Georges d'Espagnat

La lecture au jardin (Lesson in the Garden)

Circa 1898

A charming relic of a bygone era, this rare oil is the work of the inimitable American illustrator, Norman Rockwell. The iconic artist’s ability to render the details and nuances of ...

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...

Ozer Shabat 1978-1901 Ozer Shabbat was an Israeli painter, a resident of Haifa. Belonged to the Palestine Expressionist group of the late 1920s and early 1930s. Shabbat was born in Wolbrom, Poland. At the end of the First World War he went to Holland for agricultural training in the framework of the HeChalutz movement, prior to his immigration to Palestine. In 1920 he immigrated to Eretz Israel and joined the Hulda group. Later he joined the Merhavia group and there he began painting. Because of his desire to study drawing, he left the group and moved to Jerusalem. In 1921, he wrote articles in the newspaper "HaSadeh" on the subject of agriculture and Dutch cheese. Ozer Shabath won the first prize in a competition for the design of the Dutch Consulate's Garden in Jerusalem, enabling him to travel to Paris in 1923 to study painting. Until 1925 he studied painting at the Grande Chaumiere Academy in Paris. This year he returned to Eretz Israel and settled in Haifa, where he lived until his death. In 1928 he participated for the first time in an exhibition of Eretz Israel artists at the Tower of David. Since then he has participated in all the general exhibitions of Israeli artists. In 1934, together with painters Menachem Shemi, Avraham Mohar, Zvi Meirovitch and others, he founded the Haifa Artists' Group. In 1935-36 he toured Europe and visited Italy, France and England. During his visit, he maintained contacts with artists from the Jewish school of Paris. He has exhibited in several solo exhibitions, represented Israel in exhibitions in Europe and participated in international exhibitions in New York, Johannesburg and Zurich. In 1958 he represented Israel in the Venice Biennale. In 1960, Shabat, together with Elchanan Halpern he represented the Israeli Painters Association at the International Congress of Plastic Arts held in Vienna, Austria . In the 40s and 50s he focused on landscape pictures. However, despite the focus on the Israeli landscape, the approach is universal in the framework of the post-Impressionist painting school. In the 1960s, his approach changed and he turned more to abstraction. The abstract direction gradually evolved. The point of departure of the abstract approach is the architectural landscape, but this view loses its real character and becomes only imaginary: the buildings lose their real character and turn into exclusive geometric areas that are usually set against a dark background. Over time, architecture captured the lion's share of his paintings. Cities like Safed, Jaffa and Jerusalem are the subject of many pictures. He taught painting and art at the schools of the kibbutzim in Ramat Yochanan and Kfar Yehoshua, in high schools in Haifa and in the IDF and Gordon seminars. His paintings were purchased and are in the permanent collection of the Bezalel National Museum (now the Israel Museum), Haifa Museum of Art, Haifa Maritime Museum, Acre Municipal Museum. Select Solo exhibitions 1936 - Nadler Gallery, Haifa. 1943 - The Tel Aviv Museum of Art. 1952 - Artists House, Haifa. 1953 - Bezalel House, Jerusalem. 1955 - Gallery in Geneva, Switzerland. 1955 - The Writers' Club, Haifa. 1959 - Artists House, Haifa. 1960 - Museum of Modern Art, Haifa. 1962 - Museum of Modern Art, Haifa. 1963 - Gallery 220, Tel Aviv. 1968 - The Municipal Museum of Beit Emanuel, Ramat Gan. 1979 - Memorial exhibition marking the first anniversary...

The painting (oil on canvas, 40 x 29,8 cm; with wood frame 61 x 51 cm) represents two lovers. It's signed M Maccari on the bottom right. Mino Maccari was a satirical artist and journ...

Le Collier de Perles by Ludovic-Rodo Pissarro (1878-1952) Oil on canvas 61 x 50 cm (24 x 19 ⅝ inches) Signed and dated lower right, Ludovic Rodo 1927...

*PLEASE NOTE UK BUYERS WILL ONLY PAY 5% VAT ON THIS PURCHASE. Tête de Femme Blonde by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) Oil on canvas 26.1 x 19 cm (10 ¹/₄ x 7 ¹/₂ inches) Signed upp...