b Pontormo, nr Empoli, 26 May 1494; d Florence, 31 Dec 1556). Italian painter and draughtsman. He was the leading painter in mid-16th-century Florence and one of the most original and extraordinary of Mannerist artists. His eccentric personality, solitary and slow working habits and capricious attitude towards his patrons are described by Vasari; his own diary, which covers the years 1554-6, further reveals a character with neurotic and secretive aspects. Pontormo enjoyed the protection of the Medici family throughout his career but, unlike Agnolo Bronzino and Giorgio Vasari, did not become court painter. His subjective portrait style did not lend itself to the state portrait. He produced few mythological works and after 1540 devoted himself almost exclusively to religious subjects. His drawings, mainly figure studies in red and black chalk, are among the highest expressions of the great Florentine tradition of draughtsmanship; close to 400 survive, forming arguably the most important body of drawings by a Mannerist painter. His highly personal style was much influenced by Michelangelo  Related Paintings of Pontormo, Jacopo :. | Deposition | Group of the Dead | Deposition | The Expulsion from Earthly Paradise | Christ the Judge with the Creation of Eve |
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Joseph A Kleitsch
1885-1931 Joseph Kleitsch (1885-1931) was an American painter who holds a high place in the early California School of Impressionism. Born in Banad, Hungary on June 6th, 1885, young Joseph Kleitsch was drawn to paint at the early age of seven, he later pursued his professional art training at Budapest, Munich and Paris. Influenced by his visits to the famous museums of Europe, Kleitsch continued with his love of portrait and figuritive painting after relocating to California. There he rose to the challenge of capturing his new environment's brilliant light and diverse landscape. Living in Los Angeles for a while, Kleitsch fell in love with the rustic artist village of Laguna Beach. There he painted the town's eucalyptus lined streets, the crashing waves of the Pacific coastline and the nearby Mission San Juan Capistrano. Arthur Millier of the Los Angeles Times in 1922 was quoted saying of Kleitsch "he was a born colorist; he seemed to play on canvas with the abandon of a gypsy violinist". Joseph Kleitsch died at the age of forty-nine in Santa Ana, California on November 16th, 1931.
Francois-Auguste Biard
(June 30, 1799 - June 20, 1882) was a French genre painter. Born at Lyon, he traveled around the world, sketching on the way. He was particularly successful in rendering burlesque groups. His painting, Scenes on the Coast of Africa, depicted on the right, was the inspiration behind Isaac Julien's short film The Attendant (1993). Biard was a known abolitionist against the Atlantic slave trade. Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Auguste François Biard This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopædia.
Eduard von Gebhardt
Franz Karl Eduard von Gebhardt (1838-1925) was a Baltic German historical painter. He was born in Järva-Jaani, Estonia, the son of a Protestant clergyman, and studied first at the Academy of St. Petersburg (1855-58). In 1860 he became the pupil of Wilhelm Sohn at Desseldorf, where he permanently settled, and became professor at the academy in 1873. One of his students was the German-Brasilian painter Wilhelm Techmeier.