By : Henri Fantin Latour

 from Grenoble, France (1836–1904)
pastel on linen 
© Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands

http://www.kmm.nl/https://www.facebook.com/KrollerMuller

Study (Mlle Charlotte Dubourg) (1882)

Ignace Henri Fantin-Latour, was born in 1836 in Grenoble of mixed French and Russian parentage. He lived and worked for most of his life in Paris producing flower-paintings, still-lifes, portraits and dream-like fantasies. Though considered essentially an 'establishment' painter who exhibited throughout his career at the Salon and the Royal Academy, Fantin associated with the avant-garde, in particular the circle surrounding Manet whose realism influenced the style of his own portraits. Fantin's respect for contemporary painters, poets and musicians prompted him to honor them in large group portraits, one of the most famous being his Homage to Delacroix from 1864.Fantin worked mainly outside the fashionable art movements of the day, having little in common with the Impressionists. His sources of inspiration derived from artists of the past such as Titian, Watteau, and Chardin, whose works he studied exhaustively in the Louvre. Chardin's still-lifes found a worthy successor in Fantin's sumptuous and colorful paintings of flowers and fruit which established his popularity in England, with the help of J.A.M. Whistler.

 

             By : Savely Sorine

 from Russia (1887 - 1953)

Oil painting 

Margaret (Nin) Dorothy Kahn

[Margaret (Nin) Dorothy Kahn[ (from New Jersey; 1901 - 1995), the woman depicted here by Savely Sorine and posted below] and her husband - John Barry Ryan Jr. (1901-1966) - were keen Art collectors and promoters of young talents. They particularly appreciated the art of the French impressionists. The Ryan Collection was comprised of Works by Manet, Cézanne, Pissarro, Monet, Renoir, Vuillard and by other artists.
In 1951 she and the other Kahn heirs sold Rembrandt's "Portrait of a Young Student" for $90,000, donating the money to the Metropolitan Opera, which allowed for them to produce Verdi's "Don Carlo" and Mozart's 'Cosi Fan Tutte.']
Born into a poor family in a small town, young Sorin didn't attend any school until he was 16. He ran away from home to Odessa, enrolled in an art school, earned a Big Medal upon graduation in 1899 and moved to Saint Petersburg. There Sorin entered the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts; his teacher was the famous painter Ilya Repin.
In 1920, when Sorin left Russia, he was already an established society portraitist.
His first shows in the 1920s were a great success in Paris and London, which brought him orders from the British Royal Family. He was known in Europe and America, and also dreamed about fame in Russia. In his will, the artist bequeathed 30 portraits of Russian writers and poets to Russian museums ...In 1951 she and the other Kahn heirs sold Rembrandt's "Portrait of a Young Student" for $90,000, donating the money to the Metropolitan Opera, which allowed for them to produce Verdi's "Don Carlo" and Mozart's 'Cosi Fan Tutte.']Born into a poor family in a small town, young Sorin didn't attend any school until he was 16. He ran away from home to Odessa, enrolled in an art school, earned a Big Medal upon graduation in 1899 and moved to Saint Petersburg. There Sorin entered the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts; his teacher was the famous painter Ilya Repin.In 1920, when Sorin left Russia, he was already an established society portraitist.His first shows in the 1920s were a great success in Paris and London, which brought him orders from the British Royal Family. He was known in Europe and America, and also dreamed about fame in Russia. In his will, the artist bequeathed 30 portraits of Russian writers and poets to Russian museums ...

                 By : Jules Breton

 from Courrières  France (1827 - 1906)

Oil on canvas; 71.4 x 127.6 cm; 28 1/8 x 50 1/4 in -© The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkBequest of Collis P. Huntington, 1900http://www.metmuseum.org/https://www.facebook.com/metmuseumThe weeders (1868)

"This is a smaller variant of a composition Breton painted in 1860 (Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha) and exhibited to wide acclaim at the Salon of 1861 and the World’s Fair of 1867 in Paris. In his autobiography, Breton described this twilight scene of peasants pulling up thistles and weeds—"their faces haloed by the pink transparency of their violet hoods, as if to venerate a fecundating star"—noting that he had discovered the subject as a "finished picture" near his native village, Courrières, in northern France."

http://www.metmuseum.org/

Jules Adolphe Aimé Louis Breton as a 19th-century French Realist painter. His paintings are heavily influenced by the French countryside and his absorption of traditional methods of painting helped make Jules Breton one of the primary transmitters of the beauty and idyllic vision of rural existence.Read more at: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Breton

          By : Louis Léopold Robert

 Swiss-born French Artist (1794 -1835)

charcoal and black chalk on paper, 32.2 × 27.8 cm -
© Musée d'art et d'histoire de Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Bequeathed by Louis Leopold Huguenin-Virchaux, the Artist's nephew, 1891
site: http://www.mahn.ch/

© Musée d'art et d'histoire de Neuchâtel, SwitzerlandBequeathed by Louis Leopold Huguenin-Virchaux, the Artist's nephew, 1891

