Parkstone International: 854 books

Influenced by the masters of Antiquity, the genius of Michelangelo and Baroque sculpture, particularly of Bernini, Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) is one of the most renowned artists in history. Though Rodin is considered a founder of modern sculpture, he did not set out to critique past classical traditions....

Romanticism was a reaction against the Neoclassicism that invaded the 19th century, and marked a veritable intellectual rupture. Found in the writings of Victor Hugo and Lord Byron, amongst others, its ideas are expressed in painting by Eugène Delacroix, Caspar David Friedrich and William Blake....

Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) has long been considered one of the greatest artists in European history. His paintings have launched imitations and homages, including best-selling novels, a recent TV series, and even a handful of popular films. Now, for the first time, this lovely text by Émile Michel...

A painter and printmaker of the Rococo movement, Jean- Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806) is recognised as one of France’s most prolific artists. His genius however almost went forgotten after the Revolution due to the expanding influence of neo-classicism and the loss of his bourgeoisie clientele. He...

Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) a longtemps été considéré comme l’un des plus grands artistes européens. Ses peintures suscitèrent de nombreuses imitations et hommages, dont des romans à succès, des séries télévisées récentes ainsi que quelques films populaires. Pour la première fois,...

Giuseppe Arcimboldo (Milan, 1530 environ –1593) A ses débuts, les contemporains d'Arcimboldo n'auraient pas pu imaginer qu'il allait réaliser ce qui le rend célèbre aujourd'hui. Ses oeuvres juvéniles étaient habituellement destinées aux cathédrales de Milan ou de Monza, mais c'est à partir...

Harmensz van Rijn Rembrandt (Leyde, 1606 – Amsterdam, 1669) Tout chez Rembrandt est un mystère complet, son esprit, son caractère, sa vie, son œuvre et sa méthode de peinture. Mais ce que nous pouvons deviner de sa nature profonde à travers sa peinture et les incidents triviaux ou tragiques...

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (Montauban, 1780 – Paris, 1867) Ingres sembla d'abord destiné à reprendre le flambeau de son maître David, dans l'art à la fois du portrait et de la peinture historique. Il gagna le Prix de Rome en 1801, où il ne se rendit que 6 ans plus tard à cause de la situation...

Hieronymus Bosch (S’Hertogenbosch, 1450 – 1516) Né au milieu du XVe siècle, Jérôme Bosch fait l'expérience d'un monde pris dans les luttes religieuses, où les valeurs médiévales traditionnelles commencent à s'effondrer. Les travaux du peintre sont autant de visions de cette décrépitude...

Memling (Hans Memling) (Seligenstadt, 1433 – Bruges, 1494) On sait très peu de choses sur la vie de Memling. On suppose qu'il était d'ascendance allemande et né à Mayence. Mais il est établi qu'il peignit à Bruges, partageant avec les van Eyck, qui avaient aussi oeuvré dans cette ville, l'honneur...

Degas was closest to Renoir in the impressionist’s circle, for both favoured the animated Parisian life of their day as a motif in their paintings. Degas did not attend Gleyre’s studio; most likely he first met the future impressionists at the Café Guerbois. He started his apprenticeship in 1853...

Ornans, Courbet’s birthplace, is near the beautiful valley of the Doubs River, and it was here as a boy, and later as a man, that he absorbed the love of landscape. He was by nature a revolutionary, a man born to oppose existing order and to assert his independence; he had that quality of bluster...

From the time he set up his first studio at the tender age of sixteen, Sir Anthony Van Dyck (1599-1641) was a legend in the art world. Rubens, whom he studied with as a child, said that he was his most talented pupil, and he went on to spectacularly fulfill this promise with a career as a celebrated...

Modigliani (1884-1920) was a painter of great unhappiness in his native Italy and felt only sorrow in his adopted country of France. Out of this discontent came forth Modigliani’s original work, which was influenced by African art, the Cubists, and drunken nights in Montparnasse. His portrayal of...