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.Jerome | La anunciacion | The Disrobing of Christ | assumption of the virgin,detail | The Despoiling of Christ (mk08) | Related Artists:
POTTER, PaulusDutch Baroque Era Painter, 1625-1654
Son of Pieter Potter. He was related through his mother, Aechtie Pouwels (d 1636), to the wealthy and powerful von Egmont and Semeyns families, who held important offices in Enkhuizen and at the court in The Hague. He worked in his father's studio in Amsterdam during the 1630s and, like him, painted history subjects that show the strong influence of Claes Moeyaert, with whom Paulus may also have studied. In the painting Abraham Returning from Canaan he adapted the landscape setting from an etching by Moses van Uyttenbroeck and the figures from works by Moeyaert from over ten years earlier. Significantly, however, he redistributed the numerous animals and figures that Moeyaert had aligned evenly across the frontal plane; Potter placed them to one side, permitting a view into the deep distance where other animals can be seen. Potter followed his father more than Moeyaert in searching for ways to integrate his figures with the landscape,
Jan Brueghel the Younger(September 13, 1601 C September 1, 1678) was a Flemish Baroque painter, and the son of Jan Brueghel the Elder.
He was trained by his father and spent his career producing works in a similar style. Along with his brother Ambrosius, he produced landscapes, allegorical scenes and other works of meticulous detail. Brueghel also copied works by his father and sold them with his father's signature. His work is distinguishable from that of his parent by being less well executed and lighter.
Jan the Younger was traveling in Italy when his father died of cholera and swiftly returned to take control of the Antwerp studio. He soon established himself and was made dean of the Guild of Saint Luke in 1630. That same year he was commissioned by the French court to paint Adam Cycle. In the following years, he also produced paintings for the Austrian court, and worked independently in Paris, before returning to Antwerp in 1657. He collaborated with a number of prominent artists including Rubens, Hendrick van Balen (1575-1632), Adriaen Stalbemt (1580-1682), Lucas Van Uden (1596-1672), David Teniers the Younger and his father-in-law Janssen. Jan the Younger's best works are his extensive landscapes, either under his own name or made for other artists such as Hendrick van Balen as backgrounds.
Charles Wild1781-1835