Ben Nicholson (1894-1982)

Ben Nicholson, all'anagrafe Benjamin Lauder Nicholson, è stato un pittore Britannico.

Figlio del pittore William Nicholson, nasce a Denham, nel Buckinghamshire, studia in varie scuole a Londra (contemporaneamente con Paul Nash, Stanley Spencer, Mark Gertler e Edward Wadsworth), a La Tour e a Milano per recarsi infine anche a Pasadena.

Rimase molto legato alle esperienze neoplastiche, imponendosi fra i pittori astratto-geometrici più importanti del suo tempo.

Nicholson si sposa per tre volte dando alla luce sei figli.

Pyotr Konchalovsky | The Jack of Diamonds Art Group

Петр Кончаловский (1876-1956), a Russian painter, was born in the village of Slavyanka not far from Kharkov.

His father was a well-known literary man and publisher and had a great influence on his son.

When Pyotr was seven years old, his father was arrested for revolutionary activities.

The Konchalovskies’ estate was confiscated and the family was forced to move.

Isabelle Sauvineau, 1965

Pittrice professionista con oltre 20 anni di esperienza ed insegnante, Isabelle Sauvineau ha studiato infermieristica durante il periodo trascorso presso Cegep a Granby.

In seguito ha lavorato nel settore della moda dove è rimasta per 5 anni.

Dopo dalla nascita dei suoi due figli emerse la passione di Sauvineau per la pittura.

Con entusiasmo e fiducia che si è lanciata in una nuova carriera, nelle arti visive.

Renoir: "Art is about emotion; if art needs to be explained it is no longer art"

"An artist, under pain of oblivion, must have confidence in himself, and listen only to his real master: Nature".

"Art is about emotion; if art needs to be explained it is no longer art".

"Be a good craftsman; it won't stop you being a genius".

"Go and see what others have produced, but never copy anything except nature. You would be trying to enter into a temperament that is not yours and nothing that you would do would have any character".

René Magritte | Le poison, 1939

From: Museum Boymans-Van Beuningen, Rotterdam

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Le poison was the first in a series of works known as L’empire des lumières (The Empire of Lights).

The gouache shows silhouettes of houses with lighted windows.

The moon shines and the stars twinkle on the walls of the houses, but at the same time the sky is as light as during the day.

The simultaneous rendering of day and night, with a light blue sky and dark façades visible because of artificial light, would inspire the artist for a long time.

René Magritte (1898-1967) made variations on this theme in no fewer than seventeen oil paintings and ten gouaches over a period of more than ten years (from the late 1940s to the early 1960s).

Valentin De Boulogne | Pittore barocco

Nato nell'Ile de France a Coulommiers e proveniente da una famiglia di artisti italiani, dopo l'apprendistato in Francia, Valentin De Boulogne (1591-1632) si trasferisce nel 1613 a Roma dove è attratto dalla pittura di stampo caravaggesco, allora dominante.

Nel suo "Le vite de' pittori, scultori et architetti...", Giovanni Baglione scrive: "Non si deve passar con silenzio la memoria di Valentino Francese, il quale andaua imitando lo stile di Michelagnolo da Caravaggio, dal naturale ritrahendo. Faceua quest'huomo le sue pitture con buona maniera, e ben colorite a olio, e tocche con fierezza: e i colori a oglio ben' impastava".

Jean-Pierre Gibrat, 1954

Nato a Parigi, Jean-Pierre Gibrat è un fumettista e sceneggiatore Francese. I suoi primi racconti completi furono pubblicati sulla rivista francese Pilote.

Con Jackie Berroyer, nel 1978 affronta Le petit Goudard, serie che prosegue lo stesso anno in Charlie Mensuel, poi in Fluide Glacial nel 1980.

Durante questo periodo, alcune delle sue opere vengono pubblicate anche sulla stampa: l' Evénement du jeudi, le Nouvel Obs, Sciences et Avenir e ha anche prodotto lavori per Okapi e Je bouquine.

Alla fine del 1982, ha disegnato La Parisienne in Pilote, sempre su una sceneggiatura di Berroyer.

Georg Pauli | Winter Evening at Söder, Stockholm, 1889

"Winter Evening at Söder, Stockholm" was created in 1889 by Georg Pauli (Swedish, 1855-1935) in Impressionism style.

From: National Museum, Stockholm

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Georg Pauli - Artist and author. During his stays in France and Italy in the 1870s and 1880s, Pauli was impressed by French outdoor painting and the Italian Renaissance.

Early on, however, he approached a symbolic synthesis, e.g. in Legend (1890), which two decades later was replaced by a Cubist decorative style.

Pauli made his greatest contribution as an artist in monumental painting, e.g. the frescoes in the Gothenburg Museum (1895-96) and Jönköping University (1912-13).

Paul Klee | Ad Parnassum, 1932

"Ad Parnassum" è un dipinto a olio su tela di Paul Klee realizzato nel 1932. È attualmente esposto al Kunstmuseum ad Berna.

Nel 1926, sei anni prima della realizzazione di Ad Parnassum, Klee soggiorna in Italia e rimane profondamente colpito dai mosaici delle basiliche paleocristiane di Ravenna, da allora i suoi dipinti assumono una fisionomia nuova caratterizzata da una tecnica "neodivisionista" costituita da pennellate puntiformi poste a formare una fitta e omogenea tessitura cromatica.

Claude Monet | Path through the Forest, Snow Effect, 1870

The preoccupation with snowy landscapes would extend to several of the Impressionist painters, including Alfred Sisley and Camille Pissarro, though Monet's effet de neige paintings are often viewed as the most successful examples of the theme.

