1702-1785 Italian Pietro Longhi Galleries Pietro Longhi was born in Venice in the parish of Saint Maria, first child of the silversmith Alessandro Falca and his wife, Antonia. He adopted the Longhi last name when he began to paint. He was initially taught by the Veronese painter Antonio Balestra, who then recommended the young painter to apprentice with the Bolognese Giuseppe Maria Crespi, who was highly regarded in his day for both religious and genre painting. He was married in 1732 to Caterina Maria Rizzi. Among his early paintings are some altarpieces and religious themes. In 1734, he completed frescoes in the walls and ceiling of the hall in Ca' Sagredo, representing the Death of the giants. Henceforward, his work would lead him to be viewed in the future as the Venetian William Hogarth, painting subjects and events of everyday life in Venice. The gallant interior scenes reflect the 18th century's turn towards the private and the bourgeois. Many of his paintings show Venetians at play, such as the depiction of the crowd of genteel citizens awkwardly gawking at a freakish Indian rhinoceros (see image). This painting chronicles Clara the rhinoceros brought to Europe in 1741 by a Dutch sea captain and impresario from Leyden, Douvemont van der Meer. This rhinoceros was exhibited in Venice in 1751. There are two versions of this painting, nearly identical except for the unmasked portraits of two men in Ca' Rezzonico version. Ultimately, there may be a punning joke to the painting, since the young man on the left holds aloft the sawed off horn (metaphor for cuckoldry) of the animal. Perhaps this explains the difference between the unchaperoned women. Other paintings chronicle the daily activities such as the gambling parlors (Riddoti) that proliferated in the 18th century. In some, the insecure or naive posture and circumstance, the puppet-like delicacy of the persons, seem to suggest a satirical perspective of the artists toward his subjects. Nearly half of the figures in his genre paintings are faceless, hidden behind Venetian Carnival masks. Like Crespi before him, Longhi was commissioned to paint seven canvases documenting the seven Catholic sacraments. Longhi is well-known as a draughtsman, whose drawings were often done for their own sake, rather than as studies for paintings. Pietro's son, Alessandro, was also an accomplished painter. A paraphrase of Bernard Berenson states that "Longhi painted for the Venetians passionate about painting, their daily lives, in all dailiness, domesticity, and quotidian mundane-ness. In the scenes regarding the hairdo and the apparel of the lady, we find the subject of gossip of the inopportune barber, chattering of the maid; in the school of dance, the amiable sound of violins. It is not tragic... but upholds a deep respect of customs, of great refinement, with an omnipresent good humor distinguishes the paintings of the Longhi from those of Hogarth, at times pitiless and loaded with omens of change".  Related Paintings of Pietro Longhi :. | The Spice-Vendor's Shop | Die Furlana | Im Gemusegarten an der Flubmundung | The Morgenschokolode | Die Schule der Arbeit |
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Cornelius Krieghoff
Dutch-born Canadian Painter, 1815-1872 Canadian painter of Dutch birth. He learnt the rudiments of music and painting from his father and about 1830 attended the Akademie der Bildenden Kenste in D?sseldorf. He moved to America c. 1835 and enlisted in the US army. In New York he met Louise Gauthier, a French-Canadian, and settled in Montreal with her in 1840, working as a painter and a musician. In 1842-3 he had a studio in Rochester, NY; in the following year he studied in Paris, making copies in the Louvre. Returning to Canada in 1845, he painted portraits in Toronto, and from 1845 to 1853 he lived in Longueuil and then in Montreal, where he produced genre paintings, landscapes and portraits. He exhibited in Montreal and Toronto, and a series of lithographs were published after his drawings. However, he found it difficult to sell his work in Montreal and had to resort more or less completely to sign-painting for a living. About 1853, at the instigation of the auctioneer John Budden, Krieghoff settled in Quebec City. He lived there for 11 years, making several trips to Europe. During this period of intensive production, he achieved popularity and prosperity and painted his best-known pictures, which were scenes depicting the local townspeople and the North American Indians, and views of Quebec City and the surrounding region. About 1858 he made panoramic paintings of Canada for the Provincial Parliament buildings in Quebec. From 1864 to 1867 he lived in Paris and Munich,
Domenico Induno
(1815 - 1878) was an Italian painter, originally a goldsmith. He was born and died in Milan, and studied in the Academy of Fine Arts in Milan, as well as under Luigi Sabatelli and at Rome. He tried successively the Neoclassicism and Romantic schools, but afterwards settled down to depict popular life at Milan. In 1848 he took part with the Revolution, and had in consequence to flee to Switzerland. Thence he passed to Tuscany, and did not return home until 1859. His brother Gerolamo Induno was also a painter. Domenico married the sister of the Swiss painter Angelo Trezzini. Domenico often painted patriotic canvases, in a style indebted both to Ingres and Francesco Hayez. Among his paintings are:
Pieter Cornelisz. van Slingelandt
(20 October 1640 - 7 November 1691) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. According to Houbraken, his teacher was Gerard Dou, who he imitated so well that many of his works were later misattributed to him. According to Houbraken he was rather introverted and very methodical and conscientious, spending months on his works and striving for perfection. Houbraken especially liked a piece where a maid holds a mouse by the tail as a cat jumps for it. Houbraken wrote that while Slingelandt was working on a family portrait for the gentleman Francois Meerman (1630-1672),