Known for his city night-scenes and landscapes, John Atkinson Grimshaw was a Victorian artist described by British art historian Christopher Wood as a “remarkable and imaginative painter”.
Hailing from Leeds in England, Grimshaw’s first job was as a clerk for Great Northern Railway.
Much to the dismay of his parents, he left the job at age 24 to pursue a career as a painter.
John Atkinson Grimshaw and the Great Northern Railway
Leaving a steady job with a growing industry must have seemed foolhardy, but Grimshaw’s passion and talent for art were all he needed to make a success of his life.
Exhibiting for the first time just a year later under the patronage of the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society, he showed paintings of birds, fruit, and blossom.
It wasn’t until the 1870s that his career really took off.
Influenced primarily by the Pre-Raphaelites, he painted landscapes with precise use of colour and lighting, often focusing on the changing seasons or the weather to bring vivid detail and realism to his work.
But it is the moonlit views of cities and suburban streets, of Docklands in London, Hull, Liverpool, and Glasgow that he is best remembered for.
paintings of dampened gas-lit streets and misty waterfronts conveyed an eerie warmth as well as alienation in the urban scenePhilip J. Waller.
Sharply focused, almost photographic, Grimshaw poetically applied the tradition of rural moonlit scenes to the city, with its rain puddles, mists, and the smoky fog of late Victorian industrial England.
Grimshaw evokes the very feeling of chill in the night air or the damp of mists at dawn’s early light.
John Atkinson Grimshaw was the Painter of Moonlight.
London Bridge – Night by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1884
Park Row, Leeds by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1882
Westminster Bridge by Moonlight by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1880
Liverpool Quay by Moonlight by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1887
The Gossips, Bonchurch, Isle of Wight by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1880
Hull Docks at Night by John Atkinson Grimshaw
Evening Scene by the Docks, Hull by John Atkinson Grimshaw
Burning Off, a Fishing Boat at Scarborough by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1877
On the Clyde, Glasgow by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1879
Lights in the Harbour, Scarborough by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1879
Moonlight on Lake by John Atkinson Grimshaw
Liverpool Docks attributed to John Atkinson Grimshaw
Bonchurch, the Isle of Wight by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1880
Night Vigil by John Atkinson Grimshaw
Liverpool from Wapping by John A Grimshaw, 1875
A moonlit street after rain by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1881
Blackman Street, Borough, London by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1885
Hampstead by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1881
Glasgow, Saturday Night by John Atkinson Grimshaw
A Moonlit Landscape by John Atkinson Grimshaw
Humber Docks Hull, John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1884
A Yorkshire Home by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1878
Nightfall down the Thames by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1880
Street after the Rain in the Moonlight by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1881
Glasgow Docks by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1881
The Thames by Moonlight with Southwark Bridge, London by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1884
The Old Hall Under Moonlight by John Atkinson Grimshaw
Figure Overlooking Waterloo Lake, Rounday Park, Leeds by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1872
Old Chelsea by John Atkinson Grimshaw
Near Hackness, a moonlit scene with pine trees by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1875
Canny Glasgow by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1887
Heath Street, Hampstead by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1882
Street after the Rain in the Moonlight by John Atkinson Grimshaw
Whitby by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1878
Under the Moonbeams by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1887
The Broomielaw Glasgow by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1889
Forge Valley, near Scarborough by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1875
Whitby, from the East Side by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1877
Heaven’s Lamp by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1886
Lovers in a Wood by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1873
The Lovers by John Atkinson Grimshaw
Briggate, Leeds by John Atkinson Grimshaw
A moonlit country road by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1877
Reflections on the Thames, Westminster by Grimshaw, John Atkinson, 1879
The Tryst by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1886
At the Park Gate by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1878
Full Moon behind Cirrus Cloud from the Rounday Park Castle Battlements by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1872
Home Again by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1877
November by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1879
Scarborough by Moonlight by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1876
Boar Lane, Leeds by Lamplight by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1881
Whitby Harbor by Moonlight by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1862
Moonlight, Wharfedale by John Atkinson Grimshaw
Silver Moonlight by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1880
London Bridge – Half Tide by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1884
A Moonlit Evening by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1880
Harbor Scene by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1878
Greenwich, Half Tide by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1884
The Custom House, Liverpool, Looking South by John Atkinson Grimshaw , 1890
Gloucester Docks by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1890
Thames Moonlight by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1880
Nightfall down the Thames by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1880
Southwark Bridge and St. Paul’s by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1883
A time to reflect on the changing of the seasons from growth to decay.
Each year is a cycle of life that repeats.
Mother Nature bears the fruits of her labor, celebrating life in a festival of colour before the long winter months set in.
It’s as if nature is reminding us that life is to be enjoyed, that there is so much to be grateful for, and that we can look forward to renewal again in the spring.
Artists through the centuries have been inspired by the beauty and melancholy of autumn.
Here are 40 beautiful paintings of the season of red and gold along with quotes from poets and writers.
Autumn Regrets by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1882
Autumn in Cornwall by Walter Elmer Schofield (1869 – 1944)
And the dead leaves lie huddled and still,
No longer blown hither and thither;
The last lone aster is gone;
The flowers of the witch-hazel wither;
The heart is still aching to seek,
But the feet question ‘Whither?’ Robert Frost, The Poetry of Robert Frost
Setting Sun, Autumn in Eragny by Camille Pissarro, 1900
Autumn Festival by Willard Leroy Metcalf, 1915
Is not this a true autumn day? Just the still melancholy that I love – that makes life and nature harmonise. The birds are consulting about their migrations, the trees are putting on the hectic or the pallid hues of decay, and begin to strew the ground, that one’s very footsteps may not disturb the repose of earth and air, while they give us a scent that is a perfect anodyne to the restless spirit. Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.George Eliot
Autumnal Forest with Houses by Walter Moras (1856 – 1925)
The Sussex lanes were very lovely in the autumn . . . spendthrift gold and glory of the year-end . . . earth scents and the sky winds and all the magic of the countryside which is ordained for the healing of the soul.Monica Baldwin
A Country Road in Autumn by Edward Wilkins Waite, 1918
There is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky, which through the summer is not heard or seen, as if it could not be, as if it had not been!Percy Bysshe Shelley
Autumn Sunlight by John F. Carlson (1875 – 1945)
Autumn by Stanislav Zhukovsky (1873 – 1944)
Autumn Days
Yellow, mellow, ripened days,
Sheltered in a golden coating;
O’er the dreamy, listless haze,
White and dainty cloudlets floating;
Winking at the blushing trees,
And the sombre, furrowed fallow;
Smiling at the airy ease,
Of the southward flying swallow.
