Hilma Af Klint | A Pioneer of Abstraction

Hilma af Klint (1862-1944) was a Swedish artist and mystic whose paintings are considered among the first abstract works known in Western art history.

A considerable body of her work predates the first purely abstract compositions by Kandinsky, Malevich and Mondrian.

She belonged to a group called "The Five", comprising a circle of women inspired by Theosophy, who shared a belief in the importance of trying to contact the so-called "High Masters" - often by way of séances.

Her paintings, which sometimes resemble diagrams, were a visual representation of complex spiritual ideas.

Celeste Bergin | Impressionist painter

Celeste Bergin grew up in Elgin, Illinois.

As a young girl she was attracted to the landscape and expressive faces, filling her notebooks with sketches of the gentle rolling plains of the Midwest and with portraits of the people she knew.

After graduating from high school she attended the prestigious Art Institute of Chicago.

Unfortunately, some unexpected events interrupted her art education.

She moved to Florida and worked for 7 years in an un-related field.

María Berrío, 1982 | Magic Realism painter

Born in Bogotá, Colombia, Brooklyn-based Maria Berrio is a contemporary artist primarily known for her prismatic, large-scale paper collages.

The artist completed her BFA at the Parsons School of Design in 2004, after which she received her MFA at the New York School of Visual Arts in 2007.

Berrio’s work sees her filter memories of her childhood spent on a farm in Colombia, and her subsequent experience with migration, through the lens of her studio practice.

Martin Leighton, 1951 | Figurative painter

Born in Montrose Scotland, Martin has lived in Weymouth in the beautiful county of Dorset from the age of 2 years.

Martin is a self-taught artist specialising in oils on canvas and he has been painting professionally since 2003 when he opened his own gallery and working studio close to Weymouth harbour side, situated on the first floor of a beautifully converted Grade II listed building.

However the gallery closed in October 2016 to enable Martin to concentrate on new works for various exhibitions and commissions.

Prafull Sawant, 1979 | Watercolor painter

Prafull Sawant has won 42 international awards from across the world for his watercolor, oil and acrylic paintings.

He was the first and the only artist from India to win the 148th International Exhibition of American Watercolor Society award held in New York (2015).

Prafull B. Sawant was born at Nasik, India.

He has long been considered one of the foremost Realistic artists in the world.

He is best known for his Plain Air atmospheric landscapes that captures the light to create the mood and space of the scene.

Even Ulving | Nordic landscape painter

Even Christophersen Ulving (15 August 1863 - 3 August 1952) was a Norwegian painter.

Personal life

Ulving was born on 15 August 1863 in Vega, to Christopher Evensen and Olava Larsdatter.

He was married to Frederikke Johanne Knoff Quale.

Nikolo Balkanski, 1957 | Impressionist painter

Nikolo Balkanski began painting at very early age and graduated from the Medium Special Arts School in Sofia, Bulgaria, when he was 18.

At just 21, he held his first solo exhibition, “Time and People“, featuring portraits of some of the country's leading actors, poets and politicians, organized by his father, who is attorney, writer and poet.

This unique show garnered a lot of attention for the young artist, and he soon continued his studies at the art academy in Sofia, specializing in paintings.

After moving to Finland with his parents, he studied at the University of Helsinki.

Post-Impressionism | Art History and Sitemap

Breaking free of the naturalism of Impressionism in the late 1880s, a group of young painters sought independent artistic styles for expressing emotions rather than simply optical impressions, concentrating on themes of deeper symbolism.

Through the use of simplified colors and definitive forms, their art was characterized by a renewed aesthetic sense as well as abstract tendencies.

Vincent van Gogh | The Starry Night, 1889 | MoMA, Museum of Modern Art