German 1485-1545 Hans Baldung Grien Galleries The earliest pictures assigned to him by some are altar-pieces with the monogram H. B. interlaced, and the date of 1496, in the monastery chapel of Lichtenthal near Baden-Baden. Another early work is a portrait of the emperor Maximilian, drawn in 1501 on a leaf of a sketch-book now in the print-room at Karlsruhe. "The Martyrdom of St Sebastian and the Epiphany" (Berlin Museum), fruits of his labour in 1507, were painted for the market-church of Halle in Saxony. Baldung's prints, though D??reresque, are very individual in style, and often in subject. They show little direct Italian influence. His paintings are less important than his prints. He worked mainly in woodcut, although he made six engravings, one very fine. He joined in the fashion for chiaroscuro woodcuts, adding a tone block to a woodcut of 1510.[1] Most of his hundreds of woodcuts were commissioned for books, as was usual at the time; his "single-leaf" woodcuts (ie prints not for book illustration) are fewer than 100, though no two catalogues agree as to the exact number. He was extremely interested in witches and made many images of them in different media, including several very beautiful drawings finished with bodycolour, which are more erotic than his treatments in other techniques. Witch and Dragon. Drawing with bodycolour (b/w repro)Without absolute correctness as a draughtsman, his conception of human form is often very unpleasant, whilst a questionable taste is shown in ornament equally profuse and baroque. Nothing is more remarkable in his pictures than the pug-like shape of the faces, unless we except the coarseness of the extremities. No trace is apparent of any feeling for atmosphere or light and shade. Though Gr??n has been commonly called the Correggio of the north, his compositions are a curious medley of glaring and heterogeneous colours, in which pure black is contrasted with pale yellow, dirty grey, impure red and glowing green. Flesh is a mere glaze under which the features are indicated by lines. (1911) His works are mainly interesting because of the wild and fantastic strength which some of them display. His Eve, the Serpent and Death (National Museum of Canada) shows his strengths well. We may pass lightly over the "Epiphany" of 1507, the "Crucifixion" of 1512, or the "Stoning of Stephen" of 1522, in the Berlin Museum. There is some force in the "Dance of Death" of 1517, in the museum of Basel, or the Madonna of 1530, in the Liechtenstein Gallery at Vienna. Gr??n's best effort is the altarpiece of Freiburg, where the Coronation of the Virgin, and the Twelve Apostles, the Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity and Flight into Egypt, and the Crucifixion, with portraits of donors, are executed with some of that fanciful power which Martin Schongauer bequeathed to the Swabian school. As a portrait painter he is well known. He drew the likeness of Charles V, as well as that of Maximilian; and his bust of Margrave Philip in the Munich Gallery tells us that he was connected with the reigning family of Baden, as early as 1514. At a later period he had sittings from Margrave Christopher of Baden, Ottilia his wife, and all their children, and the picture containing these portraits is still in the grand-ducal gallery at Karlsruhe. Like D??rer and Cranach, Gr??n became a hearty supporter of the Reformation. He was present at the diet of Augsburg in 1518, and one of his woodcuts represents Luther under the protection of the Holy Ghost, which hovers over him in the shape of a dove.  Related Paintings of Hans Baldung Grien :. | merkurius | Saint John on Patmos | Music | The Three Stages of Life,with Death | The Nativity (mk08) |
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Fidelia Bridges
1835-1923 Fidelia Bridges Gallery
Caspar van Wittel
(born Caspar Adriaensz. van Wittel, later a.k.a. Gaspare Vanvitelli, Gasparo degli Occhiali) (1653 - September 13, 1736) was a Dutch Golden Age landscape painter. Van Wittel was born in Amersfoort. He learned painting first from Thomas Jansz van Veenendaal for 4 or 5 years and then from Matthias Withoos for 7 years, until Withoos left Amersfoort. In Amersfoort, he likely was exposed to Dutch landscape artists such as Jan van der Heyden and Gerrit Berckheyde. His first extant works were made in Hoorn in 1672, but he relocated to Rome with his family ca. 1675 and made his career there. Like his former teacher, he joined the Bentvueghels with the nickname "Piktoors" or "Toorts van Amersfoort"(torch of Amersfort). He married in Rome in 1697, and stayed most of his life in that city, though, between 1694 and 1710, he toured Italy and painted in places like Florence, Bologna, Ferrara, Venice, Milan, Piacenza and Naples. He is one of the principal painters of topographical views known as vedute. Gaspar van Wittel died in Rome. His son Luigi would become a famous architect and also carries the italianized family name of Vanvitelli. In Luigi's biography is written that his father was born in July 1656, but Van Wittel's grave in Rome states that he died at the age of 83 in 1736.
Arthur Dove
American 1880-1946 Dove returned to America in 1909 and met Alfred Stieglitz. Stieglitz, the eldest child of a New York rich family and was send to study in Germany at the age of 16 where he was overtaken with the passion of photography. In 1905 he returned to New York with 15 years of experience he was at the front lines to make photography respected as one of the fine art. Alfred Stieglitz was a well known photographer and gallery owner who was very active in promoting modern art in America. In his attempt to educate the art public, he started to introduce other art besides photography. Along with American modernists he would show European work. These pieces had never been seen in the United States.[1] Stieglitz was a New York art world celebrity.[1] Dove made the decision to quit his career as an illustrator but was in need of artistic identity along with emotional bolstering and Stieglitz filled both.[5] The photographer was 61, 16 years younger than Dove and with Anglo-Saxon heritage, being Protestant with a small town background was in contrast to Stieglitz??s experience being urban, Jewish and rooted in European culture. Dove was gentle, quite, and a good friend while Stieglitz was argumentative and shrewd. They both had in common that they believed art forms should embody modern spiritual values not materialism and tradition. Stieglitz was later the husband of the famed painter Georgia O??Keeffe. With Stiegliz??s support, Dove produced what are known as the first purely abstract paintings to come out of America. Dove exhibited his works at Stieglitz??s ??291?? gallery in 1910 and in 1912 when he had his first one-man exhibition. The 1910 show ??Younger American Painters?? put Dove in the company of his old friend Maurer. Dove showed one painting, a large still life painted in France ??The Lobster??, which would be his last representational work. The 1912 show at the ??291??, Doves only one man showed a group of pastels that came to be know as ??Ten Commandments??, would be the first public display of nonillusionistic art by an American. In the two years since meeting Stieglitz Dove found himself as a leader in international art developments. From 1912 to 1946 Dove showed his work yearly at Stieglitz??s galleries, ??291??, ??intimate Gallery?? and ??An American Place.?? Dove??s works were based in natural forms and he referred to his form of abstraction as ??extraction,?? in essence, extracting the essential forms of a scene from a nature.