Sweet and smiling are thy ways,
Beauteous, golden Autumn days. Will Carleton
Autumn in Gloucestershire by Alfred East (1844 – 1913)
Autumn Gold by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1880
Autumn wins you best by this its mute appeal to sympathy for its decay.Robert Browning
A Woodland Path in Autumn by Edward Wilkins Waite, 1918
Autumn Colouring by Edward Wilkins Waite, 1894
You expected to be sad in the fall. Part of you died each year when the leaves fell from the trees and their branches were bare against the wind and the cold, wintery light. But you knew there would always be the spring, as you knew the river would flow again after it was frozen.Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast
Autumn Alley by Johan Krouthén, 1917
I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house.Nathaniel Hawthorne, The American Notebooks
Autumn in Pavlovsk by Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin, 1888
Late Autumn by Robert Vonnoh (1858 – 1933)
Autumn Day, Sokolniki by Isaak Levitan, 1879
Her pleasure in the walk must arise from the exercise and the day, from the view of the last smiles of the year upon the tawny leaves and withered hedges, and from repeating to herself some few of the thousand poetical descriptions extant of autumn–that season of peculiar and inexhaustible influence on the mind of taste and tenderness–that season which has drawn from every poet worthy of being read some attempt at description, or some lines of feeling.Jane Austen, Persuasion
Autumn on the River by Julian Alden Weir, 1906
The tints of autumn…a mighty flower garden blossoming under the spell of the enchanter, frost.John Greenleaf Whittier
Autumn on the River by Jasper Francis Cropsey, 1877
Autumn Poplars by Camille Pissarro, 1893
It was one of those days you sometimes get latish in the autumn when the sun beams, the birds toot, and there is a bracing tang in the air that sends the blood beetling briskly through the veins.P.G. Wodehouse
Cresheim Glen, Wissahickon, Autumn by Thomas Moran, 1864
Along the woods in Autumn by Alfred Sisley, 1885
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run John Keats, Complete Poems and Selected Letters
Autumn Effect at Argenteuil by Claude Monet, 1873
Autumn Leaves by William McTaggart (1835 – 1910)
Just as a painter needs light in order to put the finishing touches to his picture, so I need an inner light, which I feel I never have enough of in the autumn.Leo Tolstoy
Alley in Autumn by Walter Moras (1856 – 1925)
The Water’s Edge by William M. Hart, 1881
Give me juicy autumnal fruit ripe and red from the orchard,Walt Whitman, The Complete Poems
Autumn in Eragny by Camille Pissarro, 1900
All-cheering Plenty, with her flowing horn, Led yellow Autumn, wreath’d with nodding corn.Robert Burns, Complete Poems and Songs of Robert Burns
Autumn on the Farm by Charles Harold Davis (1856 – 1933)
Such days of autumnal decline hold a strange mystery which adds to the gravity of all our moods.Charles Nodier, Smarra & Trilby
Edge of a Forest in Autumn by Alfred Sisley, 1883
New England Autumn Landscape by John Joseph Enneking, 1894
The goldenrod is yellow,
The corn is turning brown…
The trees in apple orchards
With fruit are bending down. Helen Hunt Jackson
Autumn Evening by Ferdinand Hodler, 1893
The gold and scarlet leaves that littered the countryside in great drifts whispered and chuckled among themselves, or took experimental runs from place to place, rolling like coloured hoops among the trees.Gerald Durrell, My Family and Other Animals
Burnham Beeches by Myles Birket Foster (1825 – 1899)
The one red leaf, the last of its clan,
That dances as often as dance it can,
Hanging so light, and hanging so high,
On the topmost twig that looks up at the sky. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Christabel
Autumn Roadside, Kentucky by William Forsyth, 1903
the fallen leaves in the forest seemed to make even the ground glow and burn with lightMalcolm Lowry, October Ferry To Gabriola
Autumn Leaves by John Singer Sargent, 1913
Every season hath its pleasures;
Spring may boast her flowery prime,
Yet the vineyard’s ruby treasures
Brighten Autumn’s sob’rer time. Thomas Moore
Autumn Landscape by Charles Courtney Curran, 1928
Autumn Tints by Maurice Braun (1877 – 1941)
In Heaven, it is always AutumnJohn Donne
The Arc de Triomphe, Autumn Effect by Jean-François Raffaëlli, 1907
Autumn Landscape by Paul Madeline, 1905
Methinks I see the sunset light flooding the river valley, the western hills stretching to the horizon, overhung with trees gorgeous and glowing with the tints of autumn — a mighty flower garden blossoming under the spell of the enchanter, frost.John Greenleaf Whittier, Tales and Sketches
A Late Autumn Day in Dyrehaven, Sunshine by Theodor Philipsen, 1886
The leaves were more gorgeous than ever; the first touch of frost would lay them all low to the ground. Already one or two kept constantly floating down, amber and golden in the low slanting sun-raysElizabeth Gaskell, North and South
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The Bridge at Argenteuil in Autumn by Pierre Auguste Renoir, 1882
And every year there is a brief, startling moment
When we pause in the middle of a long walk home and
Suddenly feel something invisible and weightless
Touching our shoulders, sweeping down from the air:
It is the autumn wind pressing against our bodies;
It is the changing light of fall falling on us. Edward Hirsch, Wild Gratitude
A Wooded Path In Autumn by Hans Andersen Brendekilde (1857 – 1942)
Beautiful places, beautiful people, beautiful clothes—Francois Flameng loved to paint them all.
Born in an art studio in Paris in 1856, Flameng may have known from an early age that he was destined to be an artist.
Indeed, in many ways, he had everything going for him.
Paris was the center of the art world and his father was a celebrated engraver who had once wished to be a painter.
All of his father’s regrets were channeled into making his son a success.
Specializing in history painting and portraiture, Francois Flameng became a professor at the Académie des Beaux-Arts—the premier institution of fine art in France.
If you’d like to add a little atmosphere as we view a gallery of Flameng’s work, press play.
Napoleon I and the King of Rome at Saint-Cloud in 1811 by Francois Flameng
Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna by Francois Flameng, 1898
Many of his studies in Italy are rich in architectural detail in the most vivid light and color.
The Carnival in Venice by Francois Flameng
Ile Pointeaux by Francois Flameng
Equestrienne Au Cirque Fernando by Francois Flameng – c. 1890
Intelligence by Francois Flameng
Reception at Malmaison in 1802 by Francois Flameng, c.1894
A Concert in Versailles by Francois Flameng
Napoleon I and the King of Rome at Saint-Cloud by Francois Flameng, 1896
Portrait of a Lady by Francois Flameng
Flameng would often use a camera lucida to create an optical superimposition of his subject.
Allowing him to duplicate key points of the scene on the drawing surface, it would aid in the accurate rendering of perspective.
How a camera lucida device is used to help with drawing composition
Once he had the sketch to ensure proportion and perspective were correct, he would paint rapidly yet with such fine detail that within an hour he had what took most artists four hours to complete.
Princess Zinaida Yusupova with her sons Felix and Nikolai at Arkhangelskoye by Francois Flameng – 1894
Mrs Adeline M. Noble by Francois Flameng
Napoleon I hunting in the Forest of Fontainebleau, 1807 by Francois Flameng
An Elite Soldier of the Imperial Guard by Francois Flameng
I have always thought that portraits ought to be arranged as pictures.Francois Flameng
Flameng said that fashions and hairstyles changed so often that the exact likeness captured in a portrait was gone within a few short years.
Therefore, he said, portraits should aim to be pleasant works of art that one would purchase to adorn the wall of a drawing room, even if it were not a portrait of one’s own image.
Zinaida Yusupova with the famous Yusupov family La Pelegrina pearl by Francois Flameng – 1894
Maria Fedorovna by Francois Flameng, 1894
Flameng found that he learned as much about the social aspects of his work as he did the actual practicing of his art.
Making sittings more agreeable for models he had to learn their tastes and habits, likes and dislikes.
That way, he could encourage them to pose in ways that reflected their personality and remain in one position for a long time without noticing it as much.
Portrait of the Duchess Dora Leichtenberg by Francois Flameng – 1896
Of equal importance to remaining true to his artistic integrity was producing a work that was pleasing to the subject and also to her friends and acquaintances.
Portrait of Mme D by Francois Flameng – 1911
When subjects disagreed with his choice of arrangement or style of composition, he would use all his skill to gradually encourage her to see his point of view without contradicting or offending, always admitting she was right, but gently helping her drop her own preconceived mental image.
Family Portrait of a Boy and his two Sisters admiring a Sketch Book by Francois Flameng, 1900
The Chess Game by Francois Flameng
The People of Paris Come to Versailles by Francois Flameng
Offizier des Chasseurs à Cheval Regiments of the Napoleonic Imperial Guard by Francois Flameng
Portrait of Madame Max Decougis by Francois Flameng
Even the ordinary woman is a thousand times more worthwhile to paint than the ordinary man. But women are never ordinary.Francois Flameng
Portrait of a Lady by Francois Flameng
Flameng painted the colors and pageantry of war.
But he was no stranger to its violence.
At age 14, he was playing with fellow students at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, when a bombshell exploded in the courtyard.
It was a gift from the Prussians to mark the onset of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, and it prompted him to enlist.
Accepted in the ambulance corps, when Paris fell to the Prussians, he saw seven children killed under the window of his father’s house in Montparnasse.
In the Woods by Francois Flameng
A portrait painter should not only be endowed with talent, but also possess the qualities of a philosopher, of an observer, of a psychologist, and be provided with inexhaustible patience.Francois Flameng
Lady Duveen, née Salamon by Francois Flameng, 1910
Portrait Of Mademoiselle Herpin by Francois Flameng – 1908
Picnic by Francois Flameng
Evening by Francois Flameng
Napoleon After The Battle Of Waterloo by Francois Flameng
Portrait of a mother with her children in the garden by Francois Flameng
An Evening’s Entertainment for Josephine by Francois Flameng
Francois Flameng didn’t only paint beauty.
Renowned for his paintings that showed some of the horrors of the First World War, he was an accredited documenter for the War Ministry and named honorary president of the Society of Military Painters.
Flameng’s war paintings were derided by many critics for being too realistic and not including heroic drama.
World War I by François Flameng
The offensive of the Yser, First French line near Het-Sas, by François Flameng
Skagen is a village in the northernmost part of Denmark.
From the late 1870s until the turn of the century, a group of Scandinavian artists descended on Skagen every summer.
It was the light that drew them.
A translucent light that merged the sea and the sky—especially during the evening “blue hour”.
