Gaston La Touche

L’embarquement by Gaston La Touche

Late 19th Century

Signed, inscribed and dated "R. Pinatel / Taroudant / 1926" (lower right) Oil on panel A stunning ode to the Moroccan landscape, this oil on panel was composed by the French Orientalist painter Raphaël Pinatel, whose lively works adeptly translated the romanticism of the East for a Western audience. The present work, which captures a market in Taroudant, a city in southeastern Morocco, exemplifies the artist’s distinctive approach as he brilliantly translates the energy and atmosphere of the desert city. Pinatel’s style is impressionistic in his brushwork and handling of light and atmosphere. In the present work, he brilliantly captures the effects of the direct desert sun...

This thoroughly modern Parisian scene was composed by the celebrated French painter Jean François Raffaëlli. The delicate oil captures a familiar subject from late 19th-century life in the city: a busy avenue at the edge of a park on a cool autumn day. Exploring the climate of the city, Raffaëlli's mature works capture the energy of the grand parks and boulevards of the new Paris that emerged at the turn of the century. His legacy documents the realities of urban life during his age, all chronicled in his distinctive brushwork and sophisticated palette. While Raffaëlli was never fully accepted as a member of the Impressionist group, his works display a similar affinity for capturing the transient moments of modern life. His figures exude a sense of being suspended in time, as though they are part of some subtle narrative that is both restless and harmonious. Perhaps more aligned with Naturalism than Impressionism, the visual effect of Raffaëlli's composition is one of carefully composed spontaneity that makes manifest the joie de vivre of the age. Raffaëlli was not the only artist of his era to devote his canvases to the urban landscape. Camille Pissarro, Claude Monet, Gustave Caillebotte and others composed significant works on the subject of the urban milieu. On the whole, it was an entirely new kind of painting, and it was largely influenced by the work of social engineer Baron Haussmann beginning in the 1850s. At the request of Emperor Napoleon III, Haussmann designed and carried out a large-scale urban renewal program, erecting landmarks and tree-lined thoroughfares throughout the city to create a unified and socially-centered urban aesthetic. The city became a glittering stage for modern advancements and bourgeois pleasure, which paved the way for a new kind of subject that was eagerly adopted by the Impressionists and artistic avant-garde. Born in Paris in 1850, Raffaëlli first studied theater and music before turning to painting in 1870. That same year, he submitted a landscape painting to the Salon and was accepted. Aside from just three months studying with the Academic great Jean-Léon Gérôme, Raffaëlli was self-trained, developing his own unique style that brought together Realism, Naturalism and Impressionism. While he managed to exhibit works at both the Salon and the Impressionist exhibitions...

Jean-Pierre Cassigneul b.1935 French La terrasse devant la mer (The Terrace by the Sea) Signed “Cassigneul” (lower left) Oil on canvas laid on panel This monumental, three-panele...

Lucas Cranach the Elder and Studio 1472-1553 German Moses and the Pillar of Cloud Oil on panel Moses and the Pillar of Cloud is a bold and evocative composition that showcases the signature intense color and intricate detail of Lucas Cranach the Elder’s celebrated oeuvre. The remarkable 16th-century oil on panel by Lucas Cranach and his studio captures the narrative moment when Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt and encounters God manifested through a large pillar of cloud. Moses stands at the precipice of a bridge and turns back to soldiers helping to lead the group of Israelites who huddle closely together. Cranach depicts Moses with his traditional iconography, rendering the rays of light on his head which came to be interpreted as "horns" in the translation of the Bible. Using his traditional walking staff, Moses gestures toward the pillar, seemingly acknowledging that God will protect the group as they cross the bridge to the other side, leaving exile and entering a promised land. In a nod to Cranach’s Germanic locale, he renders the figures and setting in a manner that feels decisively more akin to European aesthetics than those of the Red Sea. Soldiers wear elaborate, gothic suits of armor that recall the livery of Northern European guardsmen. The terrain appears more like a European forest giving way to a sweeping valley than the arid landscape the Israelites trekked through on their journey across the Red Sea. Though still clearly recounting a story from the Old Testament, Cranach renders the cast of characters and setting in an earthly, familiar manner. This aesthetic shift speaks to Cranach’s own changing beliefs as he found himself at the center of the Protestant Reformation. After first gaining recognition in 1505 as the official painter of Frederick the Wise, Cranach established a thriving painting and print studio in Wittenberg, Germany. Cranach was renowned for his court portraits and genre paintings and was also well known for his association with the famous protestant reformer Martin Luther, then under the protection of Frederick the Wise. As Wittenberg became a bastion of new religious thought, Cranach soon befriended Luther and played an active role in creating the printed materials that proliferated throughout the Reformation...

