John Constable

A Heath (Hampstead Heath, Stormy Noon - Sand Diggers)'

1830

Leon Kossoff Outside Kilburn Underground Station 1984 Drypoint etching, Edition of 40 58.42 x 66.04 cms (23 x 26 ins) (paper size) 31 x 40.5 cms (12 3/16 x 15 15/16 ins) (plate size)

Henri Matisse Odalisque, brasero et coupe de fruits 1929 Lithograph on Arches Velin paper, Edition of 100 Paper size: 38 x 57 cms (15 x 22 1/2 ins) Image size: 27.9 x 37.6 cms (11 x ...

Viewers are always curious about this image. I count 20 people seated -- all men. Why? Three of the men are looking over their shoulders toward the back. Are they impatient to see late arrivers? The seating seems to be pew like. Pasternak, like most artists, wants the viewer to bring their own interpretation to the image and is most circumspect to give an explanation. A church, a union hall, a political meeting -- which is it? The mood seems to be one of anxiety rather than celebration. The artist did answer why all men. He says that "he likes to create the tension of the image on the page. Putting women and men together...

Hugues Merle was a French painter who mostly depicted sentimental or moral subjects. Samuel Cousins was a highly regarded mezzotint engraver. 350mm by 2...