Henri Rousseau (1844-1910) was a French artist who only started painting at age 35, and only seriously in his early 40’s after a lifetime as a tax collector. Ridiculed by his critics throughout this life, and regarded as an eccentric, Rousseau won a great following […]
Hals (1582-1666) was a Dutch Golden Age Painter who lived and worked near Haarlem. He was the son of a cloth merchant and studied under the Mannerist painter Van Mander whose influence really isn’t evident in Hals’ body of work. Hals is instrumental in developing […]
After starting to study law upon his father’s request, Edgar Degas abandoned professional study in pursuit of painting to eventually become the prolific French painter we know today. So inspired by Ingres, initially, Degas wanted to be a history painter but later changed direction combining […]
William Hogarth’s life is a true rags-to riches story. Born into a poor middle class family, his father was an unsuccessful schoolmaster and spent time in prison for paid debts. Hogarth (1697-1764) however rose the ranks of London society, and after training as an engraver, […]
Walasse Ting (1929-2010) is a expressive Chinese-American artist who forged a successful international artistic career when he moved to France in 1952 then New York in 1957. Cheerful, colourful and vibrant, Walasse’s work is a testament to his love for women, flowers, birds and animals. […]
Wolf Kahn (born 1927) forged a successful international artistic career in America depicting sensual and colourful landscapes. Moved my the musicality of his childhood, his father was a notable musician, conductor, composer and teacher who fled with his family to New York when Hitler came […]
A recent documentary about Churchill’s love of painting by Andrew Marr was sympathetic, personal and extremely insightful. It tackled the sensitive issues of Churchill’s private life, and health issues including later-life strokes and painting, from which both Churchill and Marr suffered, as well as the […]
Arguably the king of dynamic dance representation, Toulouse-Lautrec was a troubled outcast who ‘sang’ through his energetic colourful brushstrokes and embraced all that was eccentric in early 20th Century Paris. Much to our luck, we now enjoy these vignettes of high-low social interaction in his canvases […]
Kew Gardens – what a treat. It has all the standard wildlife spotting that one can expect in a british park these days – the odd moorhen, Canada goose, ducks and squirrels. More than that, you will be confronted with some of the world’s most celebrated […]
We all love renegades, characters who buck the trend. They, with the benefit of hindsight, propel history forward and break down barriers, offering new ways of thinking, seeing and doing things. Enter two – very different – artists who in the late 19th and early […]