Adolph von Menzel | Realist painter

Adolf von Menzel, in full Adolf Friedrich Erdmann von Menzel (1815-1905), German painter and printmaker, best known in his own day as a brilliant historical painter, whose patriotic works satisfied the public’s taste, engendered by Prussia’s continual expansion throughout the 19th century, for propagandistic art.

In the 20th century he was chiefly esteemed for his sensitive treatment of light and the original compositions of his small genre pictures.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir: "La mia Italia" | Le lettere..

Italia, autunno 1881.

Alla signora Charpentier,

Dovevo pranzare un mattino con voi, e mi avrebbe fatto infinitamente piacere, perché è già passato tanto tempo.

Ma sono diventato improvvisamente viaggiatore e mi ha preso la febbre di vedere Raffaello .

Pierre-Auguste Renoir | Un jardin à Sorrente, 1881 | Sotheby's

Hugo Salmson | Genre painter

Born in Stockholm, Hugo Fredrik Salmson (1843-1894) was a Swedish painter, known for figures and genre scenes.

He was the son of Fredrik Ludvig Salmson, a wholesaler, and his wife Maria Perlberg.

He initially studied business, but soon decided on an artistic career.

In 1862, he began his studies at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts where he was trained by Johan Christoffer Boklund.

Jean-Honoré Fragonard | Rococo painter

Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806), French Rococo painter whose most familiar works, such as The Swing (1767), are characterized by delicate hedonism.

Fragonard was the son of a haberdasher’s assistant. The family moved to Paris about 1738, and in 1747 the boy was apprenticed to a lawyer, who, noticing his appetite for drawing, suggested that he be taught painting.

François Boucher | Rococo painter

François Boucher (1703-1770) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher, who worked in the Rococo style.

Boucher is known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories, and pastoral scenes.

He was perhaps the most celebrated painter and decorative artist of the 18th century.

Alfred Boucher | The Mentor to Camille Claudel

A French sculptor and painter, Alfred Boucher (1850-1934), was Camille Claudel's teacher and the founder of the artists' city La Ruche in Paris.

Born in Bouy-sur-Ovin (Nogent-sur-Seine), he was the son of a farmhand who became the gardener of the sculptor Joseph-Marius Ramus, who, after recognizing Boucher's talent, opened his studio to him.

He won the Grand Prix du Salon in 1881 with La Piété Filiale.

Jean-François Millet: "To tell the truth, peasant subjects suit my nature best.."

• "Art will never come except from some small disregarded corner where an isolated and inspired man is studying the mysteries of nature".

• "L'arte non verrà mai se non da qualche piccolo angolo trascurato dove un uomo isolato e ispirato sta studiando i misteri della natura".

Sidney Meteyard | Pre-Raphaelite painter

Sidney Harold Meteyard RBSA (1868-1947) was an English art teacher, painter and stained-glass designer.

A member of the Birmingham Group, he worked in a late Pre-Raphaelite style heavily influenced by Edward Burne-Jones and the Arts and Crafts Movement.

Meteyard was born in Stourbridge, his father was Oswald George Meatyard (d. 4 May 1906) and mother Emma Maria Meatyard, née Rutland (1838-1925).

He studied under Edward R. Taylor at the Birmingham School of Art, where he was to later teach for 45 years himself from 1886.