Influenced by the “en plein air” techniques of French Impressionist painters like Claude Monet, they broke away from traditions taught at the academies and developed their own unique styles.
The long beaches stretched for miles and miles …
Listen to Claude Debussy’s haunting Clair de Lune as we travel back in time to late 19th-century Skagen through the eyes of the Skagen Painters.
Summer Evening at Skagen Beach by P.S. Krøyer, 1899
Summer Evening on Skagen’s Southern Beach by P.S. Krøyer, 1893
Nor moon nor stars were out.
They did not dare to tread so soon about,
Though trembling, in the footsteps of the sun.
The light was neither night’s nor day’s, but one
Which, life-like, had a beauty in its doubt;
And Silence’s impassioned breathings round
Seemed wandering into sound. Elizabeth Barrett Browning, A Sea-Side Walk
Summer evening at the South Beach, Skagen by Peder Severin Krøyer, 1893
Skagen by Michael Peter Ancher, c.1900
Summer evening on the south Beach of Skagen by Peder Severin Krøyer, 1897
The Skagen Beach by Oscar Gustaf Bjorck, 1882
Summer Day at Skagen South Beach by Peder Severin Krøyer, 1884
Boat at Skagen’s South Beach by Oscar Gustaf Bjorck, 1884
I have loved hours at sea, gray cities,
The fragile secret of a flower,
Music, the making of a poem
That gave me heaven for an hour Sara Teasdale, I Have Loved Hours At Sea
A Stroll on the Beach by Michael Ancher, 1896
Rendering light with paint in such a way that it makes you feel you are there and you need to squint at the sun’s reflections on the water.
Artists on the Beach by Peder Severin Kroyer, 1882
The North Sea in Stormy Weather. After Sunset by Laurits Tuxen, 1909
One of the shared interests of the Skagen painters was to paint scenes of their own social gatherings—eating together, celebrating, or playing cards.
At Lunch by Peder Severin Krøyer, 1883
As if you could reach out and touch them, Krøyer’s characters are full of movement, full of life.
A breakfast. The artist, his wife and the writer Otto Benzon by Peder Severin Krøyer, 1893
The group gathered together regularly at the Brøndums Inn in Skagen, which still operates as a hotel today.
Filled with the paintings the artists donated to cover the cost of board and lodging, the Brøndums’ dining-room became the center of their social life.
The dining room from Branden’s hotel, Skagen Museum. Credit Bengt Oberger
Can you feel the excitement in the air and hear the clinking of glasses?
Hip, Hip, Hurrah! by P.S. Krøyer, 1888
The Actor’s Lunch, Skagen by Michael Peter Ancher, 1902
An Artists’ Gathering by Viggo Johansen, 1903
Deep in concentration, an after-dinner game of cards continues into the small hours.
A game of l’hombre in Brøndums Hotel by Anna Palm de Rosa, 1885
Many of the Skagen painters are depicted here enjoying Midsummer Eve celebrations on Skagen beach around a bonfire, traditionally lit to ward off evil spirits believed to roam freely when the sun turned southward again.
The painting includes Peder Severin Krøyer’s daughter Vibeke, mayor Otto Schwartz and his wife Alba Schwartz, Michael Ancher, Degn Brøndum, Anna Ancher, Holger Drachmann and his 3rd wife Soffi, the Swedish composer Hugo Alfvén and Marie Krøyer.
Midsummer Eve bonfire on Skagen’s beach by P.S. Krøyer, 1906
Anna Ancher was the only one of the Skagen Painters to be born and grow up in Skagen.
Her father owned the Brøndums Hotel where the artists stayed during the summer months and she married Michael Ancher, one of the first members of the Skagen colony of artists.
Expressing a more truthful depiction of reality and everyday life, she was a pioneer in observing the interplay of color and natural light.
Harvesters by Anna Ancher, 1905
Harvest Time by Anna Ancher, 1901
Sewing Fisherman’s Wife by Anna Ancher, 1890
They love the sea,
Men who ride on it
And know they will die
Under the salt of it Carl Sandburg, Young Sea
Combining realism and classical composition, Michael Ancher painted heroic fishermen and their experiences at sea.
Becoming known as monumental figurative art, his strict training at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts was tempered by his wife Anna’s more naturalistic approach.
Painted in 1885, Michael Ancher’s ‘Will He Round the Point?” (below) earned him and the Skagen colony particular attention since it was sold to King Christian IX of Denmark.
Will He Round the Point by Michael Ancher, 1885
Perhaps I should not have been a fisherman, he thought. But that was the thing that I was born for.Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea
The Boat is Set in the Sea by Oscar Björck, 1885
The lifeboat is driven through the dunes by Michael Ancher, 1883
Fishermen on the Beach on a Quiet Summer Evening by Michael Ancher, 1888
Life was hard.
A fisherman’s life was not an easy one.
Better to die surrounded by people who would give their life for you.
That’s what close-knit communities were made of.
The Drowned Fisherman by Michael Peter Ancher, 1896
Fishermen at Skagen by Peder Severin Kroyer, 1894
Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with that there is Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea
Fishermen on the Beach at Skagen byPeder Severin Kroyer, 1891
The Skagen artists also painted each other and their children going about everyday aspects of life—collecting flowers, walking the dog, reading in the shade of the garden or inside the house, meal times with the children, and saying prayers before bed.
Anna Ancher returning from the field by Michael Ancher, 1901
Portrait of my wife. The painter Anna Ancher by Michael Ancher, 1883
Summer Evening at Skagen. The Artist’s Wife and Dog by the Shore by P.S. Krøyer, 1892
Roses by P.S. Krøyer, 1893
Interior with poppies and a woman reading by Anna Ancher, 1905
Living room with light blue curtains and blue Clematis, 1913
Midday Meal in the Garden by Anna Ancher, 1915
The Benzon daughters by Peder Severin Krøyer, 1897
On a windy summer’s day in 1875, Claude Monet painted his wife Camille with their son Jean out for a stroll in Argenteuil, a suburb of Paris.
Splashes of color and Monet’s use of light help capture a moment of spontaneity.
Woman with a Parasol – Madame Monet and Her Son by Claude Monet, 1875
Holding her parasol tightly against the wind, Camille is set against an azure sky with wispy white clouds, looking down at Monet from a rise in the meadow.
Camille was modeling for a theme that Victorians loved—”Lady With a Parasol”.
Victorian poet Emily Dickinson likened a lady opening a parasol to a butterfly spreading its wings in the warmth of the sun.
Painted Lady butterfly. Credit SD Dirk, flickr
From Cocoon forth a Butterfly
As Lady from her Door
Emerged—a Summer Afternoon—
… Her pretty Parasol be seen
Contracting in a Field
—Emily Dickinson.
Young Woman with a Parasol by Winslow Homer, 1880
We most often associate the beautiful image of a lady with a parasol with the Victorian and Edwardian Eras. But as far back as the 5th century BC, the Ancient Greeks thought parasols were an indispensable accessory for a lady of fashion.
Morning Walk by John Singer Sargent, 1888
Woman and Parasol by Albert Edelfelt, 1886
A Walk by the River by Andre Brouillet (1857 – 1914)
The White Parasol by Robert Lewis Reid, 1907
Summer by Colin Campbell Cooper, 1918
The Ancient Chinese attached collapsible parasols to their ceremonial carriages and the Ancient Egyptians used a fan of palm-leaves on a long handle, similar to those now carried ceremoniously in papal processions.
Terracotta Army. Exhibition. Credit Tomasz Sienicki
Roman maid-servants saw it as a post of honour to carry a parasol over their mistresses.
According to Ancient Indian legend, in around the 4th century BC, a skilled bowman named Jamadagni practiced shooting arrows and his wife Renuka helped recover them so that he could continue practicing and become the best bowman in all India. Jamadagni fired one arrow so far that it took Renuka a whole day to find it, the heat of the sun exhausting her. In anger, Jamadagni fired an arrow at the sun. Begging for mercy, the sun gave Renuka the gift of a beautiful parasol.
Nature has been providing us with parasols since the dawn of mankind. Tree canopies absorb the sun’s ultraviolet rays, providing natural shade.
Woman Sitting with a Parasol by Aristide Maillol, 1895
Parasol Pines are native to Southern Europe and the Middle East, their shape resembling a parasol.
View of Cannes with Parasol Pines by William Stanley Haseltine, 1869
Parasols came in many shapes, sizes, designs, and colors—most were personal hand-held devices, others were larger for sharing.
