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 :. | St Peter and St Paul | The Annunciation | The Baptism of Christ | The Stigmatization of St Francis | Detail of The Christ is driving businessman in the fane |
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George P.A.Healy
American Painter, 1813-1894 American painter, active also in Europe. At the age of 17 he set up a studio in Boston after receiving encouragement from Thomas Sully, who was painting portraits there. Despite his youth and lack of training, he presented himself to the society figure Mrs Harrison Gray Otis and asked if he might paint her portrait (untraced); she agreed and later sponsored Healy's first trip abroad. In 1834 he entered the studio of Antoine-Jean Gros; the French master's suicide the following year ended Healy's only sustained period of artistic study. In Gros's studio he first encountered Thomas Couture, but they did not meet again until the next decade
caulery
ball at the valois court.c 1582 rennes, museum
Serhii Vasylkivsky
(October 19, 1854, Izium e October 7, 1917, Kharkiv) was one of the most prolific Ukrainian artists of the pre-revolutionary period and an expert on Ukrainian ornamentation and folk art. Vasylkivsky grew up in an environment conducive to his development as an artist. He was born and spent his childhood in the picturesque surroundings of Izium, a city in the historical region of Sloboda Ukraine, and today's Kharkiv Oblast. The future painter had a chumak grandfather whose roots reached cossack ancestral lines. Vasylkivsky's father was a writer and taught his son the aesthetics of proper calligraphy. His mother, through her folk songs set the foundation which provided the inspiration for Vasylkivsky's art later in life. When he was seven years old, his parents moved to Kharkiv, which at the time was a significant cultural center of Sloboda Ukraine. Vasylkivsky's first art lessons were given at the Kharkiv gymnasium by Dmytro Bezperchy, a student of Karl Briullov. During the years of his study, Vasylkivsky was able to use the extensive book collection of his relative and poet, V. Alexandrov. Among these were the works by Ivan Kotlyarevsky, Taras Shevchenko, and Nikolai Gogol, which made a strong impression on the young artist. After five years of education at the gymnasium and at the demand of his father, Vasylkivsky began studies at the Kharkiv Veterinary School. This lasted until 1873, when Vasylkivsky left veterinary studies due to his parents inability to pay for tuition. For a while, he worked as a civil servant in Kharkiv.