet (4.3 m) high, 10 feet (3.0 m) wide rectangular box, and was dedicated on September 27, 1974.

It was renovated in 1994 and a protective glass canopy was installed.

The mosaic was the subject of a 1974 documentary film, The Gift: Four Seasons Mosaic of Marc Chagall ⎆, directed by Chuck Olin. | © Wikipedia

Marc Chagall | Le Cirque series

Marc Chagall🎨: "For me a circus is a magic show that appears and disappears like a world.

A circus is disturbing. It is profound These clowns, bareback riders and acrobats have themselves at home in my visions.

Why? Why am I so touched by their make-up and their grimaces?

With them I can move toward new horizons. Lured by their colors and make-up, I can dream of painting new psychic distortions. It is a magic word, circus, a timeless dancing game where tears and smiles, the play of arms and legs take the form of a great art"!