Velázquez, Diego (1599-1660) Venus del Espejo (Venus at her Mirror, The Rokeby Venus) 1647–1651 Oil on canvas, 122.5 x 177 cm National Gallery, London This is the only surviving female nude painted by Velázquez. The subject was rare in seventeenth-century Spain,…
Manet, Édouard (1832-1883) Olympia 1863 Oil on canvas, 130.5 x 191 cm Musée d’Orsay, Paris When Edouard Manet’s painting Olympia was exhibited in Paris in 1865, it was met by the critics and general public with jeers, laughter, criticism, and distain. Manet had depicted his model, Victorine…
Van Eyck, Jan (c.1390-1441) Portrait of Giovanni (?) Arnolfini and his Wife 1434 Oil on oak, 82.2 x 60 cm National Gallery, London This must be one of the most famous paintings in the world, and one of the most intriguing.…
Van Gogh, Vincent (1853-1890) Vincent’s Bedroom in Arles (F 483, JH 1793) 1889 Oil on canvas, 57.3 x 73.5 cm Musée d’Orsay, Paris Compare: Van Gogh, Vincent (1853-1890) The Bedroom 1888 Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam Van Gogh, Vincent (1853-1890) The Bedroom 1889 Art…
Bazille, Frédéric (1841-1870) L’ambulance improvisée (Improvised Field Hospital, Monet) 1865 Oil on canvas, 48 x 65 cm Musée d’Orsay, Paris This painting of Claude Monet confined to bed with an injured leg, was painted in the summer of 1865. At the beginning…