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 :. | Portrait of an Unknown Woman in Russian Costume | Portrait of K.A. Khripunov | Portrait of P.B. Sheremetev | Self-portrait | Portrait of an Unknown Woman in Russian Costume |
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Jacob Huysmans
1633-1696 Flemish Jacob Huysmans Gallery Jacob Huysmans (c.1633?C1696), was a Flemish portrait painter. He moved to England during the reign of Charles II where he became one of the fashionable painters of the court. His chief portraits are those of Izaak Walton and Catherine of Braganza, Charles II's wife (both displayed on the National Gallery, London). He was a pupil of Gilles Backereel and Frans Wouters and came over to England from - presumably - Antwerp. His first works were pastiches of work from Anthony van Dyck. As a Roman Catholic he was favoured by Catharine of Braganza. When Samuel Pepys visited his workshop in Westminster on 26 August 1664, he described him as a 'picture-drawer ... which is said to exceed Lilly (Lely). Huysmans's most important portrait of Catharine of Braganza, Queen Catharine as a Shepherdess (c. 1664; Brit. Royal Col.), was one of the pictures Pepys saw on that occasion. Painting his subjects as sheperdesses with clothing embellished with embroidery and jewellery were typical of his style.
Ghasiram Hardev Sharma
1868-1930
Mellen, Mary Blood
American Painter, 1817-1882