José Benlliure y Gil | Genre painter

From: Museo Carmen Thyssen Málaga

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José Benlliure was born in Cañamelar, a seaside village in Valencia, on 30 September 1855.

The son of a modest painter and decorator and brother of the sculptor Mariano Benlliure, he studied from a very early age at the San Carlos School of Fine Arts in Valencia and at the private studio of Francisco Domingo Marqués.

In 1872 he applied to the Diputación (provincial council) of Valencia for a travel grant.

Although his application was unsuccessful, he was awarded a sum of money that enabled him to make a study trip to Paris, where he came into contact with the art dealer Goupil. On returning to Valencia, he devoted himself to painting works for the National Exhibitions.

Lori Putnam, 1962 | Modern Impressionist painter

Modern Impressionism stretches the boundaries with artists painting in styles ranging from near realism to almost abstraction. Putnam’s work is closer to the latter.

Recognized for her expressive brushwork, contemporary compositions, and intelligent use of color, Nashville Tennessee native, Lori Putnam paints small to medium-sized works en plein air and creates large paintings in her studio.

Having painted and taught in more than 20 different countries (including Ukraine, New Zealand, Guatemala, much of Europe and the UK), she believes that works created from life help her maintain freshness in her studio paintings as well.

Victor Hugo | "Guai a chi avrà amato solo corpi.."

From: Victor Hugo, Les Misérables, 1862:

"Guai a chi avrà amato solo corpi,

forme, apparenze. La morte gli

toglierà tutto. Cercate di amare

le anime. Le ritroverete".

Odd Nerdrum | Bright nights

I miserabili (Les Misérables) è un romanzo storico di Victor Hugo, pubblicato nel 1862 e considerato uno dei più eccelsi romanzi del XIX secolo europeo, fra i più popolari e letti dell'epoca.

Paul Merwart | Genre painter

Paul Merwart, or Paweł Merwart (25 March 1855, Marianivka, Kherson Governorate, Ukraine - 8 May 1902, Saint-Pierre, Martinique) was a French-Polish illustrator and painter; mostly of portraits and genre scenes, inspired by literature, the Bible and music.

His mother was Polish and his father was a French soldier who was serving in the Crimean War.

He was raised in Lwów, then Poland, now Ukraine.

Louise Glück | Sunset / Tramonto

La mia grande felicità

è il suono che fa la tua voce

chiamandomi anche nella disperazione; il mio dolore

che non posso risponderti

in parole che accetti come mie.

Hans Herrmann | Genre painter

Johann Emil Rudolf Herrmann, known as Hans (8 March 1858, Berlin - 21 July 1942, Berlin) was a German landscape and genre painter. He specialized in scenes of the Netherlands.

He studied at the Prussian Academy of Arts with Otto Knille, Karl Gussow and Christian Wilberg.

From 1879-1882, he took classes in landscape painting from Eugen Dücker at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf.

Regular study trips took him to France, Italy, and Holland, where he attended the "Art Summer School" of the American-born painter, George Hitchcock.

Claude Monet at the Musée d'Orsay, Paris

The Musée d'Orsay is a museum in Paris, France, on the Left Bank of the Seine.

It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898-1900.

The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848-1914, including paintings, sculptures, furniture and photography.

It houses the largest collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist masterpieces in the world, by painters including Berthe Morisot, Claude Monet - 86 paintings (another main collection of his paintings is in the Musée Marmottan Monet) including The Saint-Lazare Station, The Rue Montorgueil in Paris. Celebration of 30 June 1878, Wind Effect, Series of The Poplars, Rouen Cathedral. Harmony in Blue, Blue Water Lilies, Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe, Haystacks, The Magpie, Women in the Garden - Édouard Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Seurat, Sisley, Gauguin and Van Gogh.

Many of these works were held at the Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume prior to the museum's opening in 1986. It is one of the largest art museums in Europe.

Alice Neel | Abstract Expressionist painter

From: MoMa - The Museum of Modern Art

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Alice Neel's (1900-1984) portraits hinge on trust. A figurative painter throughout the 20th century, she created work known for its deliberate distortion, bold outlines, expressive brushwork, and imaginative use of color.

Neel gained her subjects’ trust by inviting them into her home and telling them stories.

"She lulled you", recounted artist and friend Benny Andrews, whom she painted along with his wife, the photographer Mary Ellen Andrews, in 1972.

Her sitters knew that while her paintings may not always be flattering, she would paint what lay beneath the surface and she would not judge.