Unknown

18th-Century Provincial German School Cavalry Battle, Oil Painting

c. 1800

This mid-19th-century oil painting by Danish-American artist Joachim Ferdinand Richardt (1819-1895) depicts a congregation observing a river baptism, probably in the Mississippi River. In 2009, at President Obama’s Inauguration luncheon, a panoramic view of Niagara was selected as the backdrop to his speech. It’s a breathtaking image, capturing the sublimity of the American Falls and the Horseshoe Falls in all their iconic majesty. The ‘Maid-of-the-Mist’, negotiates the rapids, a mere speck within a broad expanse of water. While beyond, a colossal sheet of spray is sharply illuminated through passing clouds. It was painted by the son of a bookbinder, a humble Danish artist who travelled extensively across the United States to document its nature, buildings and civilization. Admired in his own lifetime, this unassuming adventurer produced scores of resplendent vistas but also numerous vignettes documenting everyday activities. Joachim Ferdinand Richardt was initially destined to become a carpenter but, thankfully, enrolled at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts where he studied under three distinguished masters. Blessed with a skill for drawing, he was awarded medals and in 1839 began exhibiting at the prestigious Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition. In 1841, the Danish Royal Family acquired one of his works and six years later granted him a five-year stipend. Richardt trained at a time of exceptional creative output whereby Denmark was developing a clearer identity. Dubbed ‘National Romanticism’, artists were extolling their country’s natural beauty, while also celebrating humble folk life within rural environs. Stylistically, their work is somewhat comparable with German Romanticism...

This beautiful mid-20th-century oil painting by Swedish artist Sam Uhrdin (1886-1964) depicts a woman playing the guitar in a gently lit room at twilight. Bathed in a warm radiance ...

This charming late 19th-century oil painting by Arturo Orselli (fl. 1880-1896) depicts a huntsman wearing riding gear conversing somewhat flirtatiously with two ladies. Attired in o...

This witty early 20th-century oil painting by British artist Edgar Bundy ARA RI RBA (1862-1922) depicts a young country woman visiting the home of her wealthy relatives, to much dism...

A large early 20th Century naive, folk art, oil on canvas view of a livestock fair by Tanim. The painting is signed bottom left. A wonderful, humorous and playful view of animals an...

*ABOUT Stephen Basso Stephen Basso's highly original pastels and oil paintings are romantic, yet thought provoking fantasies. His whimsical works are alive with boundless imagina...

Jalal Gharbi, Tunisian/American (1920 - 2005) - Pottery Sellers, Year: circa 1970, Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed lower right, Size: 36 x 40 in. (91.44 x 101.6 cm), Description: An oil painting of...

Jalal Gharbi, Tunisian/American (1920 - 2005) - Belly Dancer, Year: circa 1970, Medium: Oil on Canvas, Size: 40 x 36 in. (101.6 x 91.44 cm), Description: An unfinished oil painti...