This lyrical landscape entitled Dance of the Nymphs was composed by the French Barbizon painter Paul Désiré Trouillebert. A joyful scene of nymphs dancing the morning fog, the work closely resembles an important work by the great Camille Corot, which is now housed at the Musée d'Orsay (Paris). Renowned for his unique individuality that toed the line between the traditional and modern, Corot and his landscapes helped pave the way for an entire generation of Impressionists who followed him. Trouillebert perfectly captures the poetic atmosphere of Corot’s groundbreaking works, while also imbuing this scene with a freshness and character that is all his own. Trouillebert's oil on canvas is exemplary of the tradition of historical painting. The work perfectly combines a realistic depiction of the natural world with a spirited romanticism as his idealized nymph figures frolic playfully beneath a crisp morning sky. As a whole, it is a lovely composition executed with a level of skill and artistry that proves Trouillebert's exceptional talent in the arts. Born in Paris in 1831, Paul Désiré Trouillebert was a student of the academic painters Ernest Hébert...

Ramon Dilley 1933 - Spanish La Petite Swan Signed “Dilley 91” (lower right) Signed and titled “Ramon Dilley / La Petite Swan” (en verso) Oil on board laid on canvas This captivat...

French shepherdess at twilight by Jean Beauduin (1851-1916). Oil on canvas mounted on board. Original Barbizon frame. I believe the dog is a bergere Pic...

Albert LEBOURG (1849-1928) Pont du Château, 1918 Oil on panel Size : 33 x 42 cm Signed and dated 1918 lower left. Origin : - Galerie Tuffier, Les Andelys, - Private collection, Pa...

Painting measures 10 ½" x 16" and framed 20 ½" x 26" x 4"

Clyde Steadman's "Country Road" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts an impasto painting of a pastoral setting.

Clyde Steadman's "Going Round the Bend" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts an impasto painting of a two lane road going around the bend with mountains in the backgrou...

Sandra Pratt's "Impending Storm" is an original handmade oil painting that depicts an impressionistic rendering of water and land meeting with chaotic grey clouds overhead. Artist Statement: My work is inspired by my emotional response to places I've seen and experienced. In particular, the contrasts of light and dark. I enjoy using a palette knife for the immediate bold statement it offers. I started painting as a young child and studied for a while at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago but ultimately decided to be a self-taught artist, My style of painting is called abstract impressionism. I work Alla Prima, wet into wet, not reworking a picture that has dried. I started using the palette knife to do color charts, then kept using it for immediate effects and fun texture. The challenge is making the whole painting cohesive enough in a single session, which can be a fun challenge working big!. I paint intuitively, and I enjoy painting landscapes best, scenes all people can relate to at a fundamental level, green fields in Ireland, Paris alleys, and little white barns. I'm drawn to old structures, falling down barns, fences, and houses. I love the sense of history, fragility, and secrets they exude. Artists I'm inspired by are Edward Seago, Kyffin Williams, Nicolai Fechin, and Sergei Bogart. These painters have a very particular style and handle of paint manipulation I find fascinating. My color palette has simplified over time. I've experimented with many colors; my basic palette is usually around seven colors plus white. I like creating color harmony, so the focus is on shape, composition, and edges, although colorful paintings have a place in my work. Overall, I intend to show my viewers simplicity in art and create transcendent experiences. My work has been exhibited at the Brattleboro Museum in Vermont, with the Allied Artists of America in NY, and at the A.R. Mitchell Museum and the Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary Art in Colorado. I'm from Chicago, IL, and currently live in the mountains of Colorado with my incredible husband, two kids, cattle dog...