Jp. A Calosse

The eclectic art of which the Carracci family dreamed was realized by Rubens with the ease of genius. However, the problem was much more complicated for a man of the north, who wished to add to it a fusion of the Flemish and Latin spirits, of which the rather pedantic attempts of Romanism had illustrated the difficulties. He achieved it without losing anything of his overflowing personality, his questing imagination, and the enchanting discoveries...

Quiconque a eu la chance de tenir entre ses mains des livres manuscrits du Moyen ge a certainement été ému de ce contact direct avec un passé retrouvé. Les œuvres d'auteurs célèbres, ou parfois même à jamais anonymes, s'animent sous nos yeux : anciens traités de philosophie, de sciences naturelles et de théologie, romans de chevalerie et poèmes courtois, œuvres d'humanistes et de savants théologiens traduisant et commentant les classiques...

Degas was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking, and drawing. His career was long and his style, unlike that of most famous artists who worked into their old age, never ceased developing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism and is especially identified with the subject of dance (over half of his works depict dancers such as The Dance Class or the sculpture Little Ballet Dancer). These display his...

Johannes Vermeer (Delft, 1632 – 1675) Vermeer est le seul peintre correspondant à l'idée que l'on se fait habituellement de la placidité hollandaise. Peutêtre incarne-t-il un genre héroïque de placidité, car aucune de ses peintures ne laisse percer le moindre souffle d'inquiétude. Partout, nous avons l'impression que son coup de pinceau n'est qu'un lent effleurement, d'une assurance consommée, et qu'un reflet dans une bouteille, un rideau...

Cet ouvrage a l'ambition de faire découvrir au lecteur l'art de la gravure en Europe aux XVe et XVIe siècles. Les maîtres de la Renaissance sont considérés comme des modèles de perfection artistique, souvent étudiés et fréquemment copiés.

Pablo Picasso (Málaga, 1881 – Mougins, 1973) Picasso naquit en Espagne et l'on dit même qu'il commença à dessiner avant de savoir parler. Enfant, il fut nstinctivement attiré par les instruments de l'artiste. Il pouvait passer des heures de joyeuse concentration à dessiner des spirales pourvues d'un sens qu'il était seul à connaître. Fuyant les jeux d'enfants, il traça ses premiers tableaux dans le sable. Cette manière précoce de s'exprimer...

Whistler saltó repentinamente a la fama, como una estrella errante en un momento crucial en la historia del arte, un campo en el que fue pionero. Como los impresionistas a los que admiraba, deseaba imponer sus propias ideas. La obra de Whistler puede dividirse en cuatro periodos. El primero puede llamarse periodo de investigación, en el cual recibió la influencia del realismo de Gustave Courbet y del arte japonés. Después, Whistler descubrió...

Vincent van Gogh's life and work are so intertwined that it is hardly possible to observe one without thinking of the other. Van Gogh has indeed become the incarnation of the suffering, misunderstood martyr of modern art, the emblem of the artist as an outsider. An article, published in 1890, gave details about van Gogh's illness. The author of the article saw the painter as "a terrible and demented genius, often sublime, sometimes grotesque, always...

Known for his posters for cabarets and performances, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864- 1901) was the painter of Parisian nightlife par excellence. Completely immerged in the bohemian milieu of the period, he produced numerous paintings and lithographs representing the lower levels of society. More than any other painter of his time, Lautrec stands out as the embodiment of Paris. At night, the city of hidden and frenzied pleasures, as well as of outdoor...

Paul Gauguin was first a sailor, then a successful stockbroker in Paris. In 1874 he began to paint at weekends as a Sunday painter. Nine years later, after a stock-market crash, he felt confident of his ability to earn a living for his family by painting and he resigned his position and took up the painter's brush full time. Following the lead of Cézanne, Gauguin painted still-lifes from the very beginning of his artistic career. He even owned a...