01 Painting, Streets of Paris, Gaston La Touche's La promenade, with footnotes, Part 79

Gaston La Touche (French, 1854-1913)
La promenade
Oil on panel
18 1/2 x 21 3/4in (47.1 x 55.3cm)
Private collection

In this work, La Touche finds a later echo in the closing scenes in the film of Colette's novella, Gigi, where Louis Jourdan and Leslie Caron promenade in the Bois de Boulogne. In the shade, other figures relax and enjoy the afternoon sun. This is the Belle Epoque at its height. However, in a social statement he includes two workers toiling by the roadside; showing he was aware of the divide between the rich and the poor. More on this work

French painter Gaston La Touche [1854-1913] post-impressionist painter, draughtsman and pastellist was a leading colorist of the late nineteenth/early twentieth centuries, who associated with all the important artists of the period. He was close friends with many of the Impressionists, but chose to follow an independent path in both technique and subject matter. His extraordinary imagination revealed itself in his wonderful depictions of monkeys, fetes, balls, theatrical subjects and interiors, all tinged with a wry sense of humor. His Versailles-inspired firework and fountain paintings are unique in quality and spectrum of color. Neglected for almost a century, with little or no research, La Touche's work is now being re-evaluated. In both commercial and art-historical circles, his paintings are now highly sought after. More on Gaston La Touche




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06 Paintings, The amorous game, The Unequal Lovers, Part 76 - With Footnotes

Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem, Haarlem 1562 - 1638
The Unequal Lovers, c. 1619
Oil on panel
26 by 27 5/8 in.; 66 by 70.3 cm.
Private collection

The theme of unequal lovers has a long literary history, but in the visual arts it most often appeared in prints, usually accompanied by a moralizing inscription. The theme took two different forms, that of an old woman soliciting a handsome young man, and, more commonly, an old man soliciting a pretty young woman. Here Cornelis van Haarlem indicates the difference in ages quite subtly, adding a little grey to the man's beard.  The artist focuses instead on the mercenary aspects of the transaction, indicating the man's wealth by the fur on his cloak, the gold medal on his hat and, most obviously, by the bulging money bag that the woman squeezes suggestively. More on this painting

Cornelis van Haarlem  (1562–1638)
The Choice between Young and Old
Oil on canvas
height: 72.5 cm (28.5 in); width: 89 cm (35 in)
Private collection

Cornelis Corneliszoon van Haarlem (1562 – 11 November 1638), Dutch Golden Age painter and draughtsman, was one of the leading Northern Mannerist artists in the Netherlands, and an important forerunner of Frans Hals as a portraitist. He is known among art historians as a member of the Haarlem Mannerists. He painted mainly portraits as well as mythological and Biblical subjects. Initially Cornelis Cornelisz painted large-size, highly stylized works with Italianate nudes in twisted poses with a grotesque, unnatural anatomy. Later, his style changed to one based on the Netherlandish realist tradition.

When his parents fled Haarlem in 1568, as the Spanish army laid siege to the city during the Eighty Years' War, Cornelis Cornelisz remained behind and was raised by the painter Pieter Pietersz the Elder. Later, in 1580-1581 Corneliszoon studied in Rouen, France, and Antwerp, before returning to Haarlem, where he stayed the rest of his life. In 1583 he received his first official commission from the city of Haarlem, a militia company portrait, the Banquet of the Haarlem Civic Guard. He later became city painter of Haarlem and received numerous official commissions. As a portrait painter, both of groups and individuals, he was an important influence on Frans Hals. More Cornelis Corneliszoon van Haarlem

After Lucas Cranach the Younger
The unequal couple
Oil on panel
59 x 45.5 cm
More on this painting

Lucas Cranach the Younger (October 4, 1515 – January 25, 1586) was a German Renaissance painter and portraitist, the son of Lucas Cranach the Elder and brother of Hans Cranach.

The Protestant Reformation began in Wittenberg in 1517. Cranach the Elder was friends with Martin Luther and became known as a leading producer of Protestant artistic propaganda. In 1550, Cranach the Elder left Wittenberg to join his patron, John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony, in exile. Following his father's departure, Cranach the Younger assumed full responsibility over the flourishing family workshop. In this position, he successfully maintained the workshop's high output of quality work. Although Cranach the Younger was never a court painter, he worked for members of the social elite, including princes and nobles.

In addition to the painting workshop, Cranach the Younger was a successful businessman and politician. He occupied several political offices in Nuremberg commencing in 1549, when he served on the city council. He also served as Chamberlain, beginning in 1555 and Burgomaster from 1565.

