Arturo Ferrari | Via San Bernardino in Milano, 1912

Arturo Ferrari (Milan, 1861-1932) was an Italian painter.

Initiated into artistic studies by his father Cesare, an associate of Luigi Scrosati, and the painter Mosè Bianchi from Lodi, Arturo Ferrari completed his training at the Brera Academy under the guidance of Giuseppe Bertini from 1877-1884 while working in the studio of Gerolamo Induno at the same time.

He made his debut at the Esposizione di Belle Arti di Brera in 1879 with a view of the interior of Milan Cathedral, thus inaugurating the repertoire of Milanese perspective views that was to be a constant feature of his vast production of oil paintings and watercolours.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir | The Lovers, 1875

The resting couple of lovers amidst nature in The Lovers painting is rendered dynamically by quickly alternating colourful spots that imitate the trembling atmospheric light.

The way the two figures are modelled are specific for Renoir: the actress Henriette Henriot and the painter Pierre Frank-Lamy.

Renoir held a special position among impressionists, mostly landscape painters, because he frequently focused on figural topics. | Source: © National Gallery Prague

Gioia Cordovani - Portrait painter

Gioia Cordovani is an talented Italian painter born in Tanzania. Lives and works in Rome. Since the 80s and up to 2006 she worked as a fashion designer and costume designer. Cordovani like to dig souls characters, leaving the viewer task to find the source through which the inner world of the woman comes out: look, shadow, light, or any other part of her image. The artist expresses himself through mixed techniques, more often, on the basis of acrylic.

Leopold Schmutzler | La vendangeuse

Leopold Schmutzler (1864-1940) was born in Mies. His father was a saddler and innkeeper, who also gave him his first drawing lessons. Originally, he planned to attend the "Naval School of Music" in Pula, but was turned down for poor eyesight.

From 1880 to 1882, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna with Christian Griepenkerl (the person who later rejected Hitler's application to the Academy).

After that, he transferred to the Academy of Fine Arts Munich and studied with Otto Seitz. He settled there after his graduation in 1885.

Bartholomeus van der Helst | The Musician, 1662

Tuning the strings of her theorbo-lute, a beautiful musician directs an engaging glance at the viewer.

The foreground of the picture displays a viola da gamba and sheet music for tenor and soprano voices, suggesting that the lute player anticipates a duet.

Dutch painters of the seventeenth century frequently associated music-making and courtship with amateur concerts, providing opportunities for mingling and flirtation. | Source: © Metropolitan Museum of Art

Bartholomeus van der Helst | The Musician, 1662 | Metropolitan Museum of Art

Andreas Achenbach | Fisher Couple on the Beach, 1910

Andreas Achenbach (1815-1910) was a German landscape and seascape painter in the Romantic style.

He is considered to be one of the founders of the Düsseldorf School.

His brother, Oswald, was also a well known landscape painter.

Together, based on their initials, they were known as the "Alpha and Omega" of landscape painters.

Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun | Genius of Alexander I, 1814

"Genius of Alexander I" a remarkable painting created by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun (1755-1842) in 1814. The artwork can be found in the prestigious Collection of State Hermitage, located in St. Petersburg, Russia.

In this neoclassical masterpiece, Vigee Le Brun skillfully portrays the essence and power of Alexander I, who was the ruler of France at that time.

The artist's attention to detail is evident as she captures every intricate feature with precision on canvas using oil paints.

Andreas Achenbach | Fischmarkt in Ostende

Andreas Achenbach (1815-1910) was a German landscape painter, associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting and born in Kassel.

He began his art education in 1827 in Düsseldorf under Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow at the Düsseldorf Academy of Painting.

He studied at St Petersburg and travelled in Italy, Holland and Scandinavia.