German-born American Hudson River School Painter, 1830-1902 Bierstadt was born in Solingen, Germany. His family moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1833. He studied painting with the members of the D??sseldorf School in D??sseldorf, Germany from 1853 to 1857. He taught drawing and painting briefly before devoting himself to painting. Bierstadt began making paintings in New England and upstate New York. In 1859, he traveled westward in the company of a Land Surveyor for the U.S. government, returning with sketches that would result in numerous finished paintings. In 1863 he returned west again, in the company of the author Fitz Hugh Ludlow, whose wife he would later marry. He continued to visit the American West throughout his career. Though his paintings sold for princely sums, Bierstadt was not held in particularly high esteem by critics of his day. His use of uncommonly large canvases was thought to be an egotistical indulgence, as his paintings would invariably dwarf those of his contemporaries when they were displayed together. The romanticism evident in his choices of subject and in his use of light was felt to be excessive by contemporary critics. His paintings emphasized atmospheric elements like fog, clouds and mist to accentuate and complement the feel of his work. Bierstadt sometimes changed details of the landscape to inspire awe. The colors he used are also not always true. He painted what he believed is the way things should be: water is ultramarine, vegetation is lush and green, etc. The shift from foreground to background was very dramatic and there was almost no middle distance Nonetheless, his paintings remain popular. He was a prolific artist, having completed over 500 (possibly as many as 4000) paintings during his lifetime, most of which have survived. Many are scattered through museums around the United States. Prints are available commercially for many. Original paintings themselves do occasionally come up for sale, at ever increasing prices.  Related Paintings of Albert Bierstadt :. | Die Rocke Mountains | High in the Mountains | During the mountain | Conway Valley New Hampshire | Lake in the Yosemite Valley |
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Lorenzo Lotto
Italian 1480-1556 Lorenzo Lotto Galleries In this last period of his life, Lorenzo Lotto would frequently move from town to town, searching for patrons and commissions. In 1532 he went to Treviso. Next he spent about seven years in the Marches (Ancona, Macerata en Jesi), returning to Venice in 1540. He moved again to Treviso in 1542 and back to Venice in 1545. Finally he went back to Ancona in 1549. This was a productive period in his life, during which he painted several altarpieces and portraits : Santa Lucia before the Judge, 1532, Jesi, Pinacoteca comunale The Sleeping Child Jesus with the Madonna, St. Joseph and St. Catherine of Alexandria, 1533, Bergamo, Accademia Carrara Portrait of a Lady as Lucretia, 1533, National Gallery, London. Holy Family with SS Jerome, Anna and Joachim, 1534, Firenze, Uffizi Holy Family, ca 1537, Paris, Louvre Portrait of a Young Man, Firenze, Uffizi Crucifixion, Monte San Giusto, Church of S Maria in Telusiano Rosary Madonna, 1539, Cingoli, Church of San Nicolo Portrait of a Man, 1541, Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada Bust of a Bearded Man, 1541, ascribed, San Francisco, Fine Arts Museum The Alms of Saint Anthony, 1542, Venezia, church SS Giovanni e Paolo Madonna and four Saints, 1546, Venezia, Church of San Giacomo dell??Orio Portrait of fra?? Gregorio Belo da Vicenza, 1548,New York, Metropolitan Museum Assumption, 1550, Ancona, church San Francesco alle Scale The Crossbowman, 1551, Rome, Pinacoteca Capitolina Portrait of an Old man, ascribed, ca 1552, Saint Petersburg, Ermitage Presentation in the Temple, 1555, Loreto, Palazzo Apostolico A Venetian woman in the guise of Lucretia (1533).At the end of his life it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to earn a living. Furthermore, in 1550 one of his works had an unsuccessful auction in Ancona. As recorded in his personal account book, this deeply disillusioned him. As he had always been a deeply religious man, he entered in 1552 the Holy Sanctuary at Loreto, becoming a lay brother. During that time he decorated the basilica of S Maria and painted a Presentation in the Temple for the Palazzo Apostolico in Loreto. He died in 1556 and was buried, at his request, in a Dominican habit. Giorgio Vasari included Lotto's biography in the third volume of his book Vite. Lorenzo Lotto himself left many letters and a detailed notebook (Libro di spese diverse, 1538-1556), giving a certain insight in his life and work. Among the many painters he influenced are likely Giovanni Busi
Frida Kahlo
1907-54 Mexican painter, b. Coyoacen. As a result of an accident at age 15, Kahlo turned her attention from a medical career to painting. Drawing on her personal experiences, her works are often shocking in their stark portrayal of pain and the harsh lives of women. Fifty-five of her 143 paintings are self-portraits incorporating a personal symbolism complete with graphic anatomical references. She was also influenced by indigenous Mexican culture, aspects of which she portrayed in bright colors, with a mixture of realism and symbolism. Her paintings attracted the attention of the artist Diego Rivera, whom she later married. Although Kahlo's work is sometimes classified as surrealist and she did exhibit several times with European surrealists, she herself disputed the label. Her preoccupation with female themes and the figurative candor with which she expressed them made her something of a feminist cult figure in the last decades of the 20th cent.
Cornelis Van Leemputten
(1841-1902) was a Belgian painter. Born in Werchter, Cornelius van Leemputten is predominantly known for his landscapes with sheep, similar to the style of Charles Jacque. He began his painting career without formal training. He was well-known for his barnyard subjects. Leemputten eventually became a pupil of the Academy of Antwerp, though his style remained primarily self-taught. Van Leemputten participated across several international exhibitions and received gold medals in Ghent in 1883, Edinburgh in 1886, Port Adelaide in 1887 and in Berlin in 1896. In 1895, he received the Knight of the Order of Leopold (Belgium).