The Tame Magpie, 1708 Born on February 4, 1667 in Genoa, Italy, Alessandro Magnasco was a late Baroque painter, aka. il Lissandrino. His style was highly distinctive and idiosyncratic—elongated, muscular forms in brisk brushwork reminiscent of Tintoretto along with some of his contemporaries: Tintoretto, Sebastiano Ricci, Francesco Solimena, and Giovanni Pellegrini. His strong shadows and vibrant colors are reminiscent of a Venetian style, yet suggest an ominous influence of Piranesi in his architectural capriccios. What makes him interesting is his highly idiosyncratic subject matter that was not common during his era, making him a genre painter by definition, or Bamboccianti as some may have described him. Highly individualistic or Romantic, his work is interesting so let's take a closer look. In The Tame Magpie above, an odd collection of people gather round to watch a man attempt to teach a magpie to sing. Some appear to be drunk and destitute, the woman representing c...
Ponte Pietra, Verona 1894 Frits Thaulow was born on October 20 1847 in Oslo (formerly Christiania), Norway. A member of the Skagen Painters, Thaulow studied in Copenhagen and under Hans Gude . Thaulow painted in Skagen for a few years before returning to Norway and finally moving to northern France where he found inspiration in the idyllic views there where he would explore tonalist Impressionism and a vibrant palette. Thaulow is one of the most underrated of Impressionist painters in his distinctive sense of color and light in his water reflections. He is more naturalist than Impressionist. His paintings immerse us into his world. In Ponte Pietra, Verona above Thaulow contrasts a rustic, ancient Roman bridge made of brick and travertine with the beautiful green tones in the water. This is a view from the right which is not often depicted in photos even today, and yet this has a freshness that makes us feel like we are standing at the very spot. Thaulow's muted brushwo...