Désiré François Laugée | Naturalist / Genre painter

Désiré François Laugée (1823-1896) was a French painter. His work included portraits and classical religious or historical scenes.

His large murals still decorate several churches in Paris. He also made naturalist landscapes and genre paintings of peasants, particularly in his later life.

With this work he may be seen as a precursor of the Barbizon school. He achieved great success during his lifetime, although his work has since been largely ignored.

Nazim Hikmet | Sotto la pioggia camminava la primavera..

Sotto la pioggia camminava la primavera

con i suoi piedi esili e lunghi sull'asfalto di Mosca

chiusa tra gli pneumatici i motori le stoffe le pelli

il mio cardiogramma era pessimo quel giorno

quel che si attende verrà in un'ora inattesa

verrà tutto da solo

senza condurre con sè

coloro che già partirono

suonavano il primo concerto di Čajkovskij sotto la pioggia

Hamish Allan | Surrealist Landscape painter

Hamish Allan is a Christchurch artist working mainly with the New Zealand landscape as subject matter.

Having completed two health-related degrees, Hamish worked as a physiotherapist before embarking on his artistic career in 1999 - initially concentrating on sculpture, then moving his attention to painting.

Hamish’s style is characterized by clean precise imagery, depicting stylised representational New Zealand landscapes and incorporating distinctive architecture.

Jack Vettriano, 1951 | Love Story

Jack Vettriano was born in Fife, Scotland. After leaving school at 15, he followed his father down the mine, working as an apprentice engineer. He later moved on to white-collar jobs in management services.

Vettriano took up painting as a hobby in the 1970s when a girlfriend bought him a set of watercolours for his birthday and from then on, he spent much of his spare time teaching himself to paint.

He learned his craft by copying Old Masters, Impressionists, Surrealists and a plethora of Scottish artists.

Juan Bayón Salado | Paris painter

Spanish artist Juan Bayón Salado (1913-1995), also known as Jean Salabet or Bay Sala, was a School of Paris painter, know for his Parisian cityscapes.

He settled in Paris between 1950-1969 and when using the pseudonym Jean Salabet between 1950-1957 he was mainly selling his works through Mr. Reynald Forgeot's gallery initially, and Mr. André Roussard later.

Faithful to the Post-Impressionism style, he exhibited in Montmartre in the gallery of rue Norvins, which would become that of Claude Bussière, then at André Roussard) during his long stay in Paris.

Chiara Magni, 1988 | Impressionist Finger painter

"Creativity and being able to express one's emotions through a canvas and color is something very similar to magic"!

"Creating an emotion from nothing is truly something unique"!

Chiara Magni is an artist based in Italy, she's a Impressionism Finger-painting. Her paintings have been sold internationally and are shown at solo and group exhibitions worldwide, she's one of fastest growing artist of our times.

Chiara began painting as a young girl learning Oil Painting, acrylics and watercolor. She was so into colours and art from very early age the first word she ever wrote was "blue".

George Shipperley, 1938 | Abstract painter / Teacher

George Shipperley: "I am inspired by the poetry of nature, especially trees and how they relate to one another".

"My strategy is to develop good color harmony with some degree of detail. Giving the whole story is not as interesting as allowing the viewer to use their imagination".

Shipperley graduated from East Aurora High School in 1956.

Anatoly Metlan, 1964 | Flamenco dancers

Anatoly Metlan’s travels serve as inspiration for his paintings, whether it’s the beauty of Mediterranean landscapes or talented flamenco and tango dancers in Spain. From a young age, Metlan was influenced by the Impressionists, often traveling to southern France to draw the same inspiration as these artists.

More recently, Metlan has focused on depicting dancers, musicians, and gypsies.

In his paintings of dancers, Metlan emphasizes sensual tango poses, forever capturing moments of energy, emotion, and drama.

Full of passion, these paintings draw upon Metlan’s memories of attending flamenco concerts in southern Europe.

"I was captivated by the dramatic suspended tension and the emotional expressiveness of dance moves" Metlan says.