Whistler, James Abbott McNeill (1834-1903) Wapping 1860–1864 Oil on canvas, 72 x 101.8 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington We look slightly down at a woman with pale skin and two men with ruddy complexions sitting at a table near a…
Courbet, Gustave (1819-1877) L’Atelier du peintre (The Painter’s Studio) 1854–1855 Oil on canvas, 361 x 598 cm Musée d’Orsay, Paris The enormous Studio is without doubt Courbet‘s most mysterious composition. However, he provides several clues to its interpretation: “It’s the whole world…
Goya, Francisco de (1746-1828) Autorretrato ante su caballete (Self-portrait at his easel) c.1785 Oil on canvas, 40 x 27 cm Real Academia de San Fernando, Madrid The execution of this canvas coincides with a decisive stage in Goya‘s life in Madrid. In…
Caillebotte, Gustave (1848-1894) Dans un café (In a Café) 1880 Oil on canvas, 153 x 114 cm Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen Caillebotte presented this café scene, typical of modern life, at the fifth Impressionist Exhibition. A life-sized male figure dominates the…
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.…
Tissot, James (1836-1902) Cache-cache (Hide and Seek) c.1877 Oil on wood, 73.4 x 53.9 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington In early 1874 Degas wrote, “Look here, my dear Tissot. . . you positively must exhibit at the Boulevard [in the…
Rousseau, Henri (1844-1910) Fleurs dans un vase (Flowers in a Vase) 1909 Oil on canvas, 45.4 x 32.7 cm Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo For Henri Rousseau, the theme of the still life, especially flowers, offered a pleasant diversion from more ambitious,…