Caillebotte, Gustave (1848-1894) Un homme à son bain (Man at His Bath) 1884 Oil on canvas, 144.8 x 114.3 cm Museum of Fine Arts, Boston This painting presents an unusually intimate scene from everyday life at the grand scale once reserved…
Caillebotte, Gustave (1848-1894) Raboteurs de parquet (Floor Scrapers) 1875 Oil on canvas, 102 x 147 cm Musée d’Orsay, Paris This painting is one of the first representations of urban proletariat. Whereas peasants (Gleaners by Millet) or country workers (Stone Breakers by…
Manet, Édouard (1832-1883) Olympia 1863 Oil on canvas, 130.5 x 191 cm Musée d’Orsay, Paris With Olympia, Manet reworked the traditional theme of the female nude, using a strong, uncompromising technique. Both the subject matter and its depiction explain the scandal…
Fontana, Lavinia (1552-1614) Minerva in atto di abbigliarsi (Minerva Dressing) 1613 Oil on canvas, 258 x 190 cm Galleria Borghese, Roma The work, which dates back to 1613, was painted in Rome, evoked here through the dome of St. Peter’s visible…
Dalí, Salvador (1904-1989) Corpus Hypercubus (Crucifixion) 1954 Oil on canvas, 194.3 x 123.8 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Dalí utilized his theory of “nuclear mysticism,” a fusion of Catholicism, mathematics, and science, to create this unusual interpretation of Christ’s…
Van Eyck, Jan (c.1390-1441) Madonna at the Fountain 1439 Oil on panel, 19 x 12 cm Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp Inscriptions: frame, lower: A XAN/ IOHES DE EYCK ME FECIT + PLEVIT ANO 1439° The Virgin Mary lovingly cradles the…
Tissot, James (1836-1902) Cache-cache (Hide and Seek) c.1877 Oil on wood, 73.4 x 53.9 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington In early 1874 Degas wrote, “Look here, my dear Tissot. . . you positively must exhibit at the Boulevard [in the…
Rousseau, Henri (1844-1910) La Guerre (War, or Discord on Horseback) c.1894 Oil on canvas, 114.5 x 195 cm Musée d’Orsay, Paris More than twenty years after the Franco-Prussian conflict of 1870 and the Commune in 1871 when the Douanier Rousseau painted War,…
Rousseau, Henri (1844-1910) La Liberté invitant les artistes à participer à la 22e exposition des Indépendants (Liberty Inviting Artists to Take Part in the 22nd Exhibition of the Societe des Artistes Independants) 1905–1906 Oil on canvas, 175 x 118 cm…
Vermeer, Jan (1632-1675) A Lady writing (Schrijvende vrouw in het geel) c.1665 Oil on canvas, 45 x 39.9 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington Above all, Johannes Vermeer was a painter of light. In this exquisite painting, diffused light softly illuminates…