Max Agostini | Impressionist painter

Max Michel Agostini (1914-1997), of Corsican origin from his grandparents, was born in 1914.

He discovered his talent for Impressionistic painting while studying at the Paris Beaux-Arts School.

Drafted into the French army for five years during the Second World War, Max-Agostini was a prisoner of war for three years.

During the postwar years, he was already recognized as an excellent portrait and landscape artist in Châteauroux, where he lived for several years.

Co Breman | Dutch Palmzondag, Laren, 1914

Ahazueros Jacobus Breman, known as Co (1865-1938) was a Dutch painter.

He specialized in landscapes, farms and interior scenes, with figures, and was one of the first Pointillist painters in the Netherlands.

His father, Willem Fredrik Breman (1829-1875), owned a carpentry and blacksmithing shop. He had five siblings, including Evert Breman, a well-known architect.

Vincent van Gogh | Garden with Courting Couples, 1887

Van Gogh called this sunny park scene 'the painting of the garden with lovers'.

Couples in love are strolling under the young chestnut trees and sitting along the winding paths.

Essential Facts:

Title: Garden with Courting Couples: Square Saint-Pierre

Date: Paris, May 1887

Artist: Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)

Medium: oil on canvas

Dimensions: 75.0 cm x 113.0 cm

Current location: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)

Anthonore Christensen | Flowers painter

Anthonie Eleonore Christensen (1849-1926), generally known as Anthonore Christensen, née Tscherning was a Danish flower painter.

She exhibited from 1867 at Charlottenborg, winning the medal of the year in 1893.

As a painting teacher, her students included Queen Louise and Queen Olga of Greece.

Hafsa Idrees, 1992 | Finger painter

Hafsa Idrees is an Pakistani painter and writer born in Islamabad.

- "Art has always been close to my heart and even though I have not received a formal education in any particular genre, drawing/painting is an important part of my life. Since school, I have been experimenting with and enjoying different styles, media and techniques".

"I started with Arabic calligraphy at the age of 10 but I soon realized that I enjoyed painting and drawing too. My subjects then were things and people from my immediate surroundings but with time I started to explore different kinds of paints, pencils, materials and subjects".

Lettera d'Amore di Balzac alla contessa Ewelina Hańska

Mio amato angelo

,

"Sono quasi pazzo di te, per quanto uno possa essere pazzo: non riesco a mettere insieme due idee che non ti interponi tra di loro.

Non riesco più a pensare ad altro che a te.

Nonostante me stesso, la mia immaginazione mi porta da te.

Ti afferro, ti bacio, ti accarezzo, mille delle carezze più amorose si impossessano di me.

Quanto al mio cuore, ci sarai sempre - moltissimo.

Ferdinand Georg Waldmuller | Portrait of Madame Ewelina Hańska, 1835

Ellen Montalba | Dreams

Ellen Emeline Montalba (1842-1912) was a British artist. She was born in Bath, England, one of four daughters of the Swedish-born artist Anthony Rubens Montalba and Emeline.

She and her three sisters all attained high repute as artists.

The 1871 British census shows Anthony Montalba living at 19 Arundel Gardens, Notting Hill, in London, with four daughters, all artists.

The Montalba sisters were regular contributors to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition during the 1870s.