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…
Vermeer, Jan (1632-1675) A Young Woman Standing at a Virginal (Staande Virginaalspeelster) c.1670–1672 Oil on canvas, 51.7 x 45.2 cm National Gallery, London A young woman standing at a keyboard holds our eye with a direct gaze. Suffused in the light…
Vermeer, Jan (1632-1675) A Young Woman Seated at a Virginal (Zittende virginaalspeelster) c.1670–1672 Oil on canvas, 51.5 x 45.5 cm National Gallery, London A colourful hanging tapestry has been swept to one side to reveal a young woman seated at a…
Vermeer, Jan (1632-1675) Girl interrupted at Her Music (Onderbreking van de muziek) c.1658–1659 Oil on canvas, 39.4 x 44.5 cm Frick Collection, New York Music-making, a recurring subject in Vermeer’s interior scenes, was associated in the seventeenth century with courtship. In…
Vermeer, Jan (1632-1675) Mistress and Maid (Dame en dienstbode) c.1666–1667 Oil on canvas, 90.2 x 78.7 cm Frick Collection, New York Vermeer chose a large canvas for this composition, which presents two women pondering a newly arrived letter. Depicting an interior…
Renoir, Pierre-Auguste (1841-1919) Le Garçon au chat (Young Boy with a Cat) 1868 Oil on canvas, 123.5 x 66 cm Musée d’Orsay, Paris The Boy with the Cat has not given up all its secrets. This male nude has no equivalent in…
Manet, Édouard (1832-1883) Le déjeuner sur l’herbe (Luncheon on the Grass) 1863 Oil on canvas, 207 x 265 cm Musée d’Orsay, Paris Rejected by the jury of the 1863 Salon, Manet exhibited Le déjeuner sur l’herbe under the title Le Bain…
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) San Giovanni Battista (St John the Baptist) c.1508–1519 Oil on walnut panel, 72.9 x 56.3 cm Musée du Louvre, Paris This painting was probably designed around 1508 and kept by Leonardo da Vinci until his death, to slowly…