Jean-François Millet at the National Museum of Wales

The goose girl's wistful gaze contrasts against the lively geese honking behind her and swimming in the water. In the background are the houses of Gruchy, the hamlet in Normandy where Millet was born.

This work was painted after his first visit to the area in nearly ten years.

There is a sense of personal nostlagia, less common to his works from Barbizon.

Jean Francois Millet | The goose girl at Gruchy | National Museum Wales

Emilio Grau Sala (1911-1975) | Colorist painter

Emilio (Emi) Grau Sala was a Catalan painter. He studied at the Escuela de Bellas Artes de Barcelona.

He was a famous colorist (oil painting, watercolor and pastel) and illustrator.

Having made his debut at the Salon des Humoristes in Paris when extremely young, he had his first one-man show in Barcelona at the age of 18, and went on to have shows of his work throughout the world - Paris, Madrid, London, Buenos Aires, New York.

Wassily Kandinsky | I - Dell'Estetica, 1910

Lo spirituale nell'arte, 1910

I. Introduzione

Ogni opera d’arte è figlia del suo tempo, e spesso è madre dei nostri sentimenti.

Analogamente, ogni periodo culturale esprime una sua arte, che non si ripeterà mai più.

Lo sforzo di ridar vita a princìpi estetici del passato può creare al massimo delle opere d'arte che sembrano bambini nati morti. Noi non possiamo, ad esempio, avere la sensibilità e la vita interiore degli antichi Greci.

E se in scultura tentassimo di adottare i loro princìpi non faremmo che produrre forme simili alle loro, ma prive di anima.

Come le imitazioni delle scimmie. Esteriormente i movimenti delle scimmie sono perfettamente uguali a quelli dell'uomo.

Wassily Kandinsky | Oval n°2, 1925

Emily Dickinson | Heart! We will forget him! / Cuore! Lo dimenticheremo!

Heart! We will forget him!

You and I, tonight!

You may forget the warmth he gave,

I will forget the light!

Cuore! Lo dimenticheremo!

Tu ed io, questa notte!

Tu potrai dimenticare il calore che dava -

Io dimenticherò la luce!

Francine Van Hove, 1942

Willem Kalf | Dutch Golden Age painter

Willem Kalf (1619-1693) was a Dutch Golden Age painter who specialized in still lifes. Later in his life, Kalf became an art dealer and appraiser.

Life and work

Willem Kalf was born in Rotterdam, in 1619. He was previously thought to have been born in 1622, but H. E. van Gelder's important archival research has established the painter's correct place and date of birth. Kalf was born into a prosperous patrician family in Rotterdam, where his father, a cloth merchant, held municipal posts as well.

Wassily Kandinsky | The movement of the Triangle

Concerning the Spiritual in Art, 1910

Many grievous obstacles along this road must be conquered, so as to arrive at the first stage; and even then an evil, unseeing hand may toss more obstacles in the way, so that this road sometimes appears to be totally impassable, as all landmarks vanish.

It is then that there unfailingly arises some human being, no different from the rest of humanity but for a secret power of "Vision" within him.

He sees and points the way. Sometimes he would prefer to lay aside his power, as it is a heavy cross to bear; but he cannot do so. Though scorned and hated, he never lets go but drags the cartload of protesting humanity after him, ever forcing it forward and upward, over all obstacles in his way.

Wassily Kandinsky | About General Aesthetic, 1910

Concerning the Spiritual in Art, 1910

Kandinsky's Introduction

Every work of art Is a child of its time, while often it is the parent of our emotions.

Thus, every cultural period creates art of its own, which can never be repeated again. An effort to revive art-principles of the past, at best, can only result in works of art resembling a still-born child. For example, it is impossible for us to relive or feel the inner spirit of the ancient Greeks.

The sculptor's attempts to employ Greek principles can only achieve a similarity in form, while the work itself remains for all time without a soul.

Kandinsky | Lo Spirito dei colori

"Ogni opera d’arte è figlia del suo tempo, e spesso è madre dei nostri sentimenti" - Kandinsky

"Mi sembrava che l'anima viva dei colori emettesse un richiamo musicale, quando l'inflessibile volontà del pennello strappava loro una parte di vita", scriveva Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944), il fondatore dell'Arte Astratta.

Nel sangue russo di Kandinsky si erano confusi quello tedesco della nonna materna e quello orientale della bisnonna paterna, che era una principessa cinese.

La musica diede una particolare impulso alla sua anima, Mussorgskij, Rimskji-Korsakov, Balakirev, Cui e Borodin erano i suoi preferiti.

Mentre, Monet, con i suoi Covoni esposti a Mosca nel 1895, gli diede la certezza della sua vocazione: egli ricorderà sempre quelle tele per l'impressione che ne aveva ricevuta d'esser la pittura in essa indipendente e comunque assai più forte della realtà per suo mezzo raffigurata.