"Tête de jeune homme, regardant en haut à droite" "Head of a young man looking at the top right" (1819)

opold Robert was on the eve of obtaining the grand prix for engraving when the events of 1815 blasted his hopes, for Neuchâtel was restored to Prussia, and Robert was struck off the list of competitors as a foreigner. Whilst continuing his studies under Girardet he had never ceased to frequent the studio of David, and he now determined to become a painter, and only returned to his native country when his master himself was exiled. At Neuchâtel he attracted the notice of Roullet de Mezerac, who enabled him by a timely loan to proceed to Rome. In depicting the customs and life of the people, of southern Italy especially, he showed peculiar feeling for the historical characteristics of their race. After executing many detached studies of Italian life Robert conceived the idea of painting four great works which should represent at one and the same time the four seasons in Italy and the four leading races of its people. In the "Return from the Fête of the Madonna dell'Arco" (Louvre) he depicted the Neapolitans and the spring. This picture, exhibited at the Salon of 1827, achieved undoubted success and was bought for the Luxembourg by Charles X; but the work which appeared in 1831 the "Summer Reapers arriving in the Pontine Marshes" (Louvre), which became the property of Louis Philippe established the artist's reputation. 

Florence and her autumn vineyards should now have furnished him with his third subject. He attempted to begin it, but, unable to conquer his passion for Princess Charlotte Napoleon (then mourning the violent death of her husband, Robert's devoted friend), he threw up his work and went to Venice, where he began and carried through the fourth of the series, the "Fishers of the Adriatic." This work was not equal to the "Reapers." Worn by the vicissitudes of painful feeling, and bitterly discouraged, Robert committed suicide before his easel on 20 March 1835, on the tenth anniversary of the melancholy suicide of a brother to whom he had been much attached. There are a number of references to Robert's paintings in the novel The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, one being specifically to "The Reapers".

                       By : Liu Derun

 from China (b. 1950) Oil painting; 52 x 36 in -© S.R. Brennen Galleries, from California, UShttp://www.srbrennengalleries.com/Dim light

The works of Liu Derun are among the most easily recognizable and well regarded art of our time. He is also among the most popular and successful living artists today. His unforgettable paintings show his gift for portraying the strength of the human spirit and character. Since 1976, Liu Derun's paintings have been awarded in national art exhibitions and exhibited worldwide. His representative works, in collaboration with his wife Li Yan, have been in important exhibitions throughout the world. The famous painting titled "Yimeng Child", won a bronze medal at the Seventh National Art Exhibition and a prize at the Sino Japanese Friendship Gallery, along with "Foremost Among Mountains", which also won a prize of excellence at the Eighth National Art Exhibition. Their paintings have been collected by the China Art Gallery, private collectors, and featured in Sotheby's art catalogue in Hong Kong. His paintings have brought over $350,000 US at auction. The history of oil painting taking root in China is but a mere one hundred years old. It was not until the forming of New China in 1949 that saw the burgeoning of art academies and institutions offering a systematic training for the Western Arts. An important milestone, marking the new era, was the first ever Chinese oil painting auction held by Christie's of Hong Kong in 1992 to great critical and financial success. Since then Christie's and Sotheby's biannual auctions of Chinese oil painting have become ever more popular. Private and corporate collections of these works abound as are international exhibitions.

By:  Der Jen (Dezhen; 德珍繪館)

 from : Taipei, Taiwan (1974 - 2012)

Der Jen achieved fame in her homeland and that fame is now spreading to other parts of the world as more and more people become familiar with her beautiful paintings. This Taiwanese artist depicts these beautiful ladies in classic, traditional dress that would have been worn by members of the royal court or an empress herself. Traditional hair styles and jewelry depicted in her pieces are also considered authentic. Der Jens art can be found in Chinese advertising, childrens magazines, romance novels, tarot cards, and even on public transit tickets. Its also making its way to our pcs as desktop wallpaper.

             By : Zhao Kailin

From China (current location, California)Dressing (2012)Oil on canvas; 19 x 20 in 

Site: http://kailart.com/ 

               By :  Lu Jianjun  盧建軍

 from : Hangzhou city

 Zhejiang Province China (current location, Danville, California, US) (b.1960)Oil on canvas; 120 x 110 cm Private Collection

Wet 潮湿

fb : https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lu-Jianjun-Oil-Painting/205781992797259

Lu obtained a degree in oil painting from Shandong University of Arts and studied at China Central Academy of Fine Arts. His awards in China and internationally include the Outstanding Award for Graduation Work from China Central Academy, the Japanese Art Association Award, the National Outstanding Award in Oil Painting (China), and the China National Art Exhibition Award of Excellence. His works are in the China National Museum and the Museum of Japan, and have been exhibited in Los Angeles, the Nagasaki Prefectural Museum, and the Fukuoka Art Museum. Lu first visited the US in 1995 and held his first exhibition in 1999. He also exhibited his paintings at the Weinstein Gallery in San Francisco. Currently, he lives in Danville, California with his wife and son.

Lu describes his art with the word “Symmetrism” to fully express all his feelings to the world. The very essence of his Symmetrism art is balance and equilibrium. A steady horizontal line and a vertical straight line connecting heaven and earth denote stability, universality, and mental spirituality. All his creative spirit comes from the source of a central line of symmetry, which inspires his creativity to expand and bear everything he is in pursuit of.