Woman with Parasol by Frederick Carl Frieseke, c. 1912
The Green Parasol by Guy Orlando Rose, c. 1909
Lady with a Parasol by Hamilton Hamilton
The Garden Parasol by Frederick Carl Frieseke, c. 1910
Whatever shape or size, they are beautiful objects that are still admired today. Let’s take a closer look at some from the Victorian era.
1850s. American. Silk, metal, wood, ivory
The above parasol is typical of the 1850s, with its tiered canopy echoing the shape of the skirt. The fabric was woven à la disposition—specifically for the shape of the parasol.
1860s. American. Silk, ivory, metal
The “marquise parasol” above was originally designed for Madame de Pompadour—the chief mistress of King Louis XV at Versailles. With its tilting top that could be angled for flirtatious effect and its embossed floral motif lining the edge, it was the perfect accessory for the art of coquetry.
1868. French. Silk, icory, metal
Made for the wife of a prominent Civil War general from New York, the parasol above features an exquisitely carved ivory handle depicting the idealized Greek female form and the shell-like curves typical of Rococo.
1905. American. Cotton, wood. metal
Parasols were often matched to the attire of the wearer. This Edwardian-era example was made of eyelet fabric—popular for a number of summer garments.
Often seen at the races, this type of parasol not only showcased the latest fashion but also displayed the wealth and social status of the owner.
At the Races by Louis Anquetin, c. 1895
Parasol covers could be patterned with complex forms—usually floral with curvilinear scrolling. The chain link motif shown below was unusual for covers, being found more often on handle designs in the last quarter of the 19th century.
1880s. French. Silk
The Belgian appliqué net lace shown below would have been used on a very expensive parasol. Attaching the separately-made covers was the last stage of the manufacturing process.
c. 1885. Belgian Net Lace Parasol
The marbleized handle tip of the beautiful French-made parasol below has intricate metal and enamel accents. Luxury parasols had fine quality finishes on the inside. Each rib and stretcher has been individually covered with fabric. The shank is as beautifully made as the handle, with a high-quality polished wood finish.
1895. French. Silk, sood, metal, marble, enamel
To Victorians and Edwardians, parasols were very special accessories that not only performed an important function but were also an expression of personal taste, wealth, and social class.
Loving Flower Care by Victor Gabriel Gilbert, 1933
A Solitary Ramble by Julian Ashton, 1888
The green parasol by Emanuel Phillips Fox, 1912
Group with Parasols by John Singer Sargent, 1905
Woman with Parasol by Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoi, 1883
Lady with a Parasol by Tom Roberts, c. 1893
An Elegant Lady with a Parasol by Jules-Alexandre Grun, 1905
Café society was the name given to the “Beautiful People” and “Bright Young Things” who gathered in fashionable cafes in New York, Paris, and London beginning in the 1890s.
But the history of cafes goes back much farther.
During the middle ages, coffeehouses spread across the Ottoman Empire, starting in what is now Saudi Arabia, then opening in Syria, Egypt, and Istanbul.
Describing the Persian coffeehouse scene in the 17th-century, French traveler Jean Chardin wrote:
People engage in conversation, for it is there that news is communicated and where those interested in politics criticize the government in all freedom and without being fearful since the government does not heed what the people say.
Chardin noted that games like chess and checkers were played, along with poets and preachers telling stories in verse or as moral lessons.
Trade with the Ottoman Empire brought coffeehouses to Europe via the Republic of Venice in around 1629, with the first coffeehouse in England opening in Oxford in 1652.
Grand Café, Oxford. Credit Kake, flickr
Here, at what is now the Grand Café in Oxford, 17th-century luminaries gathered to discuss a whole range of ideas based on reason—what we now refer to as the Enlightenment.
Whether you visit alone to think and contemplate, or to join friends and chat about life, work, and the ways of the world, the next time you settle in at Starbucks or Costa Coffee or a host of other modern cafés, take a moment to pause and reflect on what these places actually represent.
They are where our modern ideas of liberty, progress, tolerance, and fraternity were born.
El Cafe by Jose Jimenez y Aranda
Garden Cafe on the River Elbe by Max Liebermann – circa 1922
In Café Bauer by Lesser Ury, 1895
Terrace Scene-Musée Lorrain by Léon Voirin (1833-1887)
In Front of the Cafe by Lesser Ury – circa 1920-1929
Cafe de la Paix, Paris by Constantin Alexeevich Korovin
In the Cafe by Pyotr Nilus – 1901
Cafe de Paris by Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida – 1885
Cafe along a River by Luigi Loir
La Guinguette, an outdoor cafe in Montmartre by Vincent van Gogh, 1886
Outdoor Cafe on Staufenplatz by Heinrich Hermanns
Paris. Cafe de la Paix by Constantin Alexeevich Korovin – 1906
The terrace of the café of the glacier, place Stanislas in Nancy by Léon Joseph Voirin (1833-1887)
The Cafe on the terrace at St Ile de Yeu by Henri Lebasque – circa 1919
Woman in a Cafe by Edgar Degas – circa 1877
Women on a Cafe Terrace in the Evening by Edgar Degas – 1877
At the Cafe by Felix Vallotton – 1909
Cafe Maxim, Paris by Jean-Louis Forain
Night Cafe by Axel Torneman – circa 1905-1906
El Cafe de Montmartre by Santiago Rusiñol Prats – 1890
Conversation at the Cafe by Giovanni Boldini – 1877-1878
At the Cafe by Frederick Childe Hassam – 1887-1889
Hailing a Cab outside the Cafe Americain by Jean-Georges Béraud – circa 1890
The Boulevards, Evening in Front of the Cafe Napolitain by Jean-Georges Béraud
Street Corner on Karl Johan, Grand Cafe by Edvard Munch – 1883
Young Woman in a Cafe by Jean-François Raffaëlli
A Parisian Cafe by Ilia Efimovich Repin – 1875
At the Cafe by Pierre Auguste Renoir – 1877
Cafe en la terraza by Julio Vila Prades
The Terrace Cafe, Mar del Plata, Argentina by Eugenio Alvarez Dumont – 1912
Parisian Cafe by Constantin Alexeevich Korovin
Paris Cafe by Alfred Henry Maurer – circa 1904
Cafe-Concert by Édouard Manet – 1878
Moulin de la Galette by Isaac Israëls, 1906
The Cafe by Pierre Auguste Renoir – circa 1874-1877
At the Cafe by Jean-Louis Forain – circa 1879
Cafe sur la Port by Henri Lebasque
In a Cafe by Gustave Caillebotte – 1880
Cafe de la Paix by Richard Edward Miller – circa 1905
A Parisian Cafe by Edouaro Leon Garrido – 1886
In the cafe by Gotthardt Kuehl, 1915
An Elegant Lady in Black in a Cafe by Pompeo Mariani
Cafe in Venice by Manuel Domínguez Sánchez
Cafe De Paris by Richard Edward Miller
The Cafe Terrace on the Place de Forum, Arles, At Night by Vincent van Gogh – 1888
In the Cafe by Isaac Israels – circa 1905
Terrasse De Cafe by Delphin Enjolras
Night Cafe by Sergei Arsenevich Vinogradov – 1901
Cafe by Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin – 1907
The Cafe Royal, London by Sir William Orpen, R.A., R.H.A. – 1912
How could we begin without first mentioning the granddaddy of all ceiling frescoes that influenced so many others that followed—the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.
Painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel exemplifies High Renaissance art—a period of exceptional creativity during the late 15th and early 16th centuries.
Nine scenes from the Book of Genesis take center stage, of which The Creation of Adam is the best known, deservedly enjoying an iconic status equaled only by Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.
The left half of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo in 1508 and restored in 1994
Anyone who’s tried to paint a ceiling at home will know it’s back-breaking work. All that looking up. But imagine painting that way for 4 years solid!
Contrary to popular belief, Michelangelo didn’t lie on his back but painted in a standing position.
The work was carried out in extremely uncomfortable conditions, from his having to work with his head tilted upwards.Giorgio Vasari (1511 - 1574)
The ceiling rises to 44 ft (13.4 m) above the main floor, so, what does a 16th-century sculptor, painter, architect, poet, and engineer do to reach such lofty heights?
You guessed it—he designed his own scaffold. But instead of building from the floor up, he saved on wood by making a flat platform on brackets built out from holes in the wall near the top of the windows.
Besides his own heavenly creations, Michelangelo would inspire later artists like Austrian Paul Troger (1698 – 1762), whose illusionistic ceiling frescoes are notable for their dramatic vitality of movement and light color palette.
Here are 8 examples of heavenly baroque frescoes from 18th-century Austria.
