El Greco (1541-1614) Cristo en la cruz (Christ on the Cross) c.1600–1610 Oil on canvas, 193 x 116 cm Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland El Greco (Spanish for “the Greek”) was trained on his native island, Crete, as a painter of…
Bracquemond, Félix (1833-1914) Le Bain (The Bath) c.1900 Brush, ink, chalk and gouache, 59.1 x 44 cm Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Bracquemond drew extensively and promoted the medium as the source of all artistic practice. This drawing relates to Félix…
Bouguereau, William-Adolphe (1825-1905) Arion sur un hippocampe (Arion on a Sea Horse) 1855 Oil on fabric, 71.3 x 111.8 cm Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Arion on a Sea Horse and Bacchante on a Panther (pair). These paintings are from a…
Valadon, Suzanne (1865-1938) Nu couché (Reclining Nude) 1928 Oil on cardboard, 60 x 80.48 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Suzanne Valadon posed as a model for the artists Renoir, Degas, and Toulouse-Lautrec before she began painting herself in 1893.…
Gauguin, Paul (1848-1903) Femme tahitienne (Tahitian Woman) c.1894 Charcoal and pastel on paper, mounted on millboard, 54.9 x 49.5 cm Brooklyn Museum, New York In 1890 Paul Gauguin wrote of his attraction to the French colony of Tahiti in a manner…
Renoir, Pierre-Auguste (1841-1919) Baigneuse blonde (Blonde Bather) 1881 Oil on canvas, 81.6 x 65.4 cm Clark Art Institute, Williamstown Compare: Renoir, Auguste (1841-1919) La Baigneuse blonde c.1880–1881 Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Renoir, Auguste (1841-1919) La Baigneuse blonde 1882 Pinacoteca…
Caravaggio (1571-1610) Bacco (Bacchus) c.1598 Oil on canvas, 95 x 85 cm Galleria degli Uffizi, Firenze This painting is part of the author’s early series of half-length portraits painted ‘in chiaro’, which includes works such as the ‘Fruttaiolo’ (Boy with a…
Guercino (1591-1666) Il ritorno del figliol prodigo (The Return of the Prodigal Son) 1654–1655 Oil on canvas, 155.6 x 146.1 cm Timken Museum of Art, San Diego The parable depicted by Il Guercino (a nickname meaning “squint-eyed”) is the one most…
Modigliani, Amedeo (1884-1920) Nu féminin assis (Seated Female Nude) c.1916 Oil on canvas, 92.4 x 59.8 cm Courtauld Institute of Art, London This is one of a series of celebrated female nudes which Modigliani painted in 1916 and 1917. His unusual…