Born #onthisday1875 Gertrude Whitney sculptor art patron collector & founder of Whiteny Museum of American Art in New York City Born into wealthy Vanderbilt family & married into Whitney family First public commission was Aspiration a life-size plaster male nude for New York …
…Signature works inc: Self-Portrait as Allegory of Painting Beatrice Cenci Judith and Holofernes Catafalque of Elisabetta Sirani Portia Wounding Her Thigh Judith with the Head of Holofernes Virgin and Child Allegory of Justice Charity & Prudence St Joseph with the Infant Jesus
Born #onthisday1638 Elisabetta Sirani prolific Italian #painter specializing in historical themes Master of #Baroque style at just 19 produced 200+ paintings 15 etchings hundreds of drawings & 13 public altarpieces Employed dramatic contrasts of light & shade virtuoso brushwork…
… Later in career Bierstadt's work fell out of critical favour & was attacked for its overly theatrical vibe Often grouped with the Rocky Mountain School
+ Cervantes Dante Milton Rabelais & Balzac Doré illustrated oversized edition of The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe Later illustrated new edition of Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner Tennyson’s Idyllis of the King The Divine Comedy & contributed to The Illustrated London Weekly
Born #onthisday1878 Augustus John Welsh #painter #draughtsman & #etcher Important exponent of #PostImpressionism in the U.K. Known initially for his #drawings & #etchings by 1920s he was Britain's leading #portaitpainter recognized for his psychological insights into his subjects
… Qi Baishi theorized that "paintings must be something between likeness and unlikeness, much like today's vulgarians, but not like to cheat popular people”
Born #onthisday1869 Henri Matisse iconic French #artist #sculptor #printmaker #draughtsman famed for masterful colour & fluid draughtsmanship 1 of #fauvism’s Big Beasts Rigorous technique emphasized flattened forms & decorative pattern Helped revolutionise #painting & sculpture
Born #onthisday1869 Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée French #Rococo #painter Won Grand Prix de Rome for painting (1749) elected member of Academie royale de peinture et de sculpture (1755) Career blossomed in Paris leading to appointment as court painter 2 Elizabeth Empress of Russia
Born #onthisday1960 Jean Michel Bisquiat gritty street-smart #graffitiart successfully transcended "downtown" origins to blaze across international art gallery circuit emerging as 1 of most celebrated & most commercial American "naif" painters of #Neo-Expressionist movement …