1. Melk Abbey, Austria
Melk Abbey is a Benedictine abbey originally founded in 1089 overlooking the town of Melk in Lower Austria.
Today’s Baroque abbey was built between 1702 and 1736.
Ceiling fresco in the Marble Hall of Melk Abbey by Paul Troger, 1730. Credit Uoaei1Ceiling fresco in the central arch of the nave at Melk Abbey Church by Johann Michael Rottmayr (1722) Via triumphalis of St. Benedict. Credit Uoaei1Frescoes of dome and ceiling in Melk Abbey Church (Austria) by Johann Michael Rottmayr (1716-22). Credit Uoaei1
Symbolic illustration of the history of Melk Abbey, 1745. Credit Uoaei1
2. Herzogenburg Monastery, Austria
The Augustinian Herzogenburg Monastery in Lower Austria was founded in 1112 by Augustinian Canons, and refurbished in the Baroque style in 1714.
Ceiling frescoes in Herzogenburg Abbey Church (Lower Austria) by Daniel Gran (left fresco) and Bartolomeo Altomonte. Credit Uoaei1Ceiling fresco in the Herzogenburg Abbey Church (Lower Austria) by Daniel Gran The Miracle of Pentecost. Credit Uoaei1
3. Sonntagberg Basilica, Austria
Sonntagberg Basilica is a baroque church in Lower Austria, Built between 1706 and 1732, Pope Paul VI gave it the title Minor basilica in 1964.
Ceiling frescoes in Sonntagberg Basilica (Lower Austria) by Daniel Gran (1738–43). Credit Uoaei1Ceiling frescoes in the nave and the dome of Sonntagberg Basilica (Lower Austria) by Daniel Gran (1738–43). Credit Uoaei1
4. Altenburg Abbey, Austria
Altenburg Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Lower Austria. It suffered numerous invasions and attacks, and was destroyed by the Swedes in 1645.
The present Baroque abbey replaced the earlier Romanesque structure, and is said to be one of the finest in Austria.
Fresco of the north dome at the library of Altenburg Abbey (Lower Austria) by Paul Troger (1742) Theology and Jurisprudence. Credit Uoaei1Fresco in the dome of Altenburg Abbey Church (Lower Austria) by Paul Troger (1733) The apocalyptic vision of St. John. Credit Uoaei1
5. Seitenstetten Abbey, Austria
Originally founded in 1112, Seitenstetten Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Lower Austria that was lavishly refurbished in the 18th century in the Baroque style.
Ceiling fresco of the Marble Hall at Seitenstetten Abbey (Lower Austria) by Paul Troger (1735) The Harmony between Religion and Science. Credit Uoaei1Ceiling fresco of the Abbey’s Staircase at Seitenstetten Abbey (Lower Austria) by Bartolomeo Altomonte (1744) Triumph of St. Benedict. Credit Uoaei1
6. Jesuit Church, Austria
Also known as the University Church, the Jesuit Church is a two-storey, twin-tower church in Vienna, Austria. It was remodeled using Baroque principles in the early 18th century.
Jesuit Church, Vienna, Austria. Frescoes by Andrea Pozzo during his time in Vienna (1702-1709). Credit Uoaei1
The first church in the Austrian market town of Maria Taferl was built around a shrine to the Holy Mother, which is the origin of the town’s name.
7. Maria Taferl Basilica, Austria
Built between 1660 and 1710, the baroque Maria Taferl Basilica features ornate gold leaf decoration and the frescoed ceiling shown below.
Ceiling frescoes in the nave of Maria Taferl Basilica (Lower Austria) by Antonio Beduzzi (1714-1718) Glorification of St. Joseph, Credit Uoaei1
8. Göttweig Abbey, Austria
Göttweig Abbey is a Benedictine monastery near Krems in Lower Austria.
Founded in the 11th century, the abbey burned down in 1718 and was rebuilt on a grander, more lavish scale.
The fresco decorating the imperial staircase (shown below) is considered a masterpiece of Austrian Baroque architecture.
Apotheosis of Emperor Charles VI by Paul Troger, 1739 in Göttweig Abbey, Austria. Credit Uoaei1
Frederic Edwin Church loved to dream. He dreamed of mountains, waterfalls, and sunsets. He dreamed of exotic lands shrouded in mist, of waves crashing against craggy cliffs, of reflections in the stillness of dawn’s first light.
Church was a pupil of Thomas Cole, the founder of the Hudson River School of American landscape painters—an art movement influenced by romanticism.
Romanticism was a reaction to the Industrial Revolution and the Enlightenment that emphasized an emotional connection with nature. Romantic paintings used a luminous quality of light to convey idealized scenes depicting the richness and beauty of nature.
Church shows us the wild, untamed frontier landscapes of an unsettled America that were fast disappearing and the dramatic natural wonders he experienced on his travels around the world.
We are reminded of just how small we are in comparison with the magnificence of nature.
Morning in the Tropics by Frederic Edwin Church, 1858A Country Home by Frederic Edwin Church, 1854Landscape in the Adirondacks by Frederic Edwin Church
The Monastery of San Pedro by Frederic Edwin Church, 1879
Landscape in Greece by Frederic Edwin Church, 1873
View in Pittsford, Vt. by Frederic Edwin Church, 1848Twilight in the Adirondacks by Frederic Edwin ChurchThe River of Light by Frederic Edwin Church, 1877
Niagara Falls from the American Side by Frederic Edwin Church, 1867
The Natural Bridge, Virginia by Frederic Edwin Church, 1852
The Falls of Tequendama, Near Bogota, New Granada by Frederic Edwin Church, 1852
Coast Scene, Mount Desert by Frederic Edwin Church, 1863
Cotopaxi by Frederic Edwin Church, 1855
New England Scenery by Frederic Edwin Church, 1851
South American Landscape by Frederic Edwin Church, 1857
Scene on the Catskill Creek, New York by Frederic Edwin Church, 1847
View of Cotopaxi by Frederic Edwin Church, 1857
Syria by the Sea by Frederic Edwin Church, 1873
Konigsee, Bavaria by Frederic Edwin Church, 1868
The Parthenon by Frederic Edwin Church, 1871
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Camille Pissarro (1830 – 1903) loved to paint rural scenes from nature.
He loved to express the beauty and truth of nature as it exists in its purest form without adulteration.
Preferring to finish paintings outdoors “en plein air” in a single sitting, it gave his work a more realistic feel.
This is how he explained his technique of painting to a student:
“Work at the same time upon sky, water, branches, ground, keeping everything going on an equal basis and unceasingly rework until you have got it. Paint generously and unhesitatingly, for it is best not to lose the first impression.”
Blossoming trees, light reflections in water, flowering gardens, and village life—Pissarro captured the mood of changing seasons and times of day.
Let Pissarro lift your mood—simply scroll and enjoy!
Apple Trees, Sunset, Eragny by Camille Pissarro, 1896
The Banks of the Oise by Camille Pissarro, 1877
Morning, Sun Effect, Eragny by Camille Pissarro, 1899
Morning, Autumn Sunlight, Eragny by Camille Pissarro, 1900
Spring Morning, Cloudy, Eragny by Camille Pissarro, 1900
Vegetable Garden in Eragny, Morning by Camille Pissarro, 1901
Road along the Loing canal by Camille Pissarro
Fields by Camille Pissarro, 1877
Les mathurins, Pontoise by Camille Pissarro, 1877
The Garden at Pontoise by Camille Pissarro, 1877
The Vegetable Garden with Trees in Blossom, Spring, Pontoise by Camille Pissarro, 1877
Resting in the woods Pontoise by Camille Pissarro, 1878
A Path in the Woods, Pontoise by Camille Pissarro, 1879
A Street in Pontoise by Camille Pissarro, 1879
Cottages at Auvers, near Pontoise by Camille Pissarro, 1879
A Street in Auvers (Thatched Cottage and Cow) by Camille Pissarro, 1880
Landscape at Chaponval by Camille Pissarro, 1880
Le Valhermeil, near Pontoise by Camille Pissarro, 1880
Sunset at Valhermeil, near Pontoise by Camille Pissarro, 1880
Kitchen Gardens, Pontoise by Camille Pissarro, 1881
View Towards Pontoise Prison, in Spring by Camille Pissarro, 1881
The Snack, Child and Young peasant at Rest by Camille Pissarro, 1882
Young Woman and Child at the Well by Camille Pissarro, 1882
Landscape at Osny near watering by Camille Pissarro, 1883
Little Bridge on the Voisne, Osny by Camille Pissarro, 1883
View of a Farm in Osny by Camille Pissarro, 1883
A Servant Seated in the Garden at Eragny by Camille Pissarro, 1884
Old Houses at Eragny by Camille Pissarro, 1884
Apple Trees in Flower, Eragny by Camille Pissarro, 1895
The Banks of the Epte at Eragny by Camille Pissarro, 1884
The Tedder by Camille Pissarro, 1884
View of Eragny by Camille Pissarro, 1884
Shepherdesses by Camille Pissarro, 1887
Mirbeau’s Garden, the Terrace by Camille Pissarro, 1892
Flowering Plum Tree, Eragny by Camille Pissarro, 1894
Morning, Flowering Apple Trees, Eragny by Camille Pissarro, 1898
The Artist’s Garden at Eragny by Camille Pissarro, 1898
Apple Trees and Poplars in the Setting Sun by Camille Pissarro, 1901
A Field in Varengeville by Camille Pissarro, 1899
Landscape with Strollers Relaxing under the Trees by Camille Pissarro, 1872
It’s our Easter Holiday. At last, the long cold winter is over and spring is finally here.
