Greek-born Spanish Mannerist Painter, 1541-1614 Considered a representative of late Renaissance Spanish art, El Greco was actually born in Greece, on the island of Crete. After studying in Venice under Titian, El Greco settled in Toledo, Spain in 1577. At the time he was wildly popular, his emotionally religious paintings being just the ticket for the hometown of the Spanish Inquisition. After his death his work was largely ignored until the beginning of the 20th century; now he considered one of the inspired geniuses of Western art. His distinctive style features bold shapes and colors, with elongated and slightly distorted figures. In Toledo El Greco was in constant demand and liked living large: he maintained a private orchestra to accompany his meals.  Related Paintings of El Greco :. | Mary Magdalen in Penitence | Antonio de Covarrubias y Leiva | Fray Hortensio Felix Paravicino | The Entombment of Christ | St.Jerome as a Cardinal |
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Merson, Luc-Olivier
French Painter, 1846-1920 French painter and illustrator. He was the son of the painter and art critic Charles-Olivier Merson (1822-1902) and trained initially at the Ecole de Dessin in Paris under Gustave Adolphe Chassevent (1818-1901) and then at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts under Isidore-Alexandre-Augustin Pils. He made his d?but at the Salon in 1867 and won the Grand Prix de Rome in 1869 with the melodramatic work, the Soldier of Marathon (1869; Paris, Ecole N. Sup. B.-A.). As a prizewinner he then spent five years in Italy, where he was impressed and influenced by the works of the Italian Primitives, as is apparent in such works as St Edmund, King and Martyr (1871; Troyes, Mus. B.-A. & Arch?ol.), with its muted colours and rigid composition. In the Salon of 1875 he exhibited Sacrifice for the Country, St Michael, which had been commissioned as a design for a Gobelins tapestry for the Salle des Ev?ques in the Panth?on, Paris. Soon afterwards he was chosen to decorate the Galerie de St Louis in the Palais de Justice, Paris, with scenes from the life of Louis IX. This resulted in two large works, Louis Opening the Doors of the Gaols on his Accession and Louis Condemning Sire Enguerrand de Coucy (both 1877). He also used historical, often religious, subjects for his smaller-scale works, as in St Francis of Assisi Preaching to the Fish (1880; Nantes, Mus. B.-A.).
Wladyslaw Czachorski
(1850-1911) was a Polish artist. In 1866 Czachorski went to the Warsaw Drawing School and had Rafał Hadziewicz as a peer. Then he spent one year at the Dresden Academy and from there went to Munich Academy (1869-1873) some of his classmates were: Hermann Anschetz, Karl von Piloty, and Alexander Wagner. He received Magna Cum Laude (the Grand Silver Medal) from Munich, and proceeded to travel to France, Italy and Poland after his graduation. He held membership to Berlin academy and has also organizer and jurist of international exhibitions even though he had his home in Munich. He was awarded the Bavarian Order of Saint Michael in 1893. He had many art exhibitions in Poland. Some took place in Krakew, Warsaw, Łedź, and Lwew. After his death in 1911, a posthumous showing was held at the Warsaw "Zachęta" Society of Fine Arts. Some of Czachorski's noted works were: still lifes, painted portraits, and Shakespearean scenes. Some of these that he painted were: Julliette's Funeral (1873), Hamlet (1873), and, most notably, Hamlet Receiving the Players (1875); widely recognized as his greatest works. His paintings can be found in all the more famous and sizable museums of Poland. His works also make appearances in private collections in many countries including: Germany, Poland, England and the United States. They can also be found in foreign museums such as Lwew, Bremen and the Academia de San Carlos in Mexico City.
Ion Georgescu
1856-1898