French 1600-1682 Claude Lorrain Galleries In Rome, not until the mid-17th century were landscapes deemed fit for serious painting. Northern Europeans, such as the Germans Elsheimer and Brill, had made such views pre-eminent in some of their paintings (as well as Da Vinci in his private drawings or Baldassarre Peruzzi in his decorative frescoes of vedute); but not until Annibale Carracci and his pupil Domenichino do we see landscape become the focus of a canvas by a major Italian artist. Even with the latter two, as with Lorrain, the stated themes of the paintings were mythic or religious. Landscape as a subject was distinctly unclassical and secular. The former quality was not consonant with Renaissance art, which boasted its rivalry with the work of the ancients. The second quality had less public patronage in Counter-Reformation Rome, which prized subjects worthy of "high painting," typically religious or mythic scenes. Pure landscape, like pure still-life or genre painting, reflected an aesthetic viewpoint regarded as lacking in moral seriousness. Rome, the theological and philosophical center of 17th century Italian art, was not quite ready for such a break with tradition. In this matter of the importance of landscape, Lorrain was prescient. Living in a pre-Romantic era, he did not depict those uninhabited panoramas that were to be esteemed in later centuries, such as with Salvatore Rosa. He painted a pastoral world of fields and valleys not distant from castles and towns. If the ocean horizon is represented, it is from the setting of a busy port. Perhaps to feed the public need for paintings with noble themes, his pictures include demigods, heroes and saints, even though his abundant drawings and sketchbooks prove that he was more interested in scenography. Lorrain was described as kind to his pupils and hard-working; keenly observant, but an unlettered man until his death. The painter Joachim von Sandrart is an authority for Claude's life (Academia Artis Pictoriae, 1683); Baldinucci, who obtained information from some of Claude's immediate survivors, relates various incidents to a different effect (Notizie dei professoni del disegno). John Constable described Claude Lorrain as "the most perfect landscape painter the world ever saw", and declared that in Claude??s landscape "all is lovely ?C all amiable ?C all is amenity and repose; the calm sunshine of the heart"  Related Paintings of Claude Lorrain :. | The Departure of Hagar and Ishmael | Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba (mk17 | View of the Campo Vaccino ()mk05 | Verstobung der Hagar | Ostermorgen |
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William Anderson
William Anderson (1757 - 27 May 1837) was born in Scotland and became an artist specializing in maritime and patriotic themes.. Anderson's training as a shipwright stood him in good stead when he became an artist specializing in maritime art based on the Dutch 17th century Masters. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1780 and continued to exhibit annually until 1811. He then exhibited intermittently until 1834. His best work was executed in the years 1790-1810, during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, at which time the demand for naval paintings was high. He painting was not restricted to marine subjects. His pictures, shown at exhibitions, include A View of Berwick-on-Tweed and A View of Tynemouth. His history paintings include The Battle of Waterloo, The Capture of Fort Louis, Martinique, 1794, which shows the attack by Commander Robert Faulknor of Zebra on Fort Saint Louis (Martinique), The Battle of Cape Finisterre, The First Battle of Groix and The Battle of the Nile . Other paintings include Shipping on the Thames at Deptford and View at the mouth of the Thames ..
Knut Ekwall
was a Swedish painter, 3 April 1843 in Säby (Småland province), Sweden - 4 April 1912 in Säby. Ekwall studied from 1860-1866 at the Academy of Arts in Stockholm, with emphasis on xylography (designing woodcut printing blocks) and drawing. He became a pupil of the painter Ludwig Knaus in Berlin. In 1870, Ekwall established himself as an artist in Munich in Germany and later worked in Leipzig. His works during this period were primarily for magazine illustrations, and were reproduced as engravings. He returned to Sweden and died there at the age of 69.
Henry Holiday
Henry Holiday (17 June 1839 - 15 April 1927) was an English historical genre and landscape painter, stained glass designer, illustrator and sculptor. He is considered to be a member of the Pre-Raphaelite school of art.