1629-1667 Dutch Gabriel Metsu Galleries One of his earliest pictures is the "Lazarus" at the Strassburg Museum, painted under the influence of Jan Steen. In 1653 under the influence of Rembrandt he painted "Woman taken in Adultery," a large picture which is now in the Louvre. To the same period belong the "Departure of Hagar," formerly in the Thore collection, and the "Widow's Mite" at the Schwerin Gallery. But he probably observed that sacred art was ill suited to his temper, or he found the field too strongly occupied, and turned to other subjects for which he was better fitted. That at one time he was deeply impressed by the vivacity and bold technique of Frans Hals can be gathered from Lord Lonsdale's picture of "Women at a Fishmonger's Shop." What Metsu undertook and carried out from the first with surprising success was the low life of the market and tavern, contrasted, with wonderful versatility, by incidents of high life and the drawing-room. In no single instance do the artistic lessons of Rembrandt appear to have been lost upon him. The same principles of light and shade which had marked his schoolwork in the "Woman taken in Adultery" were applied to subjects of quite a different kind. A group in a drawing-room, a series of groups in the market-place, or a single figure in the gloom of a tavern or parlour, was treated with the utmost felicity by fit concentration and gradation of light, a warm flush of tone pervading every part, and, with that, the study of texture in stuffs was carried as far as it had been by Ter Borch or Gerard Dou, if not with the finish or the brio of De Hooch. One of the best pictures of Metsu's manhood is the "Market-place of Amsterdam," at the Louvre, respecting which it is difficult to distribute praise in fair proportions, so excellent are the various parts, the characteristic movement and action of the dramatis personae, the selection of faces, the expression and the gesture, and the texture of the things depicted. Equally fine, though earlier, are the "Sportsman" (dated 1661) and the "Tavern" (also 1661) at the Hague and Dresden Museums, and the "Game-Dealer's Shop," also at Dresden, with the painter's signature and 1662. Gabriel Metsu, Man Writing a Letter (1662-1665), Oil on canvas, National Gallery of Ireland, DublinAmong the five examples of the painter in the Wallace Collection, are "The Tabby Cat," and "The Sleeping Sportsman," which cost Lord Hertford £ 3000, is an admirable example technically considered. Among his finest representations of home life are the "Repast" at the Hermitage in St Petersburg; the "Mother nursing her Sick Child" in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam; the "Amateur Musicians" at the Hague Gallery; the "Duet" and the "Music Lesson" at the National Gallery, London, and many more examples at nearly all the leading European galleries. Five of his painting are in Dresden, collected by August the Strong.  Related Paintings of Gabriel Metsu :. | The King Drinks (mk08) | The Music Lesson | Portrait of Jan Jacobsz Hinlopen and His Family | The Old Drinker | A Hunter Getting Dressed after Bathing |
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SASSOFERRATO
Italian Baroque Era Painter, 1609-1685 Italian painter and draughtsman. He served his apprenticeship under his father, Tarquinio Salvi. Tradition has it that he later (it is not known exactly when) studied with Domenichino in Naples, where he certainly had the opportunity of meeting Francesco Cozza and where he painted the Adoration of the Shepherds (Naples, Capodimonte). As a young man, Sassoferrato probably travelled often in the areas bordering on the Marches, for example in Umbria and particularly Perugia, where from 1630 he was connected with the Benedictine convent of S Pietro, for which he painted canvases of ten saints for the ceiling of the sacristy of the convent church
Henri Regnault
Paris 1843 - Buzenval 1871. French Academic Painter, 1843-1871. Studied under Alexandre Cabanel. Specializes in Orientalism. Painter, son of Victor Regnault. He showed exceptional abilities as a draughtsman from an early age. After a traditional classical education he was sent in 1860 to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, where he studied with Louis Lamothe (1822-69) and Alexandre Cabanel. In 1866 he won the Prix de Rome competition with Thetis Giving the Weapons of Vulcan to Achilles (Paris, Ecole N. Sup. B.-A.). In Italy he began several other ambitious history paintings, including Automedon Taming the Horses of Achilles
Richard Caton Woodville
1856 - 1927 was an English artist and illustrator, who is best known for being one of the most prolific and effective painters of battle scenes in the late nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries. The son of American Richard Caton Woodville (The First), who was also a talented artist, Woodville studied at the Dusseldorf School under the great Prussian military artist Wilhelm Camphausen, and then Eduard von Gebhardt, before briefly studying in Russia and then Paris under Gerome. Woodville spent most of his career working for the Illustrated London News where he quickly developed a reputation as a talented reporter and writer, but was also published in Cornhill Magazine, Strand Magazine, and The Tatler. Richard Caton Woodville first experienced battle first-hand when he was sent by the Illustrated London News to report upon the Russo-Turkish War (1877 C 1878), and then again in the 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War where he made numerous sketches, and also obtained photographs of the trenches at Tel-e-Kebir for his friend and co-artist Alphonse-Marie-Adolphe de Neuville whom had been commissioned to paint a scene of the battle. In 1879 Woodville's Before Leuthen, Dec 3rd, 1757 was exhibited in the Royal Academy. It proved popular, and afterwards he began to regularly be exhibited in Burlington House, where 21 of his battle paintings were eventually shown. His most popular works there were ones that dealt with contemporary wars, such as the Second Anglo-Afghan War, Candahar [sic], and Maiwand, Saving the Guns (Walker Art Gallery), the Zulu War, and the First Boer War. His works from Egypt were exhibited at the Fine Art Society in 1883, where his painting The Moonlight Charge at Kassassin proved very popular. The following year he exhibited by Royal Command another painting he had done of the war in Egypt, entitled The Guards at Tel-e-Kebir (Royal Collection). He continued to paint scenes of battle, and few battles or wars that Great Britain fought during his life were not touched upon by him, including the Second Boer War, and World War I. Despite his precocious talent for capturing the dramatic moments of contemporary battles, Woodville also enjoyed recreating historical scenes in both oil, and watercolour. The Illustrated London News commissioned him to complete a commemorative special series recreating the most famous British Battles of history. He depicted The Charge of the Light Brigade (Royal Collection, Madrid) and The Charge of the 21st Lancers at Omdurman (Walker Art Gallery), Battle of Blenheim, Battle of Badajos and several Battle of Waterloo pictures. During World War I, Woodville was compelled to return to the depiction of current events, and three of his Great War works were displayed in the Royal Academy.