Cranach the Younger died in Wittenberg on January 25, 1586. More on Lucas Cranach the Younger

Hendrick Terbrugghen
Unequal Couple, c. c. 1623
Oil on canvas
74 x 89 cm
Private collection

This painting, which was altered by the artist and later cropped at the corners, depicts an almost claustrophobic interior, featuring a bare-chested prostitute clutching the fur garment of a man wearing a mask and pince-nez, both of which make him appear much older than he actually is. This churlish whore smiles at us knowingly, uncouthly exposing her discoloured teeth in the process. More on this painting

Hendrick Jansz ter Brugghen (or Terbrugghen) (1588 – 1 November 1629) was a painter at the start of Dutch Golden Age, and a leading member of the Dutch followers of Caravaggio–the so-called Utrecht Caravaggisti. Along with Gerrit van Hondhorst and Dirck van Baburen, Ter Brugghen was one of the most important Dutch painters to have been influenced by Caravaggio. More on Hendrick Jansz ter Brugghen

Cornelis Corneliszoon van Haarlem  (1562 - 1638)
Monk and Nun
Oil/canvas
106 x 83 5 cm
Private collection

Cornelis van Haarlem  (1562–1638)
A Monk With a Beguine, c. 1591
Oil on canvas
116 × 103 cm (45.6 × 40.5 in)
Collection
Frans Hals Museum 

According to a legend, a nun was accused of being pregnant. To prove this, a monk had to squeeze her breast: if milk came out, the accusation was true. However, no milk came out, but wine from the breast. The wine glass on the table refers to this. Not the sin, but the nun's faith was proved by this miracle. Yet it is not entirely certain that this painting tells the legend of the miracle. There are many more paintings from the late 16th century with the same subject: monks and nuns making love. Perhaps it is a satire on the lascivious behavior of monasteries and on the Catholic faith. More on this painting

Cornelis Corneliszoon van Haarlem  (1562 - 1638)
The unequal couple, around 1624
Oil on wood
21.3 x 18.9 cm
Private collection







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03 Classic Works of Art, Marine Paintings - Ports of Call, with Footnotes

Rubens Santoro, (Italian, 1859-1942)
Palazzo Donn Anna, Bay of Naples 
Oil on canvas
44.5 x 84.5cm (17 1/2 x 33 1/4in)
Private collection

Palazzo donn'anna, in the background, is a historical residence palace in naples, italy

Rubens Santoro (October 26, 1859 in Mongrassano, Province of Cosenza, Calabria – 1942 in Naples) was an Italian painter. He moved to Naples at 10 years of age, to study literature, but his inclination was painting. He only briefly enrolled at the Neapolitan Academy, instead, real life was his model. His first work was a small and simple genre piece: A Girl who Laughs, exhibited at the Promotrice. Domenico Morelli took note and encouraged him.
 
Santoro continually changed his vistas, painting in Torre Annunziata, Castellammare di Stabia, Procida, the Amalfi Coast, and Resina. During the long trips to the open countryside, he distracted himself by playing the mandolin. Many of his Amalfi landscapes were bought by the Goupil Gallery. Two were displayed at the 1877 Exposition at Naples: Marina di Maiuri and Grotta degli Zingari.  He moved to Paris, and after an excursion in England, returned to Naples even more prolifict. His painting Verona, exhibited at 1911 exhibition of Barcelona was awarded a Silver medal. More on Rubens Santoro

Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem, (1621/1622–1683)
A Southern Harbour, c. 1657 and 1659
A depiction of the sheep port of the Orangian protectorate
Oil on canvas
Height: 83 cm (32.7 in). Width: 104 cm (40.9 in).
Wallace Collection, London

Typical of Berchem’s decorative and exotic harbour scenes, the harbour was imaginatively identified with the port of Genoa by Jean Aliamet, who engraved the picture in the eighteenth century. The picture’s distinguished provenance demonstrates the artist’s appeal to collectors in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; its owners included the duc de Berry and Anatole Demidoff, Prince of San Donato. The 4th Marquess of Hertford paid the considerable price of 42,000 francs (about £1,680) for the painting at the latter’s sale in 1868. More on this painting

Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem (1 October 1620 – 18 February 1683) was a highly esteemed and prolific Dutch Golden Age painter of pastoral landscapes, populated with mythological or biblical figures, but also of a number of allegories and genre pieces.

He was a member of the second generation of "Dutch Italianate landscape" painters. These were artists who travelled to Italy, or aspired to, in order to soak up the romanticism of the country, bringing home sketchbooks full of drawings of classical ruins and pastoral imagery. His paintings, of which he produced an immense number, were in great demand, as were his 80 etchings and 500 drawings. His landscapes, painted in the Italian style of idealized rural scenes, with hills, mountains, cliffs and trees in a golden dawn are sought after. Berchem also painted inspired and attractive human and animal figures in works of other artists, like Allaert van Everdingen, Jan Hackaert, Gerrit Dou, Meindert Hobbema and Willem Schellinks. More Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem

Old Master Dutch Painting 17th Century Baroque
Untitled, (Fishing Village) mid 17th century
Oil on canvas
28" x 39" 
Private collection

Dutch Golden Age painting is the painting of the Dutch Golden Age, a period in Dutch history roughly spanning the 17th century, during and after the later part of the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) for Dutch independence.

The new Dutch Republic was the most prosperous nation in Europe and led European trade, science, and art. The northern Netherlandish provinces that made up the new state had traditionally been less important artistic centres than cities in Flanders in the south. The upheavals and large-scale transfers of population of the war, and the sharp break with the old monarchist and Catholic cultural traditions, meant that Dutch art had to reinvent itself almost entirely, a task in which it was very largely successful. The painting of religious subjects declined very sharply, but a large new market for all kinds of secular subjects grew up. More on Dutch Golden Age

Old Master Dutch Painting 17th Century Baroque
Setail; Untitled, (Fishing Village) mid 17th century
Oil on canvas
28" x 39" 
Private collection




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Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others. Some Images may be subject to copyright

I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

I do not sell art, art prints, framed posters or reproductions. Ads are shown only to compensate the hosting expenses.

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