Gainsborough, Thomas (1727-1788) Mrs Siddons 1785 Oil on canvas, 126 × 99.5 cm National Gallery, London Mrs Siddons (1755–1831) was the greatest tragic actress of her time, remaining at the top of her profession for 30 years. Gainsborough painted her in the…
Reynolds, Joshua (1723-1792) A Nymph and Cupid: ‘The Snake in the Grass’ exhibited 1784 Oil on canvas, 124.5 x 99.1 cm Tate Britain, London Compare: Reynolds, Joshua (1723-1792) Cupid Untying the Zone of Venus 1788 Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg
Reynolds, Joshua (1723-1792) Cupid Untying the Zone of Venus 1788 Oil on canvas, 127.5 x 101 cm Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg This is an autograph version of Reynolds‘s famous picture of 1784, painted for Lord Carysfort (now Tate Gallery, London). Carysfort,…
Zurbarán, Francisco de (1598-1664) Santa Casilda (Saint Casilda) c.1630–1635 Oil on canvas, 171 x 107 cm Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid Images of saints depicted alone, holding their attributes and looking out of the picture space were among the most popular compositions within…
Fragonard, Jean-Honoré (1732-1806) Le Colin-Maillard (Blind Man’s Buff) c.1750–1752 Oil on canvas, 116.8 x 91.4 cm Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo In the 18th century the game of blind man’s buff (or bluff) became the symbolic arena for courtship, chance, and the…
Manet, Édouard (1832-1883) La Brioche (The Brioche) 1870 Oil on canvas, 65.1 x 81 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Manet reportedly called still life the “touchstone of the painter.” From 1862 to 1870 he executed several large-scale tabletop scenes…
Magritte, René (1898-1967) Le Dormeur téméraire (The Reckless Sleeper) 1928 Oil on canvas, 116 × 81 x 2 cm Tate Britain, London A figure sleeps in a wooden alcove above a dark cloudy sky. The way into this space is barred…
Laurencin, Marie (1883-1956) L’éventail (The Fan) c.1919 Oil on canvas, 30.5 × 30 cm Tate Britain, London The Fan is painted in Marie Laurencin’s typically restrained palette of blue, rose and grey. It depicts two women staring at the viewer from…
Gainsborough, Thomas (1727-1788) Portrait of Margaret Gainsborough holding a Theorbo c.1777 Oil on canvas, 90.2 × 69.9 cm National Gallery, London This unfinished portrait of Thomas Gainsborough’s youngest daughter, Margaret (1751–1820), playing a theorbo (a kind of lute) unites two particularly personal…
Gainsborough, Thomas (1727-1788) The Artist’s Daughter Margaret c.1772 Oil on canvas, 75.6 × 62.9 cm Tate Britain, London Gainsborough’s younger daughter, Margaret, was in her mid-twenties when her father painted this portrait. At the time she was still living with her elder…