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 | The Visitacion | St Luke | Two Nudes Compared | Christ before Pilate |
Related Artists:
Francis Sartorius
Scottish , 1734-1804
Francois Ferriere
1752-1839 Swiss Francois Ferriere Location
Vasily Kandinsky
b. Dec. 4 ,Dec. 16, New Style, 1866, Moscow, Russia--d. Dec. 13, 1944, Neuilly-sur-Seine, Fr. Wasilly Kandinsky (or Vassilii Kandinskii) was a Russian painter whose works from 1910 are considered the first abstract paintings. Kandinsky had a law career in Moscow until he opted for art school in Munich in 1896 -- when he was almost 30. Within a decade he'd made a name for himself in Russia and in Europe, an Expressionist whose dazzling watercolors were influenced by Russian folk art and French Impressionists such as Claude Monet. Between 1910 and 1912 he wrote about non-objective "abstract" paintings and published On the Spiritual in Art, a work that solidified his position as the father of abstract art. Known for his ingenuity with geometric shapes and use of brilliant color, Kandinsky was successful in Europe and the United States.