Rousseau, Henri (1844-1910) Un bois tropical, combat du tigre et du taureau (In a Tropical Forest. Struggle between Tiger and Bull) 1908–1909 Oil on canvas, 46 x 55 cm Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg Henri Rousseau acquired the nickname “Douanier” (“Customs Officer”) because…
Rousseau, Henri (1844-1910) La Seine à Meudon (Outskirts of Paris) 1897–1905 Oil on fabric, 37.8 x 45.8 cm Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Rousseau once said to Picasso: “We are the two greatest artists of this era, you in the Egyptian style,…
Rousseau, Henri (1844-1910) Une soirée au carnaval (Carnival Evening) 1886 Oil on canvas, 117.3 x 89.5 cm Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia An air of mystery pervades this wintry forest landscape. Dressed in festive carnival costumes, a lone couple stands in…
Rousseau, Henri (1844-1910) Rendez-vous dans la forêt (Rendezvous in the Forest) 1889 Oil on canvas, 92 x 73 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington Beyond a dense screen of stylized, dark brown tree trunks, bending branches, and sage and moss-green leaves, a…
Rousseau, Henri (1844-1910) Les joueurs de football (The Football Players) 1908 Oil on canvas, 100.3 x 81.1 cm Guggenheim Museum, New York Henri Rousseau endured the art-historical misfortune of being a working-class late bloomer—he was a Sunday painter who only began to…
Vermeer, Jan (1632-1675) View of Delft (Gezicht op Delft) c.1660–1661 Oil on canvas, 96.5 x 115.7 cm Mauritshuis, The Hague View of Delft today: This is the most famous cityscape of the Dutch seventeenth century. The interplay of light and shade,…
Vermeer, Jan (1632-1675) The Little Street (Het Straatje, Delft) c.1658 Oil on canvas, 54.3 x 44 cm Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam This is an unusual painting in Vermeer’s oeuvre, and remarkable for its time as a portrait of ordinary houses. The composition is…
Mantegna, Andrea (c.1431-1506) Orazione nell’orto (Agony in the Garden) c.1455–1456 Egg tempera on wood, 62.9 × 80 cm National Gallery, London Christ is shown in prayer. Aware that his disciple Judas had betrayed him, he left Jerusalem and took refuge in…
Mantegna, Andrea (c.1431-1506) Morte della Vergine (Death of the Virgin) c.1462 Oil on wood, 54.5 x 42 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid The Virgin Mary lies on her deathbed, surrounded by eleven Apostles. Through the window, the Borgo di San Giorgio and…
Bellini, Giovanni (c.1430-1516) Allegoria sacra (Sacred Allegory) c.1490–1500 Oil on wood panel, 73 x 119 cm Galleria degli Uffizi, Firenze One of the most enigmatic and fascinating works of the Italian Renaissance, this painting by Bellini shows the Madonna seated on…