Leonardo da Vinci | Nativity paintings

Giorgio Vasari🎨, in the enlarged edition of Lives of the Artists (1568) introduced his chapter on Leonardo with the following words:

"In the normal course of events many men and women are born with remarkable talents; but occasionally, in a way that transcends nature, a single person is marvellously endowed by Heaven with beauty, grace and talent in such abundance that he leaves other men far behind, all his actio ns seem inspired and indeed everything he does clearly comes from God rather than from human skill".

André Derain | Still life

André Derain (1880-1954), French painter, sculptor, printmaker and designer - was one of the principal Fauvists.

Derain studied painting in Paris at the Académie Carriere from 1898-1899.

He developed his early style in association with Maurice de Vlaminck, whom he met in 1900, and with Henri Matisse, who had been Derain’s fellow student at the Académie Carriere.

Together with these two painters, Derain was one of the major exponents of Fauvism from 1905-1908.

Fra Angelico | Early Renaissance painter

Fra Angelico, (Italian: “Angelic Brother”) original name Guido di Pietro, also called Fra Giovanni da Fiesole and Beato Angelico (born c. 1400, Vicchio, republic of Florence [Italy] - died Feb. 18, 1455, Rome), Italian painter, one of the greatest 15th-century painters, whose works within the framework of the early Renaissance style embody a serene religious attitude and reflect a strong Classical influence.

A great number of works executed during his career are altarpieces and frescoes created for the church and the priory of San Marco in Florence while he was in residence there.

San Domenico Period

Baptized Guido di Pietro, he appeared in a document of 1417 as a lay painter. Later, between the years 1420-1422, he became a Dominican friar and resided in the priory of San Domenico at Fiesole, there taking the name of Fra Giovanni da Fiesole.

At Fiesole he was probably influenced by the teachings of Giovanni Dominici, the militant leader of the reformed Dominicans; the writings of Dominici defended traditional spirituality against the onslaught of humanism.

Il Verismo, la pittura degli umili

Filippo Palizzi (Italian, 1818-1899) | Girl on the rock in Sorrento, 1871

The "Verismo" (meaning "realism", from Italian vero, meaning "true") refers to a 19th-century Italian painting🎨 style. This style was practiced most characteristically by the Macchiaioli group of painters🎨, who were forerunners of the French Impressionists.

The link pin between European verismo in painting and the States could be considered to be the work of John Singer Sargent🎨, in regard to technique, but not in comments on the working classes.

Arnaldo Ferraguti | Genre / Vertist painter

Arnaldo Ferraguti (1862-1925) was an Italian painter and illustrator, often painting genre subjects.

He was born in Ferrara but trained at the Accademia di Belle Arti of Naples, then under the leadership of Domenico Morelli. He befriended the painter Francesco Paolo Michetti and his circle at Francavilla al Mare.

Marc Chagall | Expressionist /Cubist painter

Marc Chagall, (born July 7, 1887, Vitebsk, Belorussia, Russian Empire [now in Belarus]-died March 28, 1985, Saint-Paul, Alpes-Maritimes, France), Belorussian-born French painter, printmaker, and designer.

He composed his images based on emotional and poetic associations, rather than on rules of pictorial logic.

Predating Surrealism, his early works, such as I and the Village (1911), were among the first expressions of psychic reality in modern art. His works in various media include sets for plays and ballets, etchings illustrating the Bible, and stained-glass windows.

Charles Meynier (1768-1832) | History painter

Charles Meynier was a French painter of historical subjects in the late 18th and early 19th century. He was a contemporary of Antoine-Jean Gros und Jacques-Louis David.

Meynier was the son of a tailor.

Already at a young age he was trained by Pierre-Philippe Choffard.

He was a proficient student but nevertheless wished to become a painter, so his elder brother Meynier St-Phal, an actor at the Comédie-Française in Paris, paid for him to train from 1785 with François-André Vincent, who then enjoyed a considerable reputation.

Jean Metzinger | Cubist painter | Page 2

Jean Metzinger was born in Nantes, France, on June 24, 1883. At the age of twenty he moved to Paris to pursue a career as a painter. One of his early friends in Paris was Robert Delaunay.

About 1908 he met the writer Max Jacob, who introduced him to Guillaume Apollinaire and his circle, which included Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso.

Picasso was to have a significant influence on Metzinger from this time to about 1923.

In 1910 and 1911 Metzinger published several articles on contemporary painting and afterward periodically contributed to the literature on Modern art.