Tomorrow is the Easter hunt in the woods by the school. It will be such fun! Last year, the sounds of excitement filled the forest. My friends and I laughed until we hurt. It was beautiful—the air was filled with a sweet scent of wild flowers and the birds were singing their hearts out. I loved the crackling sound of the twigs beneath our shoes as we frantically searched here and there.
And what treats await us! Colored eggs, Easter gifts, and chocolates lie hidden in hedgerows, in the tangled roots of the mighty beech trees, and amongst the pockets of pale yellow primroses.
An Easter Holiday, the Children of Bloomsbury Parochial School in a Wood at Watford by James Aumonier, 1874.
We were really busy today preparing for tomorrow’s Easter hunt. Grandpa helped us dye the Easter eggs.
We dyed and painted three dozen chicken eggs and put them in a basket filled with straw to look like a bird’s nest.
Grandpa showed us how to make different colors for the eggs by boiling them with leaves or onions. We got red by boiling with onion skins and beetroot, gold with marigold flower, violet with mallow flower, and green with periwinkle leaves.
Preparing for Easter by Mikhail Germashev
Then all the parents and teachers went out to hide them in the woods—for us to find tomorrow morning.
It’s so exciting! How can I possibly sleep tonight?
After we finished coloring the eggs, Mother said a prayer for them and picked some wild flowers to make our egg basket the prettiest you ever saw!
Lord, let the grace of your blessing come upon these eggs, that they be healthful food for your faithful who eat them in thanksgiving for the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you forever and ever.from the Roman Ritual
Easter Sunday by George Hitchcock
Before dinner, Mother wrote the Easter Greetings cards to all our family and friends.
She said it’s thanks to Sir Rowland Hill for creating the Uniform Penny Post that we can afford to send twenty cards this year! It costs a penny to send each one. All we have to do is put the cards into an envelope and fix a stamp to it.
Grandpa remembers the old days before stamps, when he used to have to pay to receive cards. How nice it is to live in the modern Victorian era! Mother always says we must count our blessings—I’m so lucky and thankful!
These are our cards that we chose together at the post office. The lady behind the counter was so nice and friendly. She even helped us choose some of the cards.
My favorite card is the last one—the little chicks are admiring a huge pink egg.
Mother told me and my little brother a bedtime story about some special eggs made for the Russian Royal family. Some day I want to see them—just like a real princess. Hope that’s my dream tonight.
Goodnight dear diary. Sleep tight …
Imperial easter egg Renaissance from the collection of the Fabergé Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Claude Monet loved nature — and what better time to enjoy it than its reawakening after a long, cold winter.
He loved to paint “en plein air” — outdoors in the open air — enjoying the fresh light and colors of spring, with the scent of blossoms drifting on the spring breeze.
Here are 10 paintings by Monet that feature “spring” in the title.
Hope they put a spring in your step today!
Springtime in Giverny by Claude MonetSpringtime by Claude Monet, 1886The Spring in Argentuil by Claude Monet, 1872Springtime by Claude Monet, 1872The Mount Riboudet in Rouen at Spring by Claude Monet, 1872
Springtime at Giverny by Claude Monet, 1886Spring by the Seine by Claude Monet, 1875An Orchard in Spring by Claude Monet, 1886The Spring at Vetheuil by Claude Monet, 1881
Helen Allingham (1848 – 1926) was an English watercolour painter and illustrator of the Victorian era.
Displaying a talent for art from an early age, she drew inspiration from her maternal grandmother Sarah Smith Herford and aunt Laura Herford—both accomplished artists.
She attended the National Art Training School in London—now the Royal College of Art.
In 1874, she produced 12 illustrations for the serialised version of Thomas Hardy‘s novel “Far from the Madding Crowd“.
In 1890, she became the first woman to become a full member of the Royal Watercolour Society.
A Cottage With Sunflowers by Helen Allingham
A Surrey Cottage by Helen Allingham
A Mother And Child Entering A Cottage by Helen Allingham
A Cottage Near Crocken Hill by Helen Allingham
A Village Street by Helen Allingham
An Iltshire Cottage by Helen Allingham
Children On A Path Outside A Thatched Cottage, West Horsley, Surrey by Helen Allingham
Children Outside a Cottage by Helen Allingham
Cottage at Pinner by Helen Allingham
Cottage, Freshwater, Isle of Wight by Helen Allingham
Hill Farm, Symondsbury by Helen Allingham
Irish Cottage by Helen Allingham
Manor House, Kent by Helen Allingham
Outside the cottage by Helen Allingham
The saucer of milk by Helen Allingham
A Berkshire Cottage by Helen Allingham
A Buckinghamshire house at Penstreet by Helen Allingham
A Cottage Door by Helen Allingham
A Cottage near Brook, Witley, Surrey by Helen Allingham
A Surrey Cottage by Helen Allingham
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Self-portrait as a firewood gatherer walking along a frozen canal.
Cornelis Springer (1817-1891) specialised in the arrangement and accurate representation of town scenes. His paintings were in such high demand that he had a two-year waiting list.
Raised in a family of architects and building contractors, he learned early to appreciate the beautiful buildings of Amsterdam.
Learning perspective drawing from his brother Hendrick—a professional architect—he completed his studies at the Amsterdam Academy of Fine Arts under instruction from Kaspar Karsen, a famous townscape painter.
Cornelis Springer’s beautiful scenes depict people going about day-to-day life—gathering at the fish market, unloading horse-drawn carts, merchants selling goods, or businessmen in conversation outside elegant canalside buildings.
With a keen eye for the social and economic activities that drive a city, Springer brings to life the beauty of Dutch architecture.
Altstadtmarkt in Brunswijk by Cornelis Springer
Zuiderhavendijk, Enkhuizen by Cornelis Springer, 1868
A View of a Town along the Rhine by Cornelis Springer
Altstadtmarkt in Brunswijk by Cornelis Springer
A View of Franeker with the Zakkend Ragerschuisje by Cornelis Springer
Cheese market with the Weigh house in Enkhuizen by Cornelis Springer, 1867
Cornelis Springer, The Gemeenlandshuis and the Old Church, Delft by Cornelis Springer, 1877
Village View by Cornelis Springer
A View of the Delftse Vaart and Saint Laurens Church, Rotterdam by Cornelis Springer, 1840
Figures on a Market Square in a Dutch Town by Cornelis Springer, 1843
Study for View on Den Haag by Cornelis Springer
The town hall at Leiden by Cornelis Springer, 1870
The Orphanage On The Hooglandse Kerkgracht, Leiden by Cornelis Springer
City View at Hoorn by Cornelis Springer
Market Oudewater by Cornelis Springer
The bend in the Herengracht by Cornelis Springer, 1882
Walenkerk Haarlem by Cornelis Springer
View of Montelspran by Cornelis Springer
View on Enkhuizen by Cornelis Springer
Voorburgwal in Amsterdam by Cornelis Springer
Many Figures On The Market Square In Front Of The Martinikirche, Braunschweig by Cornelis Springer
St. Michael Church in Zwolle by Cornelis Springer, 1862
A view of the Staal Everspijp and the Grote Kerk in summer, Enkhuizen by Cornelis Springer, 1866
A View of the Delftse Vaart and Saint Laurens Church, Rotterdam by Cornelis Springer, 1840
View behind the Grote Kerk in Naarden by Cornelis Springer
Alfred Stevens was one of Belgium’s leading 19th-century artists who specialized in paintings of fashionable young women in elegant interiors.
Read more …
As a young boy, Alfred Stevens (1823 – 1906) was surrounded by art: his father was an art collector and his grandparents ran a cafe in Brussels that was a meeting place for artists and writers.
