Love Letter from Auguste Rodin to Camille Claudel, 1886

"My ferocious friend".... "Mia feroce amica"...

Thus begins Rodin’s desperate cry of love to Camille Claudel in the early years of their relationship.

Rodin was soon captivated by this pupil who became his assistant, mistress and muse, while Claudel outwardly remained in complete control of her feelings.

Consumed and tormented by an obsessive love, he implores her - “on his knees” - to ease his suffering from beginning to end of this letter, written in a muddled style, with erroneous syntax and imperfect spelling.

James R. Eads and Chris McDaniel | Illusions in gif

The result of a collaboration of artist James R Eads and animator Chris McDaniel, Illusions, is a rare example of visionary art being translated beautifully between two mediums.

Two artists - one painter and one animator - have collaborated on a series of digital Gif works that seem to suck viewers into their computer screens. colorful and vibrant illustrations by James R. Eads have been brought to life Chris McDaniel, known as "the glitch". These looped sequences see Van Gogh -like strokes swirl and coil into seemingly living, breathing compositions, expressing vivid motifs soured from the sky, stars, universe and beyond.

Orazio Gentileschi | Portrait of a Young Woman as a Sibyl, 1620-1626

The young woman in this painting by Orazio Gentileschi🎨 has been identified by scholars as the artist's daughter, Artemisia Gentileschi🎨. A renowned painter herself, she trained in her father's workshop and established a European reputation that allowed her a life of independence rare for a woman of her day.

One of the most important followers of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571/72-1610)🎨, Orazio Gentileschi combined a refined and elegant personal manner with Caravaggio's powerful sense of realism.

In this painting, the identification of Artemisia as a Sibyl - defined in ancient Greek literature and legend as a woman with the gift of prophecy - may be based on what happened during the trial of Roman artist Agostino Tassi, whom she accused of rape.

Mary Cassatt | Impressionist painter

Mary Cassatt (born May 22, 1844, Allegheny City [now part of Pittsburgh], Pennsylvania, U.S. - died June 14, 1926, Château de Beaufresne, near Paris, France), American painter and printmaker who was part of the group of Impressionists working in and around Paris. She took as her subjects almost exclusively women and children.

Cassatt was the daughter of a banker and lived in Europe for five years as a young girl. She was tutored privately in art in Philadelphia and attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1861-65, but she preferred a less academic approach and in 1866 traveled to Europe to study with such European painters as Jean-Léon Gérôme and Thomas Couture.

Her first major showing was at the Paris Salon of 1872; four more annual Salon exhibitions followed.

Riccardo Benvenuti (1939-2018)

Riccardo Benvenuti è stato uno dei più noti ed apprezzati pittori contemporanei lucchesi.

Si è diplomato all'Istituto Passaglia dove tornerà anni dopo come insegnante di Pittura, Storia dell'Arte e Figurino.

Continuerà ad insegnare in diverse scuole della provincia di Lucca fino al 1985, ed è proprio durante questi anni che la sua attività di artista diventa prolifica e riconosciuta in diverse parti del mondo.

Nel 1958 organizza la sua prima personale mostra d'arte al Circolo Ufficiali di Lucca.

Jusepe de Ribera | Baroque painter

José de Ribera, José also spelled Jusepe, Josef, or Giuseppe, byname Lo Spagnoletto (Italian: “The Little Spaniard”), (baptized February 17, 1591, Játiva, Spain - died September 2, 1652, Naples [Italy]), Spanish painter and printmaker, noted for his Baroque dramatic realism and his depictions of religious and mythological subjects.

He was born in Spain but spent most of his life in Italy. Little is known of his life in Spain, though he is said by the painter and biographer Antonio Palomino de Castro y Velasco to have received his first training there under Francisco Ribalta.

Orazio Gentileschi | Baroque painter

Orazio Gentileschi, original name Orazio Lomi(born 1562, Pisa [Italy] - died February 7, 1639, London, England), Italian painter, one of the more important painters who came under the influence of Caravaggio and who was one of the more successful interpreters of his style.

His daughter, Artemisia Gentileschi, who was trained in his studio, also became a noteworthy Baroque artist.

Charles Lenoir | Pittore accademico

Charles Amable Lenoir (Châtelaillon, 22 ottobre 1860 - Parigi, 1º agosto 1926) è stato un pittore Francese.

Lenoir nacque a Châtellaillon, cittadina nei pressi di La Rochelle, da una famiglia di assai modesta condizione: il padre era doganiere e la madre faceva la sarta. Quando il padre fu trasferito a Fouras tutta la famiglia lo seguì.

Consapevole che non sarebbe mai stato aiutato economicamente dai suoi per diventare un pittore, Lenoir decise di intraprendere, almeno provvisoriamente, la carriera di insegnante.