beside the easel

The Ghetto of Florence, 1882 Telemaco Signorini was an Italian artist born on August 18, 1835 in Florence. He was a prominent member of the Macchiaioli movement that arose in Italy during the 1850's roughly a decade before Impressionism began in France. From the Italian "macchie", meaning stain or patches, their work was heavily influenced by brushwork and the effects of light from Old Masters such as Rembrandt, Tintoretto and Velázquez. Italy during this time was under massive change and turmoil of the Risorgiomento , and for these artists the established themes of the past felt outdated and decided to turn their focus onto everyday life. The artists met at a local coffee shop called Caffè Michelangiolo , along with writers and patriots. Although their art has faded with time under the shadow of the Impressionists, their art was born of revolution and cultural rebirth, and as we will see here Telemaco was the signature artist of the group with a...

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 ...

Norwegian Highlands in Sunrise, 185 Hans Fredrik Gude was born on March 13, 1825 in Oslo (formerly Christiania), Norway. A Romanticist from the Düsseldorf school of painting , a German Romanticist school in the mid-1800's that produced an impressive array of artists painting in a very detailed yet powerfully emotional way. The landscape as an artistic genre, although very common today, was often regarded as a lower genre and something not as "serious" as the more religious, historical or portrait genres that dominated the art world for centuries. German Romanticism changed that in a relatively short period of time and attracted artists from all over the world to study at the prestigious Düsseldorf Academy . Gude's career established him as an icon of Norwegian artists and became a master of the seascape and a distinguished art professor in his later years. He often collaborated with artist Adolph Tidemand, a highly skilled portrait and figure painter on ...

The Afternoon Visit, ca. late 1800's Gustave Léonard de Jonghe was born on February 4, 1829, in western Belgium. After training in Brussels he moved to Paris to further his career, where he would spend time back and forth between the two cities. De Jonghe's style evolved from a more academic Realism to Orientalism and into genre paintings of women, especially with children. Although often criticized for his sentimentality, de Jonghe still had a firm grasp of his subjects with a strong naturalism, an eye for texture and pattern, and a vibrant palette. Often compared to Alfred Stevens , another brilliant and respected genre painter from Belgium, De Jonghe continued the tradition using his own palette and eye for body language. In The Afternoon Visit above he seems to channel Sargent. The opulence and grandeur of the 19th century is depicted in a relaxed, airy naturalism. De Jonghe also captures the frilly dresses and all of its intricacies with ease. This yo...

The Wedding Dance, ca.1890's Born March 6, 1847 in Florence, Federico Andreotti was a genre and aristocratic painter. Andreotti's work is characterized by a vivid palette with elegantly dressed Rococo figures, revolving around the themes of flirtation and music. There is a spontaneity and naturalism in his figures that is contagious, even with the incredible detail and well-conceived compositions. Andreotti was astute enough to realize his era had already let go of the noble themes of his predecessors and he gleefully accepted. His style is very reminiscent of Eugene de Blaas , a contemporary from Rome and Vittorio Reggianini from Modena. Up close, however, Andreotti had a fairly loose brush and that sense of fun is evident in his modelling and blending. In The Wedding Dance above, Andreotti depicts a country wedding in the lush outdoors. Look at the young couple kicking up their heels. Andreotti creates movement and alacrity while taking us back in time. I love how t...

The Organ Rehearsal, 1885 Henry Lerolle was born on October 3, 1848 in Paris. He studied at the popular 19th century Académie Suisse , whose alumni include Monet, Cézanne, Pissaro, and Manet amoung others, and under the private instruction of Louis Lamothe , who taught Degas and Tissot. Despite his incredible eye there seems to be a lack of productivity compared to his contemporaries yet what makes Lerolle unique is his dramatic use of light and bold colors. In The Organ Rehearsal above, we see one of the most breathtaking and underrated paintings of the 19th century. A singer rehearses a hymn at the Saint-François-Xavier in Paris to an open space of light— a brilliant composition that eschews any audience below completely and focuses on the main figures of the choir loft. This remarkable earth toned palette of browns, yellows and blacks, with a few accent colors, is superb. A couple of the standing figures off to the left have been painted in burnt sienna and y...