At age 14, he studied at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, and at 20 was admitted to the most prestigious art school in Paris—the École des Beaux-Arts.
By 1851, at the age of 28, three of his paintings were admitted to the Brussels Salon, the most exclusive art exhibition in Belgium. Two years later, he was awarded a medal at the Paris Salon—the most important art event in the world.
It was here, in Paris, that he would find fame and fortune painting elegant modern women.
Here are 20 exquisite paintings from Alfred Steven’s repertoire that show his meticulous attention to contemporary dress and decor.
Departing for the Promenade, by Alfred-Émile-Léopold Stevens, 1859
La Parisienne Japonaise by Alfred Stevens, 1871
Lady at a Window Feeding Birds by Alfred Stevens, 1859
Pleasant Letter by Alfred Stevens, 1860
The Lady in Pink by Alfred Stevens, 1867
In the Studio by Alfred Stevens, 1888
The Japanese Mask by Alfred Stevens, 1877
In the Country by Alfred Stevens, 1823-1906
After the Ball by Alfred Stevens, 1873
Autumn Flowers by Alfred Stevens, 1866
News from Afar by Alfred Stevens, 1865
The Letter by Alfred Stevens, 1823-1906
At Home by Alfred Stevens, 1823-1906
The Happy Mother by Alfred Stevens, 1823-1906
Déjà by Alfred Stevens, 1863
Pensive Woman Near a Window by Alfred Stevens, 1823-1906
La Parisienne, 1879 by Alfred Stevens, 1879
Portrait of Baroness du Mesnil Saint-Front by Alfred Stevens, 1886
Mother and Children by Alfred Stevens, 1882
The Blue Ribbon by Alfred Stevens, 1823-1906 Credit Giacasso
Art is not what you see, but what you make others seeEdgar Degas.
And “make us see” is what he does with exquisite aplomb. He renders the beauty of fleeting movement, of ballerinas in mid-performance, with a luminous quality. But he also captures the human side of ballerinas, in their simplest, most intimate moments—warming up, stretching at the bar, practicing positions, or talking in the dressing room.
At the ballet, Degas found himself. It satisfied his penchant for classical elegance and put to use his rigorous academic training from the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris—one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious fine art schools.
He frequented the Palais Garnier—the home of the Paris Ballet and Opera, lurking in the wings and foyer hoping to befriend the influential patrons who might gain him access to the private world of ballerinas.
Mimed poetry, dream made visible.
Degas’s paintings of ballet performances capture the essence of what makes ballet special—the balance, poise, and precision of movement. A contemporary critic called ballet “mimed poetry, dream made visible.”
Degas became a familiar sight for the young ballerinas—some poor, dreaming of becoming the princesses of the stage. One said he “used to stand at the top or bottom of the many staircases . . . drawing the dancers as they rushed up and down.” He noticed everything—from the most difficult of choreographed sequences to the smallest errors—making notes as he went.
In later life, Degas became a recluse, believing that “the artist must live alone, and his private life must remain unknown“. His eyesight was failing him and he spent his last years, almost blind, wandering the streets of his beloved Paris.
He wrote to a friend,
with the exception of the heart, it seems to me that everything within me is growing old in proportion, and even this heart of mine has something artificial. The dancers have sewn it into a bag of pink satin, pink satin slightly faded, like their dancing shoes.
Like the dancing shoes, Degas himself faded away in September 1917, but his work lives on in brilliant color.
Listen to Steven Gutheinz as we marvel at the dancers of Degas.
The Dancing Class by Edgar Degas, 1871
Rehearsal of the Scene by Edgar Degas, 1872
Ballet School by Edgar Degas, 1873
The Ballet Class by Edgar Degas, 1874
The Rehearsal by Edgar Degas, c.1874
The Rehearsal of the Ballet on Stage by Edgar Degas, 1874
Rehearsal on Stage by Edgar Degas, 1874
Two Dancers in the Studio (also known as Dance School) by Edgar Degas, c.1875
Dancer Onstage with a Bouquet by Edgar Degas, c.1876
Dancer on Point by Edgar Degas, c.1877
Two Dancers on the Stage by Edgar Degas, 1877
Dancers Practicing at the Bar by Edgar Degas, 1877
Dancer Posing by Edgar Degas, c.1878
Dancers by Edgar Degas, c.1878
The Dance Studio by Edgar Degas, c.1878
Two Dancers Entering the Stage by Edgar Degas, c.1878
Ballet Scene by Edgar Degas, 1879
The Dance Lesson by Edgar Degas, c.1879
Two Ballet Dancers by Edgar Degas – circa 1879
Dancers on Set by Edgar Degas, c.1880
Th Ballet Class by Edgar Degas, 1881
Dancers in a Studio by Edgar Degas, c.1884
The Pink Dancers, Before the Ballet by Edgar Degas, 1884
The Ballet Dancers (also known as The Dressing Room) by Willard Leroy Metcalf – 1885
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Franz Unterberger (1837 – 1902) was an Austrian painter specializing in architecture, water scenes and landscapes in the romantic style. Best known for his scenic paintings of Italy’s coasts and cities, his credo was “il puro vero”, meaning “pure truth”, which he tried to convey by contrasting magnificent vistas with day-to-day life. The viewer is drawn initially to the splendor of the setting, and then to the people going about their daily lives in beautiful surroundings.
Lev Lagorio (1828–1905) loved the way light plays with the beauty and drama of sea and mountains.
Known for his seascapes, Lagorio studied at the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Influenced by the great marine artist Ivan Aivazovsky, Lagorio went on a sea voyage in 1845 aboard a Russian warship, where he studied the arrangement of ships—many of which feature in his work.
He spent eight years in Italy, his paintings of which earned him a professorship on returning to Russia.
In his later years, Lagorio painted coastal views of Finland and Norway.
1. Caucasian canyon, 1893
2. Normandy Beach, 1859.
3. Landscape with trees, houses and river, 1878
4. Moon light on the Neva, 1898
5. On the Caucasus Mountains, 1870
6. On the island of Capri. Coastal cliffs. 1859
7. On the island of Capri. Fisher’s house, 1859
8. Batum (a seaside city on the Black Sea coast), 1881
9. Defense of Bayazet during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878
The Little Ice Age was a period from about 1300 to 1870 when Europe and North America experienced much colder winters than we do today. Paintings from the Little Ice Age show us what it was like.
There were two phases, the first of which ran from about 1300 to 1500. Then came a slightly warmer period in the 1500s, followed by the second phase when climate deteriorated substantially.
Temperatures plummeted, crops failed, heavy snowfalls and glaciation consumed small villages and farms. Most waterways and lakes in Europe froze over.
Temperatures wouldn’t reach pre-Little Ice Age levels until the 20th century.
To make matters worse, there was significant volcanic activity. In 1815, Mount Tambora in the Dutch East Indies erupted—one of the most powerful volcanic eruptions in recorded history.
So much volcanic ash was forced into the atmosphere that it partially blocked the sun’s warming rays, leading to the “Year Without a Summer” of 1816.
Snow fell in New York in June, Massachusetts had frosts in August, and ice still floated in the lakes and rivers of northwestern Pennsylvania during August.
But art flourished, and provides us with a visual record of weather conditions.
Here are 20 of the best winter paintings from the Little Ice Age.
1. The Hunters in the Snow by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1565
PD-US: This work is in the public domain in the United States.
2. Adoration of the Magi in the Snow by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1567
PD-US: This work is in the public domain in the United States.
3. Enjoying the Ice by Hendrick Avercamp, c1620
PD-US: This work is in the public domain in the United States.
4. The Castle of Muiden in Winter by Jan Abrahamsz Beerstraten, 1658
Jan Abrahamsz. Beerstraaten, The castle of Muiden in winter, 1658 (London, National Gallery) CC BY-SA 4.0
5. Dutch Snow Scene with Skaters by Jan Griffier, c.1695
PD-US: This work is in the public domain in the United States.
6. Rome with snow by Giovanni Paolo Panini, 1730
PD-US: This work is in the public domain in the United States.
7. The Four Seasons: Winter by François Boucher, 1755
8. Winter by Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes, 1786-1787
9. Snowy Landscape by Francesco Foschi, c.1770
10. The Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch, attributed to Henry Raeburn, 1790s
11. Winter Landscape with Figures by George Morland, 1785
12. Winter Landscape by Caspar David Friedrich, 1811
13. Santa Trinità dei Monti in the Snow by Andre Giroux – c.1830 (Rome, Italy)
14. Winter Landscape with Skaters Near a Castle by Frederik Marinus Kruseman, 1866
PD-US: This work is in the public domain in the United States.
