Paul Verlaine | The Art of Poetry, 1882

A French poet of the 19th century, Paul Verlaine (1844-1896) is known for his major role in the symbolist movement and for his lyrical and melancholic poetry.

The Art of Poetry / Art poétique, dedicated to Charles Morice and published by the publisher Léon Vanier, in 1882, in the literary and artistic review Paris moderne, then in 1884 in the collection Jadis et Naguère - is one of his most famous works and serves as a true manifesto of his artistic vision.

Jean-Honoré Fragonard | Young Girl Reading, 1776 | National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

Claude Debussy, "Clair de lune" and Paul Verlaine

"Suite bergamasque" is a piano suite by Claude Debussy.

He began composing it around 1890, at the age of 28, but significantly revised it just before its 1905 publication.

The popularity of the third movement, Clair de lune, has made it one of the composer's most famous works for piano, as well as one of the most famous musical pieces of all time.

Moonlight by Harald Slott-Møller (1864-1937)

Richard Strauss and Nietzsche: "Also Sprach Zarathustra"

Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30 is a tone poem by German composer Richard Strauss, composed in 1896 and inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche's 1883-1885 philosophical work of the same name.

Strauss conducted its first performance on 27 November 1896 in Frankfurt.

A typical performance lasts roughly 33 minutes.

The initial fanfare - titled "Sunrise" in the composer's programme notes - became well known after its use in Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Eumir Deodato's jazz-funk hit version won the 1974 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance.

The Strauss monument in Vienna

Johannes Vermeer | View of Delft, 1660-61

"Ever since I saw the View of Delft in the museum in The Hague, I have known that I had seen the most beautiful painting in the world" - Marcel Proust.

View of Delft (Dutch: Zicht op Delft) is an oil painting by Johannes Vermeer (Dutch painter, 1632-1675), painted c. 1659-1661.

The painting of the Dutch artist's hometown is among his best known.

It is one of three known paintings of Delft by Vermeer, along with The Little Street and the lost painting House Standing in Delft, and his only cityscape.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir | Joie de vivre

"To my mind, a picture should be something pleasant, cheerful, and pretty, yes pretty!

There are too many unpleasant things in life as it is without creating still more of them" - Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

Hugo Salmson | Something in the air

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

Salmson was born in Stockholm, Sweden.

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.

William Henry Gore | Pittore romantico

William Henry Gore RI (1857–1942) è stato un pittore ed acquerellista inglese vissuto tra la fine dell'epoca vittoriana e l'inizio del XX secolo.

È noto per i suoi paesaggi rurali del Berkshire, sua terra natale, e per i suoi piccoli dipinti di genere, raffiguranti bambini ed animali.

Gore si collocava nella tradizione del tardo Romanticismo e Naturalismo vittoriano, fioriti nel periodo a cavallo tra l'inizio del XX secolo, ma che rapidamente divennero fuori moda all'indomani della Grande Guerra e dei successivi cambiamenti sociali e politici.