Van Dyck, Anthony (1599-1641) Portrait of a Judge c.1620 Oil on canvas, 117 x 98 cm Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris With its two influences—that of the Antwerp tradition complemented by the Venetian influence—this splendid portrait of a magistrate could only have been executed…
Bellini, Giovanni (c.1430-1516) Madonna in trono col Bambino (Madonna Enthroned with Child) 1510 Oil on wood panel, 131 x 103 cm Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris The composition is highly structured and the various planes create a sense of depth. The Virgin is seated…
Perugino (c.1446-1523) Madonna col Bambino (Madonna and Child) c.1470 Oil on wood, 61 x 41 cm Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris The position of the infant Jesus in the work by Perugino is similar to that in the painting by Botticelli. This is explained…
Uccello, Paolo (1397-1475) San Giorgio e il drago (Saint George and the Dragon) 1430–1435 Oil on wood panel, 131 x 103 cm Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris The painting on wood by Paolo Uccello represents Saint George running the dragon through with his lance,…
Poussin, Nicolas (1594-1665) Paysage avec Polyphème (Landscape with Polyphemus) 1649 Oil on canvas, 148.5 x 197.5 cm Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg Set into a Classical landscape are figures taken from Ovid’s Metamorphoses (13: 750-897). The one-eyed Cyclope Polyphemus fell in love with…
Caillebotte, Gustave (1848-1894) Régate à Trouville (Regatta at Trouville) 1884 Oil on canvas, 60.3 × 73 cm Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo In a view that seems like an uncomposed snapshot, summer villas hug the cliffs above the English Channel at Trouville,…
Courbet, Gustave (1819-1877) Le treillis (The Trellis) 1862 Oil on canvas, 109.9 × 135.3 cm Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Summer flowers are the heart of this painting. Full-blown, they surge across the surface, engulfing the young woman whose dress is even…
Gauguin, Paul (1848-1903) Te Rerioa (The Dream) 1897 Oil on canvas, 95.1 x 130.2 cm Courtauld Institute of Art, London Paul Gauguin painted this striking work a few years after settling in Tahiti, a French colony in the southern Pacific, and only…
Renoir, Pierre-Auguste (1841-1919) Les Environs de Pont-Aven (Outskirts of Pont-Aven) c.1888–1890 Oil on canvas, 54.5 x 65 cm Courtauld Institute of Art, London In the late 1880s, Pierre-Auguste Renoir made several visits to Pont-Aven, an artists’ colony in Brittany where Paul Gauguin…
Signac, Paul (1863-1935) Saint-Tropez c.1893 Oil and graphite on panel, 18.8 x 27.1 cm Courtauld Institute of Art, London Signac moved to St-Tropez in 1892. He was the first Parisian artist to settle in this remote Mediterranean fishing village. He sought ‘sky,…