Murillo, Bartolomé Esteban (1617-1682) Cristo en la cruz (Christ on the Cross) 1660–1670 Oil on canvas, 208.9 x 113 cm Timken Museum of Art, San Diego In this late painting by Bartolomé Estebán Murillo, the luminous figure of Christ appears against…
Modigliani, Amedeo (1884-1920) Nu féminin assis (Seated Female Nude) c.1916 Oil on canvas, 92.4 x 59.8 cm Courtauld Institute of Art, London This is one of a series of celebrated female nudes which Modigliani painted in 1916 and 1917. His unusual…
Gauguin, Paul (1848-1903) Nevermore 1897 Oil paint on canvas, 60.5 x 116 cm Courtauld Institute of Art, London Paul Gauguin painted Nevermore in February 1897, during his second and final stay in Tahiti, an island in the southern Pacific colonised by France. Intended…
Michelangelo (1475-1564) Il Sogno (The Dream) c.1533 Black chalk on laid paper, 27.8 x 39.8 cm Courtauld Institute of Art, London One of the finest Renaissance drawings, The Dream is amongst The Courtauld’s greatest treasures. The meaning of this enigmatic work is elusive,…
Cranach, Lucas the Elder (1472-1553) Adam and Eve 1526 Oil on panel, 117 x 80 cm Courtauld Institute of Art, London Adam and Eve are depicted at the fateful moment when they disobey God and commit the first sin. The story…
Modigliani, Amedeo (1884-1920) Jeanne Hébuterne 1919 Oil on canvas, 100 × 65 cm Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia The model here is Jeanne Hébuterne, Amedeo Modigliani‘s lover during the last three years of his life. Hébuterne was an art student when she and…
Rousseau, Henri (1844-1910) Mauvaise surprise (Unpleasant Surprise) 1899–1901 Oil on canvas, 194.5 x 129.5 cm Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia The large-scale jungle scenes of Henri Rousseau are rife with violent struggles between wild animals such as lions, tigers, and horses. Here, a…
Modigliani, Amedeo (1884-1920) Jeune fille rousse en robe de soir (Redheaded Girl in Evening Dress) 1918 Oil on canvas, 116 × 73 cm Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia Modigliani‘s portrait of an unidentified sitter, with her vivid hair and strapless dress, suggests how…
Matisse, Henri (1869-1954) Nu couché (Reclining Nude) 1923–1924 Oil on canvas, 60 x 92 cm Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia Matisse painted this work in Nice, a city in the South of France that he visited frequently in the 1920s. The canvas is…
Renoir, Pierre-Auguste (1841-1919) Avant le bain (Before the Bath) c.1875 Oil on canvas, 82 x 66.5 cm Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia When Renoir first exhibited this painting publicly, at an 1875 auction in Paris, audiences were shocked by its naturalism. Rather than…