Ernst Josephson
1851-1906
Swedish
Ernst Josephson Gallery
was a Swedish painter from a prominent Jewish family, whose main work was done on portraits and paintings of folk life.
He did his art studies in Italy, France and the Netherlands, among others, and is reputed to have said at the age of 20: "I will become Sweden's Rembrandt or die."
However, his life was marred by illness. He contracted syphilis at a relatively young age, and in 1888 he became mentally ill during a visit to Brittany, having religious hallucinations and believing that he was God and Christ.
He was later taken to hospital in Uppsala and diagnosed with schizophrenia, but continued working throughout his disease, often while in a trance-like state.
He also wrote poetry, in the collections Svarta rosor (1888, Black Roses) and Gula rosor (1896, Yellow Roses). His main work, Strömkarlen (1884, the Nix), was refused by the Swedish National Museum in Stockholm - however, Prince Eugen, Duke of Narke, bought the painting in fury over the decision.
Grandfather of Erland Josephson. Related Paintings of Ernst Josephson :. | Leende spanjorska | spanska smeder | Portratt av doktor Axel Munthe | portratt av j.p. jacobsen | Spanish smith | Related Artists: Hendrik van Balen d.A1575-1632 Edward Theodore Compton(July 29 1849 - March 22 1921) was an English-born, German artist, illustrator and mountain climber. He is well-known for his paintings and drawings of alpine scenery, and as a mountaineer made 300 major ascents including no fewer than 27 first ascents.
Compton was born in Stoke Newington in London, the son of Theodore Compton, an art-loving insurance agent, and grew up in a deeply religious Quaker household. He attended various art schools, including, for a time, the Royal Academy in London, but otherwise he was mainly self-taught in art.
Hans HolbeinGerman
1497-1543
Hans Holbein Galleries
Holbein always made highly detailed pencil drawings of his portrait subjects, often supplemented with ink and colored chalk. The drawings emphasize facial detail and usually did not include the hands; clothing was only indicated schematically. The outlines of these drawings were then transferred onto the support for the final painting using tiny holes in the paper through which powdered charcoal was transmitted; in later years Holbein used a kind of carbon paper. The final paintings thus had the same scale as the original drawings. Although the drawings were made as studies for paintings, they stand on their own as independent, finely wrought works of art. How many portraits have been lost can be seen from Holbein's book (nearly all pages in the Royal Collection) containing preparatory drawings for portraits - of eighty-five drawings, only a handful have surviving Holbein paintings, though often copies have survived.
David Hockney has speculated in the Hockney-Falco thesis that Holbein used a concave mirror to project an image of the subject onto the drawing surface. The image was then traced. However this thesis has not met with general acceptance from art historians.
A subtle ability to render character may be noted in Holbein's work, as can be seen in his portraits of Thomas Cromwell, Desiderius Erasmus, and Henry VIII. The end results are convincing as definitive images of the subjects' appearance and personality.
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