Art News and Articles

Claude Monet was the leader of the French Impressionist movement, literally giving the movement its name. As an inspirational talent and personality, he was crucial in bringing its adherents together. Interested in painting in the open air and capturing natural light, Monet would later bring the technique to one of its most famous pinnacles with his series paintings, in which his observations of the same subject, viewed at various times of the day, were captured in numerous sequences.

Joaquín Sorolla was a Spanish Valencian painter. Sorolla excelled in the painting of portraits, landscapes and monumental works of social and historical themes. His most typical works are characterized by a dexterous representation of the people and landscape under the bright sunlight of Spain and sunlit water.

Félix Édouard Vallotton (1865 – 1925) was a Swiss and French painter and printmaker associated with the group of artists known as Les Nabis. He was an important figure in the development of the modern woodcut. He painted portraits, landscapes, nudes, still lifes, and other subjects in an unemotional, realistic style.

Henri Rousseau (1844 – 1910) was a French post-impressionist painter in the Naïve or Primitive manner. He was also known as Le Douanier (the customs officer), a humorous description of his occupation as a toll and tax collector. Rousseau's work exerted an extensive influence on several generations of avant-garde artists.

Egon Schiele (1890 – 1918) was an Austrian Expressionist painter. His work is noted for its intensity and its raw sexuality, and for the many self-portraits the artist produced, including nude self-portraits. The twisted body shapes and the expressive line that characterize Schiele's paintings and drawings mark the artist as an early exponent of Expressionism.

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571 – 1610), was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of his life he moved between Naples, Malta, and Sicily until his death. His paintings have been characterized by art critics as combining a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, which had a formative influence on Baroque painting.

Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky was an Armenian-Russian Romantic painter who is considered one of the greatest masters of marine art. He was born into an Armenian family in the Black Sea port of Feodosia in Crimea and was mostly based there.

Gustav Klimt, a name synonymous with artistic innovation and sensuous beauty, is one of the most celebrated figures in the history of art. His mesmerizing works, characterized by intricate patterns, sensuality, and a unique blend of symbolism and realism, have left an indelible mark on the world of art. Born on July 14, 1862, in Baumgarten, a suburb of Vienna, Klimt's journey from humble beginnings to becoming a leading figure of the Viennese Secession movement is a testament to his artistic genius and determination.

George Wesley Bellows was an American realist painter, known for his bold depictions of urban life in New York City. He became, according to the Columbus Museum of Art, "the most acclaimed American artist of his generation".

Koloman Moser, a luminary figure of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was a multifaceted artist and designer whose contributions left an indelible mark on the worlds of art, architecture, and decorative arts. Born on March 30, 1868, in Vienna, Austria-Hungary (now Austria), Moser's life and artistic journey were characterized by innovation, creativity, and a relentless pursuit of beauty and functionality.

Once known as "Papa Dada," Francis Picabia was one of the principle figures of the Dada movement both in Paris and New York. A friend and associate of Marcel Duchamp, he became known for a rich variety of work ranging from strange, comic-erotic images of machine parts to text-based paintings that foreshadow aspects of Conceptual art.

William Blake's life and work serve as a model for how we think of contemporary artists today. His work was supported by a small, zealous group of supporters despite being overlooked by his peers and marginalized by the academic institutions of his time. He is now recognized as a model for the avant-garde artists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, whose creative spirit is in opposition to the culture's predominant mood.