Writing about Monet's snow scenes, art historian Eliza E. Rathbone observedd:

'The Impressionists, and above all Monet, determined to record the complete spectrum: deep snow in brilliant sunshine, creating the bluest of blue shadows; snow under a low, grey winter sky that shrouds nature in a single tonality; landscapes so deep in snow that all details are obscured, evoking a silent world; even snow melting along a country road at sunset; or, perhaps most striking, a sky filled with snow falling.

Adrianus Eversen (Dutch painter, 1818-1897)

Il pittore Olandese Adrianus Eversen ha interpretato la tipica atmosfera olandese del XIX secolo nel suo lavoro. Membro di Arti et Amicitiae apparteneva alla società degli artisti d'élite del suo tempo. Eversen era un contemporaneo di Cornelis Springer.

Entrambi i pittori erano studenti di Hendrik Gerrit ten Cate e di solito dipingevano paesaggi urbani regionali contemporanei (Oud-Hollandse).

Nella scelta dei soggetti, Eversen si è concesso più libertà. Dipinse per lo più paesaggi urbani immaginari, costituiti da frammenti esistenti ed inventati, a differenza delle rappresentazioni più fedeli di Springer.

La vita quotidiana delle persone, l'architettura olandese e l'effetto dell'illuminazione della luce solare hanno svolto un ruolo importante nel suo lavoro. Uno dei suoi discendenti era il pittore Johannes Hendrik Eversen.

Vincent van Gogh | The Sower, 1888

Van Gogh’s example for this painting is The sower from 1850 by French painter Jean-François Millet, whom he admires greatly.

He makes dozens of drawings after his great example, but in Arles he wants to paint a new, ‘modern’ version.

Not dark, grey and without much colour, like Millet, but with radiant colours and sharp contrasts.

Pino Daeni (Italian painter, 1939-2010)

Pino was born in Bari where Pino began his studies at the city’s Art Institute. In 1960 entered Milan’s Academy of Brera where Pino perfected his talent and skill for painting figures.

In the two years Pino studied at the Academy, Pino came under the influence of the Pre-Raphaelites and Macchiaioli.Pino also experimented with Expressionism of the late sixties during his stay in Milan.

From 1960-1979 Pino's work appeared in several major exhibitions throughout Italy and Europe.

At the same time, Pino was commissioned by Italy’s two largest publishers. Mondadori and Rizzoli, for book illustrations. However, Pino felt restricted in Milan.

Pino wanted more artistic freedom which he believed existed in the United States.

Carolus-Duran | View of Venice

Carolus-Duran was among the most celebrated portrait painters working in Paris in the 1870s.

With his casual pose and elegant clothing, he is presented as a dandy or fashionable man-about-town.

On his lapel he wears the red pin of the French Legion of Honour, awarded for his contribution to the arts. Sargent studied with Carolus-Duran, launching his own career by exhibiting this portrait to great acclaim.

Along the top, he added an inscription paying homage to his teacher and describing himself as an “affectionate pupil”.

Retro Atelier | Vintage photography

Retro Atelier reconstructs nineteenth-century imaging techniques, as well as elements of the then prevailing trends in dressing, uniforms, and the props used in that era for the purposes of removing images from nature.

He also makes prints from the obtained negatives, including the then fashionable toning, dyeing, overpainting and photo retouching.

Hugh Goldwin Rivière | The garden of Eden, 1901

Hugh Goldwin Rivière (British painter, 1869-1956) first exhibited The Garden of Eden at the Royal Academy in 1901.

Born in Bromley in Kent, Rivière was the son of Royal Academy member, Briton Rivière. H.G. Rivière’s paintings fall into two main subject categories: historical or legendary, and contemporary scenes of everyday life and portraits.

Best known as a portrait artist, the scene of Victorian sentimentality is somewhat unique although a watercolour replica does exist and is held in a private collection.

Jeffrey Batchelor (American painter, 1960)

Jeffrey Batchelor was born in North Carolina and studied at University of North Carolina at Greensboro, deferring in 1987 to pursue a career in theatrical scene painting.

Conceptually, his work ranges from straight realism to surrealism, and from rectangular canvases to shaped canvas panels.

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

Pablo Picasso was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century.

He is widely known for co-founding the Cubist movement, the invention of constructed sculpture, the co-invention of collage, and for the wide variety of styles that he helped develop and explore.

Among his most famous works are the proto-Cubist "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" 1907, and "Guernica" 1937, a portrayal of the german bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.

Ben Goossens | Surrealist photographer, 1945

Goossens worked for 35 years in his native Belgium as an ad agency art director. After retiring, Goossen's turned to creating photo montages with a distinctive Surrealism style reminiscent of his fellow countryman, René Magritte.

Goossens' images have received awards in a number of prestigious international photography competitions including Gold and Silver medals at the Trierenberg Super Circuit, the world's largest annual photography salon.

Goossens has also seen his work widely published, including an in-depth 10 page exposition in the March 2007 edition of Photo Art International. His composite photos are remarkable for their seamless yet painterly renderings of Surrealism dreamscapes.

Michael Bergt (American painter, 1956)

Michael Bergt was born in a small Nebraska farming community. At the age of five, he decided he wanted to be an artist. When he was eight years old, his family moved to Denver.

At nineteen, Michael became friends with a group of artists, Beat poets and late-night coffee drinkers in lower downtown Denver. Dividing his time between college, odd jobs and painting, his fellow artists encouraged him to "just paint".

In 1978, Michael spent time in San Francisco, where he painted and eventually met the art dealer John Pence who gave him his first major one-man show in 1980.

Bergt began a correspondence with Paul Cadmus 1904-1999 in 1988. With the support of his mentor, Bergt exhibited with Cadmus at the Midtown Gallery in New York City.