15. Playing in the Snow by Thompkins H Matteson, 1856
16. Winter Scene by Louis Remy Mignot, 1856
17. La Diligence in the Snow by Gustave Courbet, 1860
18. Snow Scene in the South of France by Joséphine Bowes, c.1867
19. Deer in a Snowy Landscape by Gustave Courbet, 1867
It was April 15, 1874, on the boulevard des Capucines, Paris, France.
Monet waited nervously for people to arrive at his new exhibition, organized with the help of friends Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Edouard Manet, Camille Pissarro, and others.
The well-known photographer Nadar (the pseudonym of Gaspard-Félix Tournachon) had recently moved to a new location and offered his studio to Monet and friends to use for their exhibition.
The home of photographer Nadar, where the 1874 exhibition took place.
Times were hard. The artists were constantly in need of money. An economic slump had hit the art market and the scant sales through art dealers had all but dried up.
The young artists had banded together to form a guild-like association and called themselves “Société anonyme des artistes peintres, sculpteurs et graveurs” (Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, and Engravers).
They wanted to show their work as independent artists, free from any restrictions imposed by the increasingly conservative Salon de Paris.
Formally dressed patrons at the Salon in 1890
Exhibition at the Salon de Paris was considered essential for any artist to achieve success in France.
But the Salon’s jurors had snubbed Monet and the group of artists, and refused to exhibit many of their works. They opposed the artists’ shift away from traditional styles.
It was the rejection of his larger paintings, like Women in the Garden (below) that finally convinced Monet of the need for his own exhibition.
Women in the Garden by Claude Oscar Monet, 1867 (100 in x 81 in)
Now was the opportunity to proudly show another of his larger works—The Luncheon. It too had been turned down by the Paris Salon.
The Luncheon, 1868, Städel, which features Camille Doncieux and Jean Monet, was rejected by the Paris Salon of 1870 but included in the first Impressionists’ exhibition in 1874. (97 in x 85 in)
Altogether, 165 works were exhibited, including 9 by Morisot, 6 by Renoir, 10 by Degas, 5 by Pissarro, 3 by Cézanne, and 3 by Guillaumin.
But it was Monet’s own painting, Impression, Sunrise that would lead to the new name for the group.
What was intended as an insult by art critic Louis Leroy to describe the vague forms and incomplete appearance, was taken as a token of esteem by the group of artists, who would become known as “Impressionists”.
Impression, Sunrise, 1872; the painting that gave its name to the style.
In his article “The Impressionist Exhibition”, Louis Leroy tried to ridicule the Impressionists by writing from the imaginary perspective of a traditional artist who was shocked at seeing their work:
‘Ah! This is it, this is it!: he cried in front of n. 98. ‘This one is Papa Vincent’s favorite! What is this a painting of? Look in the catalogue.’ ‘Impression, Sunrise.’ ‘Impression– I knew it. I was just saying to myself, if I’m impressed, there must be an impression in there… And what freedom, what ease in the brushwork! Wallpaper in its embryonic state is more labored than this seascape!”
During the exhibition, Monet talked about his technique for landscapes in an interview with Maurice Guillemot for La Revue Illustrée:
A landscape is only an impression, instantaneous, hence the label they’ve given us– all because of me, for that matter. I’d submitted something done out of my window at Le Havre, sunlight in the mist with a few masts in the foreground jutting up from the ships below. They wanted a title for the catalog; it couldn’t really pass as a view of Le Havre, so I answered: “Put down Impression.” Out of that they got impressionism, and the jokes proliferated….”
Followers of Impressionism argued that it represented how the eye sees subjects—not in terms of lines and contours, but through the interplay of light and color to form an impression.
Although initially skeptical, the public came to believe the Impressionists had developed their own highly original style.
Impressionism changed the world of painting by disrupting the conventions of the past. It paved the way for a number of later styles, including Neo-Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Fauvism, and Cubism.
The Groundbreaking Impressionist Exhibition of 1874
Boulevard des Capucines by Claude Monet, 1874.
Fishing Boats Leaving the Harbor, Le Havre by Claude Monet, 1874.Le verger (The Orchard) by Camille Pissarro, 1872.Gelee blanche (Hoarfrost) by Camille Pissarro, 1873.The Chestnut Trees at Osny by Camille Pissarro, 1873.
Portrait de Mme Morisot et de sa fille Mme Pontillon ou La lecture (The Mother and Sister of the Artist – Marie-Joséphine & Edma) by Berthe Morisot, 1870.
The Harbor at Lorient by Berthe Morisot, 1869.
Hide and Seek by Berthe Morisot, 1873.
The Cradle by Berthe Morisot, 1872.
The village of Maurecourt by Berthe Morisot, 1873.
Young Girl with a Parrot by Berthe Morisot, 1873.
Rivage de Portrieux by Eugène Boudin, 1874.Autumn – Banks of the Seine near Bougival by Alfred Sisley 1873.
The Hanged Man’s House by Paul Cezanne, 1873.A Carriage at the Races by Edgar Degas, 1872.Study: Landscape at Auvers by Paul Cezanne, 1873.
Dancer by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1974.
The Theatre Box by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1974.
Monet tried to sell Impression, Sunrise at the exhibition for 1000 francs but failed.
In 2008, at a Christie’s auction, Le bassin aux nymphéas from the water lillies series sold for $80,451,178.
Susan Catherine Moore Waters was a self-taught artist who had little formal training.
She paid her way through seminary school in Friendsville, Pennsylvania by producing drawings.
Married at 17 to William Waters, she relocated often according to her husband’s work and Quaker connections.
When her husband’s ill health meant that he could no longer work, she became the sole provider—and this is where her career as an artist blossomed.
Susan started painting commissioned portraits and giving lessons. Her early work earned enough to provide some financial security.
The Lincoln Children by Susan Waters, 1845.
Portrait of a Girl and Her Dog in a Grape Arbor by Susan Catherine Waters – circa 1855-1860
This painting of three of the twelve children of Otis Lincoln, an innkeeper from Newark Valley (near Binghamton), New York, is widely regarded as one of her finest achievements.
The three little girls (Laura Eugenie, age nine, Sara, age three, and Augusta, age seven) are arranged in a pyramid.
Wearing fancy dresses, ornamented with eyelet and lace, the girls hold pieces of fruit and a book—common in mid-19th-century child portraits and meant to convey their sweetness and enthusiasm for school.
The handsome furnishings, expensive-looking carpet, pretty plants and charming puppy—with its neatly aligned paws—create a pleasing image of domestic bliss. Contrast this with the startlingly serious expressions of the children.
She also wanted to develop as an artist.
In addition to portraits, she started painting landscapes and animals.
Chickens and Raspberries by Susan Catherine Waters – circa 1880.
In 1866, after years of moving between temporary residences, the Waters finally settled in Bordentown, New Jersey, where she would create some of her best-known works of domesticated animals in pastoral settings.
These paintings would earn her recognition in her own lifetime, including an exhibit at the prestigious Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia.
For a married woman in the 19th century, succeeding at being sole provider was a remarkable achievement.
To become recognized for her artistic talent in the male-dominated world of art was extraordinary.
Susan Waters’ strength of character would help her become a forward-thinker in the women’s suffrage movement and an animal rights activist.
James Tissot (1836 – 1902), was a French painter and illustrator.
He painted scenes of Paris and London society—and especially fashionably dressed women.
Click here to continue learning about James Tissot
Self-portrait in 1865.
Born in Nantes, France, his father was a drapery merchant and his mother designed hats. Their involvement in the fashion industry influenced his artistic flair for painting the finer details of women’s clothing.
Tissot enrolled in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts to study in the studios of Hippolyte Flandrin and Louis Lamothe—both known for their decorative art skills. It was here that Tissot became acquainted with Edgar Degas, Edouard Manet and James Whistler.
In 1863, Tissot found the niche that would bring him critical acclaim and wealth: portraits depicting modern life.
He moved to London in 1871, where he quickly developed his reputation for painting elegantly dressed, fashionable women.
The Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists quotes Edmond de Goncourt in 1874 as writing that Tissot had ‘a studio with a waiting room where, at all times, there is iced champagne at the disposal of visitors”.
Tissot’s popularity among wealthy British industrialists gave him an income usually reserved for the top strata of society.
a studio with a waiting room where, at all times, there is iced champagne at the disposal of visitorsPhilip J. Waller.
Tissot painted elegant ladies from high society in enchanting everyday scenes. Vote for your favorites from this list of 20 beautiful Tissot paintings.
