Joseph Christian Leyendecker

Three Wise Men

circa 1900

French Post-Impressionist painter Georges d’Espagnat captures a charming moment between a mother and her child in this vibrant oil on canvas. Rendered with a studied use of complementary colors and bold brushstrokes, the painting showcases the artist's unique Post-Impressionist style. Remembered as one of the most individualistic artists of the 20th century, his distinctive canvases bring together the loose brushwork of the Impressionists and the bold color palette favored by the Fauves. Together, they achieve a vibrant spontaneity that lends itself well to the carefree subjects of the present work. Masterfully composed, La lecture au jardin moves beyond the Impressionist instinct to capture a fleeting moment on canvas. Rather, d'Espagnat succeeds in creating a deep feeling of harmony in the work. Warm colors are perfectly balanced with cool tones, while vertical and horizontal lines are softened by the curves of the foliage and his subjects' figures. Through his simplification of forms and intentional use of color and line, he creates a scene that is carefully designed and thoroughly modern. A similar view of a mother and her child by d'Espagnat is currently in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York). The Post-Impressionist painter was an individualist since his youth, choosing to forgo traditional schooling in order to independently study the Old Masters in the Louvre. He soon became involved with the most prominent Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painters of the age, including Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Paul Signac, who themselves existed outside the traditional norms of French Academic training. In 1891, he exhibited at the Salon des Refusés, and again the following year at the Salon des Indépendants. By 1895, he held his first one-man show in Paris, and just three years later his success earned him a solo show at the prestigious Durand-Ruel Gallery. Between 1905 and 1910 he made several trips to visit Renoir on the Côte d’Azur. Their close friendship resulted in a group exhibition at Marcel Bernheim...

John William Godward 1861-1922 British A Pompeian Lady Signed and dated "J.W. Godward 1904" (lower right, partially covered by frame) Oil on canvas One of the last and greatest Victorian neoclassical painters, John William Godward is celebrated for his flawlessly executed images of graceful women posed in idealized ancient settings. In this work, entitled A Pompeian Lady, a classical beauty is caught idling in a moment of quiet, solitary reflection. Godward's elegant subjects are depicted with a degree of technical mastery that remains unsurpassed, and the work's dramatic palette, luxurious fabrics and classical vision are all characteristics of his unique take on the neoclassical style. Godward was unmatched in terms of his technical skill and attention to detail. A master of contrasting textures, he paints a diaphanous gown draping against the model’s smooth, milky white skin, which sits against the painstakingly rendered individual hairs of a tiger’s pel. Scintillating color permeates the canvas as well, energizing the otherwise static scene. Each element is given careful attention, and the overall effect is one of both immaculate technique and sensual tactility. Along with his contemporary and mentor, Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Godward set the tone for the Victorian neoclassicist movement. He built his career upon creating images of idealized feminine beauty infused with a Greco-Roman-inspired style. Though greatly influenced by Alma-Tadema, Godward distinguished himself through his predilection for the solitary female figure. His fame rose dramatically in the first few years of the 20th century, when the present work was completed, due to the burgeoning strength of the British Empire and the Victorian society’s preoccupation with ancient Rome. To many of the newly affluent, Roman society was, as Iain Gale writes, “a flawless mirror of their own immaculate world.” The sensuality and mystery of Godward’s maidens, combined with his impressive antique backdrops...

Joseph Christian Leyendecker 1874-1951 | American The Sleuth Saturday Evening Post Cover, June 2, 1906 Signed "JCLeyendecker" (lower left) Oil on canvas A debonair sleuth peers t...

Edouard Manet 1832-1883 French Christ as a Gardener Oil on canvas Beloved for his invaluable role in the development of the Impressionist movement, Edouard Manet's artworks are foundational to the canon of art history. The revolutionary artist's rare religious works, while lesser-known, are some of the most intimate paintings he ever produced, offering insight into the artist’s fascination with the idea of humanity’s beautiful and transcendent relationship with suffering. Begun in 1856, Christ as a Gardener is one of his earliest renderings of Christ and offers a view into nascent motifs that would later define Manet’s monumental legacy. In the painting, Christ’s profile is turned toward the viewer, though his face is turned to the bottom left of the frame and his downturned eyes avert the viewer's gaze. His brown robes contrast the warm light of his halo and the dramatic sky behind him. As with all of Manet’s work, this image is rich with symbolism. A partial self-portrait, as seen in the similar facial hair and iconic appearance of a paintbrush-like garden tool, the painting renders the biblical scene of Mary Magdalene mistaking the risen Christ for a gardener with personal intimacy. As the biblical tale relays, when Mary Magdalene recognizes Christ, she reaches out to him; he replies, “Touch me not.” The highly charged relationship between the Christ figure and the viewer, standing in as Mary Magdalene, is further emphasized by Christ’s hand that appears to reach out for contact. Through this extension of touch, Christ’s presence is tangible, reminiscent of Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam in the Sistine Chapel. This intimate initiation of human connection directly contrasts Christ’s biblical words, “Touch me not.” Scholars have attributed this rejection, both in gaze and through words, to Manet’s conviction that Christ, as a human, embodied a spirit of renunciation and rejection of his earthly existence. Christ’s distant expression suggests a willingness to be elsewhere — an expression that Manet will later use in his most distinguished works of art. Manet would go on to expand his view of Christ as a timeless embodiment of absolute commitment and suffering with his monumental Salon paintings...

"Man Looking Southeast" is a surreal painting that captures the viewer's imagination with its images and contrast of colors. This piece features a large red serpentine shape that wea...

"Liusana" Oil Painting 59" x 47" inch by Dmitriy Krestniy ATTENTION: Painting ships rolled in a tube. A look through Dmitriy’s designs reveals a gl...

The Rain, 2021 by Ramonn Vieitez Acrylic, gouache and watercolor on bamboo paper Hahnemuhle Size: 25.5 H x 19.6 W in. Unique Signed on the back by the artist ___ Ramonn Vieitez is ...

KATARZYNA SZYDLOWSKA (born in 1969) Katarzyna Szydlowska studied at the European Academy of Arts under prof. Jerzy Duda Gracz, Antoni Fa?at and Franciszek S...