Russian Rococo Era Painter , 1727/1729-1802 Russian painter and teacher. He came from a family of serfs, belonging to the Counts Sheremetev, that produced several painters and architects. In about 1746-7 he was a pupil of Georg Christoph Grooth (1716-49), who painted portraits of the Sheremetev family. With Grooth, Argunov worked on the decoration of the court church at Tsarskoye Selo (now Pushkin). A full-length icon of St John of Damascus (1749; Pushkin, Pal.-Mus.), in Rococo style, is distinguished by its secular, decorative character. The Dying Cleopatra (1750; Moscow, Tret'yakov Gal.) is typical of Rococo decorative painting of the mid-18th century, with its striking combination of light, soft tones. Argunov subsequently painted in a quite different style, mainly producing portraits, of which about 60 are known. Among the first of these are pendant portraits of Ivan Lobanov-Rostovsky and his wife (1750 and 1754; St Petersburg, Rus. Mus.), in which the sitters are idealized, as in ceremonial court portraits.   Related Paintings of Ivan Argunov :. | Self-portrait | Portrait of Alexander Dmitriev | Portrait of Peasant Woman in Russian Costume | Portrait of an Unknown Woman in Russian Costume | Portrait of P.B. Sheremetev |
Related Artists:
Delaunay, Robert
French Cubist Painter, 1885-1941 French painter, printmaker and writer. Taking Cubism as one of his points of departure, he first developed a vocabulary of colour planes only distantly dependent on observed motifs, and by the 1930s he had arrived at a purely self-sufficient language of geometric forms. He remained active as a theoretician until the end of his life,
Sienese school
The Sienese School of painting flourished in Siena, Italy between the 13th and 15th centuries and for a time rivaled Florence, though it was more conservative, being inclined towards the decorative beauty and elegant grace of late Gothic art. Its most important representatives include Duccio, whose work shows Byzantine influence; his pupil Simone Martini; Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti; Domenico and Taddeo di Bartolo; Sassetta and Matteo di Giovanni. Unlike the naturalistic Florentine art, there is a mystical streak in Sienese art, characterized by a common focus on miraculous events, with less attention to proportions, distortions of time and place, and often dreamlike coloration. In the 16th century the Mannerists Beccafumi and Il Sodoma worked there. While Baldassare Peruzzi was born and trained in Siena, his major works and style reflect his long career in Rome. The economic and political decline of Siena by the 16th century, and its eventual subjugation by Florence, largely checked the development of Sienese painting, although it also meant that a good proportion of Sienese works in churches and public buildings were not discarded or destroyed by new paintings or rebuilding. Siena remains a remarkably well-preserved Italian late-Medieval town.
Francois-Joseph Heim
1787-1865 French Francois-Joseph Heim Gallery He was born at Belfort. He early distinguished himself at the Ecole Centrale of Strassburg, and in 1803 entered the studio of Vincent at Paris. In 1807 he obtained the first prize, and in 1812 his picture of The Return of Jacob (Musee de Bordeaux) won for him a gold medal of the first class, which he again obtained in 1817, when he exhibited, together with other works, a St John-bought by Vivant Denon. In 1819 the Resurrection of Lazarus (Cathedral Autun), the Martyrdom of St Cyr (St Gervais), and two scenes from the life of Vespasian (ordered by the king) attracted attention. In 1823 the Re-erection of the Royal Tombs at St Denis, the Martyrdom of St Laurence (Nôtre Dame) and several full-length portraits increased the painter popularity; and in 1824, when he exhibited his great canvas, the Massacre of the Jews (Louvre), Heim was rewarded with the Legion of Honour. In 1827 appeared the King giving away Prizes at the Salon of 1824 (Louvre-engraved by Jazet) the picture by which Heim is best known and Saint Hyacinthe. Heim was now commissioned to decorate the Gallery Charles X (Louvre). Though ridiculed by the romantists, Heim succeeded Regnault at the Institute in 1834, shortly after which he commenced a series of drawings of the celebrities of his day, which are of much interest. His decorations of the Conference room of the Chamber of Deputies were completed in 1844; and in 1847 his works at the Salon Champ de Mai and Reading a Play at the Theatre Francais were the signal for violent criticisms. Yet something like a turn of opinion in his favour took place at the exhibition of 1851; his powers as draughtsman and the occasional merits of his composition were recognized, and toleration extended even to his colour. Heim was awarded the great gold medal, and in 1855-having sent to the Salon no less than sixteen portraits, amongst which may be cited those of Cuvier, Geoffroy de St Hilaire, and Madame Hersent he was made officer of the legion of honour. In 1859 he again exhibited a curious collection of portraits, sixty-four members of the Institute arranged in groups of four. Besides the paintings already mentioned, there is to be seen in Notre Dame de Lorette (Paris) a work executed on the spot; and the museum of Strassburg contains an excellent example of his easel pictures, the subject of which is a Shepherd Drinking from a Spring.