German Romantic, 1798-1840 sometimes given as Karl Blechen, was a German painter, specializing in fantastic landscapes, sometimes with demons and grotesque figures. Born in Cottbus, he drew the attention of prominent architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel, who cast him as a decorative painter. Blechen however aimed for higher work and began producing landscape paintings. In 1827 he went to Italy  Related Paintings of Karl Blechen :. | The Gardens of the Villa d'Este (mk09) | In the Palm House in Potsdam | The Gardens of the Villa d-Este | Scaffold in Storm | Alpine Pass in Winter with Monks |
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Michel-Ange Houasse
1680-1730 French Michel Ange Houasse Gallery Son of Rene-Antoine Houasse. He trained in his father's circle, becoming familiar with the academic teaching methods then fashionable in France and also in Italy, where he went with his father. In 1706 he joined the Acad?mie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in Paris, obtaining the rank of Academician in 1707 with the painting Hercules and Lichas (Tours, Mus. B.-A.). In Rome he probably became acquainted with the Marquis d'Aubigny, secretary to the powerful Princess Orsini, who was close to Philip V of Spain. The Spanish King already had the painter Henri de Favanne in his service in Madrid; Michel-Ange was recommended for work at the Spanish court by Count Jean Orry (1652-1719), the King's French finance minister, and arrived there in 1715. He had contact with the French artists at court and married the daughter of the French architect Rene Carlier.
Laura Theresa Alma-Tadema
(1852 C 15 August 1909 in Hindhead) was from 1871 the second wife of the painter Lawrence Alma-Tadema and a painter in her own right. A daughter of Dr George Napoleon Epps (who was brother of Dr John Epps), her two sisters were also painters (Emily studied under John Brett, a Pre-Raphaelite, and Ellen under Ford Madox Brown), whilst Edmund Gosse and Rowland Hill were her brothers-in-law. It was at Madox Brown's home that Alma-Tadema first met her in December 1869, when she was aged 17 and he 33. (His first wife had died in May that year.) He fell in love at first sight,and so it was partly her presence in London (and partly the fact that only in England had his work consistently sold) that influenced him into relocating in England rather than elsewhere when forced to leave the continent by the outbreak of the Franco Prussian War in July 1870. Arriving in London at the beginning of September 1870 with his small daughters and sister Artje, Alma-Tadema wasted no time in contacting Laura, and it was arranged that he would give her painting lessons. During one of these, he proposed marriage. As he was then thirty-four and Laura was now only eighteen, her father was initially opposed to the idea. Dr Epps finally agreed on the condition that they should wait until they knew each other better. They married in July 1871 and, though this second marriage proved childless, it also proved enduring and happy, with Laura acting as stepmother to her husband's children by his first marriage. The Paris Salon in 1873 gave Laura her first success in painting, and five years later, at the Paris International Exhibition, she was one of only two English women artists exhibited.
Antoon Claeissens
(his name is given in many varieties, with his first name rendered as Anton, Anthonie, Anthony, Anthuenis, and his surname as Claes, Claesz, Claeis, Claeiss, Claessens and Claeissins), the son of Pieter Claes the elder, painted historical and allegorical subjects, and portraits. He was a native of Bruges, and there entered the Guild of St. Luke in 1575, and became its dean in 1586, 1590, and 1601. He died in 1613. His works, several of which are in the Hôtel-de-Ville and churches of Bruges, are distinguished by their fine colouring and finish. In the H6tel-de-Ville is a 'Grand Banquet' with many portraits of magistrates of the time, dated 1574. His son, Pieter Anthonie, was dean of the Guild of St. Luke at Bruges in 1607, and died in 1608.