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 :. | Antonio de Covarrubias y Leiva | The Annunciation | descent of the holy ghost | christ on the mount of olives | St Luke |
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Karel Dujardin
1621-1678 Dutch Karel Dujardin Locations Dujardin was born in Amsterdam in 1640. After training with Nicolaes Berchem, he went to Italy when young, and became a member of the Society of Painters at Rome, among whom, he was known as Barba di Becco. In Rome, his works met with general approbation. According to some sources, on his way back to his native country, he contracted considerable debts at Lyon, to free himself from which, he married his old and rich landlady. He went with her to Amsterdam, where his pictures were valued very highly. He soon secretly left his home in that city, probably from dislike of his wife, and went back to Rome in 1675, where he was welcomed by his old friends and admirers, and lived at great expense. After a vist to Tangier he went to Venice, where he died in 1678. Most of his paintings are cabinet paintings of Italianate landscapes and or with farm animals and peasants. His landscapes have spirit and harmony, his figures expression, and his colour the brilliancy which distinguishes his school. His paintings are rare and command a high price. He also published fifty-two etchings of simiar subjects, with great spirit and ease. He painted a single, fine, portrait (probably a self-portrait), and a pair of Baroque religious paintings on the life of St Paul, probably commissioned, as they lie well outside his normal style. One of these, and the portrait, are in the National Gallery, London
Hendrick van Somer
Hendrick van Someren, or Somer (1615, Amsterdam - 1685, Amsterdam), was a Dutch Golden Age painter. According to Houbraken he was the son of the "van Zomeren" who took in the young Adriaen Brouwer after he fled Frans Hals' workshop to try his luck in Amsterdam. Houbraken claimed Henrik van Someren was a good painter of historical allegories, landscapes, and flower still lifes. According to the RKD no works survive in the styles Houbraken mentioned, only "hermits" in the style of Ribera. He was the son of the painter Barend van Someren and the grandson of Aert Mijtens. He was the pupil of Jusepe de Ribera and at least one of his works had a forged signature of Ribera.He is possibly the same painter sometimes referred to as Enrico Fiammingo.
Lemuel Francis Abbott
1760-1803 Lemuel Francis Abbott Locations English painter. He was the son of a clergyman and went to London to study with Francis Hayman shortly before the latter death in 1776; he may have completed his studies in Derby with Joseph Wright of Derby. By the early 1780s Abbott had established a busy portrait practice in London. The formula he adopted for most of his head-and-shoulder portraits can be seen in Sir William Herschel (1785; London, N. Mar. Mus.): the body is parallel to the picture plane, and the sitter head is moved into three-quarter profile, as if his attention has been suddenly distracted. In later portraits, such as those of fellow artists Francesco Bartolozzi (c. 1792; London, Tate) or Joseph Nollekens (c. 1797; London, N.P.G.), the sitter hand or some attribute balances the movement of the head. Only male portraits by Abbott are known, and his patrons were mostly drawn from the professional classes, particularly the Navy; there are several versions of Lord Nelson (e.g. 1798; London, N. Mar. Mus.). His style is crisp but scratchy in technique, and often the anatomy of his figures is inaccurate. Paint is handled in a manner comparable with that of Gainsborough Dupont, but Abbott sense of composition is superior. In 1798 he was certified insane, but he continued to exhibit at the Royal Academy in London for two further years. Several of his works were probably finished by another hand.