beside the easel

Birthday Wishes, ca. 1880 Born on the 24th of July, 1841 in Rome, Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta was a Spanish realist painter. Coming from a long line of painters in the family, Raimundo moved back to Spain and studied at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid, then in Paris under Léon Cogniet. Raimundo stayed in Paris most of his life and like his family did mostly portraiture. Raimundo is distinctly unique from most in the way he paints fabric and drapery...elevating the women of his era in their beautiful shimmering dresses like very few artists in history. Despite this interesting niche Raimundo was a brilliant portrait painter of both men and women. Look closely in his brushwork and the influence of Velázquez is unmistakable, yet Madrazo has an ability to make those strokes dance. In Birthday Wishes above, the narrative is clear: a woman reads a card addressed to her from an admirer while holding a bouquet of flowers. The background wa...

Aranjuez Garden. Arbor, II, 1907 Born on 25th of February, 1861 in Barcelona, Santiago Rusiñol was a Spanish painter and poet. A master of color harmony with a fondness for lush greenery and thoughtful observation of figures, Rusiñol is like one of those fine wines you wish you had discovered sooner. He is unique in how he seems to effortlessly oscillate between Realism and Impressionism without missing a beat, and yet what ties his work together is his supreme understanding of mood and presence. Having trained under Tomás Moragas, Rusiñol evolved into his modernisme movement and leaving a deep impression on Pablo Picasso, among others. In the garden of Aranjuez Garden Arbor, II above, Rusiñol's very warm earth palette is enthralling. Although loosely painted in the foliage and trees we can instantly sense the verdant beauty of this wonderful park south of Madrid, still enjoyed today by Spaniards and tourists. The yellow and red trees off to the left appear as ...

Viejo desnudo al sol, 1863 Born on June 11, 1838 in Reus, Spain, Marià Fortuny ( Mariano José María* Bernardo Fortuny y Marsal ) was a Romantic Catalan Spanish painter. He was known for his loose, distinctive brushwork, strong colors and a rich breadth of subject matter such as Academic drawings, military, portraiture and Orientalism. At a time when many painters of his era were taking more lucrative portraiture commissions while balancing their own individual styles, Fortuny's Romantic independence gave him a fresh eye, no matter where he pointed his brush. And while France was in the beginnings of breaking from the Salon and rising toward Impressionism, Fortuny seems to have absorbed outside influences from Paris and Rome into his own uniquely Spanish style. Sadly, his characteristic genius—like some notably great artists before him—was cut short and Fortuny passed away at the very young age of 36. One can only wonder what direction he would have taken had he lived ...

Sortie Du Maitre, 1914 Born December 16, 1832 in Paris, Jules Worms was an illustrator, lithographer and painter. Worms is considered a relatively obscure artist by today's standards—he has no Wikipedia article in English—but his craft nonetheless deserves merit for its freshness and spontaneity, attention to background detail, and his particular use of color and light. In Sortie Du Maitre above, translated as the Exit of the Master, infidelity was a recurring motif in his paintings and as we see here the wife helping her husband with his coat while turning to admire a more handsome man—possibly the landlord or boss—who is coming down the stairs making an exit. Note the incredible body language and storytelling ability of Worms here in how natural the figures are, not posed at all. The expression on her face is as natural as real life. Note the indignation and jealousy in her husband's face, in contrast to the admiring glance of the "master" at his wife...

A fascinating look at the genius of Velázquez in this BBC documentary

"When an artist begins to count strokes instead of regarding nature he is lost. This preoccupation with technique, at the expense of truth and sincerity, is the principal fault I find in much of the work of modern painters." Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida Self Portrait, 1904 Spanish painter Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida was born on February 27, 1863 in Valencia, on the east coast of Spain. Known for various subject matter including landscapes, portraiture, and social themes, the key recurring themes in his body of work would be the ocean, sunlight, and children. Few artists have observed sunlight and innocence in quite the way Sorolla has, with his juicy brushwork and mastery of color blending. Sorolla's use of color in particular, is inspirational in how he creates mood and defines his subject by color. In the following examples we'll explore this motif in his work. In his Self Portrait above, Sorolla depicts himself with stern honesty. Note the subtle shades of ...

A Young Man with a Basket of Fruit (Personification of 'Summer'), ca.1650 Happy New Year! Welcome to the first post of 2013 ! January is a busy month for artists, with only November and July coming close for the sheer amount of artist birthdays. Born on December 31 and baptized on January 1, 1618 in Seville, Spain, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo was a giant of the Spanish Baroque era known for his flawless figures, graceful poses, and deep colors. Murillo is unique in his range of subject matter for his time, ranging from the genre of poor young boys to religious figures, lovely women and children to aristocratic portraits. Murillo may have been among the first to portray poverty after Velázquez, who was a profound influence on his work as a young artist in his twenties. However, Murillo has an optimism, a gentle quality to his work that is tender and soothing, a sort of antithesis to Caravaggio's tenebrism which was far more distopian and dark. At times this makes hi...