German-born American Hudson River School Painter, 1830-1902 Bierstadt was born in Solingen, Germany. His family moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1833. He studied painting with the members of the D??sseldorf School in D??sseldorf, Germany from 1853 to 1857. He taught drawing and painting briefly before devoting himself to painting. Bierstadt began making paintings in New England and upstate New York. In 1859, he traveled westward in the company of a Land Surveyor for the U.S. government, returning with sketches that would result in numerous finished paintings. In 1863 he returned west again, in the company of the author Fitz Hugh Ludlow, whose wife he would later marry. He continued to visit the American West throughout his career. Though his paintings sold for princely sums, Bierstadt was not held in particularly high esteem by critics of his day. His use of uncommonly large canvases was thought to be an egotistical indulgence, as his paintings would invariably dwarf those of his contemporaries when they were displayed together. The romanticism evident in his choices of subject and in his use of light was felt to be excessive by contemporary critics. His paintings emphasized atmospheric elements like fog, clouds and mist to accentuate and complement the feel of his work. Bierstadt sometimes changed details of the landscape to inspire awe. The colors he used are also not always true. He painted what he believed is the way things should be: water is ultramarine, vegetation is lush and green, etc. The shift from foreground to background was very dramatic and there was almost no middle distance Nonetheless, his paintings remain popular. He was a prolific artist, having completed over 500 (possibly as many as 4000) paintings during his lifetime, most of which have survived. Many are scattered through museums around the United States. Prints are available commercially for many. Original paintings themselves do occasionally come up for sale, at ever increasing prices.  Related Paintings of Albert Bierstadt :. | Guerilla Warfare | The Sunset at Monterey Bay, the California Coast | Indian Encampment [Indian Camp in the Mountains] | Wind River Mountains Nebraska Territory | Bridal Veil Falls |
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Lorenzo Lotto
Italian 1480-1556 Lorenzo Lotto Galleries In this last period of his life, Lorenzo Lotto would frequently move from town to town, searching for patrons and commissions. In 1532 he went to Treviso. Next he spent about seven years in the Marches (Ancona, Macerata en Jesi), returning to Venice in 1540. He moved again to Treviso in 1542 and back to Venice in 1545. Finally he went back to Ancona in 1549. This was a productive period in his life, during which he painted several altarpieces and portraits : Santa Lucia before the Judge, 1532, Jesi, Pinacoteca comunale The Sleeping Child Jesus with the Madonna, St. Joseph and St. Catherine of Alexandria, 1533, Bergamo, Accademia Carrara Portrait of a Lady as Lucretia, 1533, National Gallery, London. Holy Family with SS Jerome, Anna and Joachim, 1534, Firenze, Uffizi Holy Family, ca 1537, Paris, Louvre Portrait of a Young Man, Firenze, Uffizi Crucifixion, Monte San Giusto, Church of S Maria in Telusiano Rosary Madonna, 1539, Cingoli, Church of San Nicolo Portrait of a Man, 1541, Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada Bust of a Bearded Man, 1541, ascribed, San Francisco, Fine Arts Museum The Alms of Saint Anthony, 1542, Venezia, church SS Giovanni e Paolo Madonna and four Saints, 1546, Venezia, Church of San Giacomo dell??Orio Portrait of fra?? Gregorio Belo da Vicenza, 1548,New York, Metropolitan Museum Assumption, 1550, Ancona, church San Francesco alle Scale The Crossbowman, 1551, Rome, Pinacoteca Capitolina Portrait of an Old man, ascribed, ca 1552, Saint Petersburg, Ermitage Presentation in the Temple, 1555, Loreto, Palazzo Apostolico A Venetian woman in the guise of Lucretia (1533).At the end of his life it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to earn a living. Furthermore, in 1550 one of his works had an unsuccessful auction in Ancona. As recorded in his personal account book, this deeply disillusioned him. As he had always been a deeply religious man, he entered in 1552 the Holy Sanctuary at Loreto, becoming a lay brother. During that time he decorated the basilica of S Maria and painted a Presentation in the Temple for the Palazzo Apostolico in Loreto. He died in 1556 and was buried, at his request, in a Dominican habit. Giorgio Vasari included Lotto's biography in the third volume of his book Vite. Lorenzo Lotto himself left many letters and a detailed notebook (Libro di spese diverse, 1538-1556), giving a certain insight in his life and work. Among the many painters he influenced are likely Giovanni Busi
Minerva Josephine Chapman
(1858 - 1947) was an American painter. She was known for her work in miniature portraiture, landscape, and still life. She was born in Sand Bank, New York and grew up in Chicago, Illinois. She studied at a number of institutions including Mount Holyoke College (where she graduated from in 1880) and the Art Institute of Chicago. She lived and studied in Paris from the late 1880s to 1915, and again after the first world war, where she established her reputation as an artist. She retired to Palo Alto, California and died at the age of 88.
Eugene Grasset
Swiss-born French Art Nouveau Designer, 1845-1917 Born Eugene Samuel Grasset in Lausanne, Switzerland, his birth year is sometimes stated as 1841. He was raised in an artistic environment as the son of a cabinet designer maker and sculptor. He studied drawing under Francois-Louis David Bocion (1828-1890) and in 1861 went to Zurich to study architecture. After completing his education, he visited Egypt, an experience that would later be reflected in a number of his poster designs. He became an admirer of Japanese art which too influenced some of his creative designs. Between 1869 and 1870, Grasset worked as a painter and sculptor in Lausanne but moved to Paris in 1871 where he designed furniture fabrics and tapestries as well as ceramics and jewelry. His fine art decorative pieces were crafted from ivory, gold and other precious materials in unique combinations and his creations are considered a cornerstone of Art Nouveau motifs and patterns. Grasset poster for Mark Twain Joan of ArcIn 1877 Eugene Grasset turned to graphic design, producing income-generating products such as postcards and eventually postage stamps for both France and Switzerland. However, it was poster art that quickly became his forte. Some of his works became part of the Maitres de l Affiche including his lithograph, Jeanne d Arc Sarah Bernhardt. In 1890, he designed the Semeuse logo used by the dictionary publishers, Editions Larousse. With the growing popularity of French posters in the United States, Grasset was soon contacted by several American companies. In the 1880s, he did his first American commission and more success led to his cover design for the 1892 Christmas issue of Harper Magazine. In 1894 Grasset created The Wooly Horse and The Sun of Austerlitz for The Century Magazine to help advertise their serialized story on the life of Napoleon Bonaparte. The Wooly Horse image proved so popular that Louis Comfort Tiffany recreated it in stained glass. Grasset work for U.S. institutions helped pave the way for Art Nouveau to dominate American art. At the end of the 19th century, Grasset was hired to teach design at Ecole Guerin and Ecole Estienne in Paris. Among his students were Maurice Pillard Verneuil, Augusto Giacometti, Paul Berthon and Otto Ernst Schmidt. At the Universal Exhibition of 1900 in Paris, the G. Peignot et Fils typefoundry, introduced the Grasset typeface, an Italic design Eugene Grasset created in 1898 for use on some of his posters.