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 :. | The Annuciation | Christ Carrying the Cross | Resurrection | Epimetheus and Pandora | St John the Evangelist and St Francis | Related Artists:
Arcangelo Resani1670-1742
Nils Blommer1816 - 1853,was a Swedish painter. Starting his career as an apprentice in Lund he experimented with painting portraits from the age of 20. He achieved some successes and in 1839 he had saved up enough money to move to Stockholm. There he took the name Blomm??r and enrolled in the Fria konsternas akademi. After winning the academy's prize several times he got a stipend in 1847 to travel abroad. He spent time in Paris but later moved to Italy, where he married his wife Edla Gustafva Jansson, also a painter, in November 1852. A few months later he caught a fatal chest disease
Sir Edward john poynter,bt.,P.R.A1836-1919
English painter, draughtsman, decorative designer and museum official. He came from an artistic family: his great-grandfather was Thomas Banks the sculptor, and Ambrose Poynter, his father, was an architect and watercolour painter. Edward began studying art in 1852 under Thomas Shotter Boys, a friend of his father. In 1853-4 Poynter visited Rome, where he was greatly impressed by the large-scale academic painting of Frederic Leighton. Returning to London, he studied at Leigh's Academy and the studio of William Dobson (1817-1898). Poynter entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1855 but his admiration for French painting led him to Charles Gleyre's studio in Paris the following year. He remained there until 1859, with fellow students George Du Maurier, Thomas Armstrong and Whistler; their activities are described in Du Maurier's novel Trilby (1894). At this time Poynter received his first commissions for decorative work. He began designing stained glass and painting furniture and, after his return to England, he was employed by his friend the architect William Burges to decorate the ceiling of Waltham Abbey, Essex, in 1860.