John Armstrong Figurative Paintings

Alan Bray’s Neighbors is a masterful casein tempera painting capturing the quiet beauty of winter. Delicate, snow-covered branches contrast against a crisp blue sky, while two bird n...

This remarkable late 16th-century fragment depicts Saint Magí, the patron saint of Tarragona, and Saint Mauro, a Benedictine monk. Produced in around 1580, on the cusp of the Anglo-S...

Provenance: Dr. James Henry Lancashire, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts, by 1925; probably by descent to: Private Collection, Cumberland Foreside, Maine, until 2018 This unpublished panel is a characteristic work of the Master of the Apollo and Daphne Legend, an anonymous Florentine painter in the circle of Bartolommeo di Giovanni, Domenico Ghirlandaio, and Sandro Botticelli. The artistic personality of the Master of the Apollo and Daphne Legend was independently recognized by Everett Fahy and Federico Zeri at roughly the same moment in time. Fahy originally dubbed this artist the Master of the Ryerson Panels but later adopted Zeri’s name for the artist, which derives from his eponymous works from the Samuel H. Kress collection (Figs. 1-2). Fahy posited that the artist was most likely a pupil of Ghirlandaio active from roughly 1480 to 1510, and that he may be identifiable with one of Ghirlandaio’s documented pupils to whom no works have been securely attributed, such as Niccolò Cieco, Jacopo dell’Indaco, or Baldino Baldinetti. The present painting was first attributed to this master by Everett Fahy in 1989, who became aware of its existence only after publishing his definitive studies on the artist. The surviving body of work by the Master of the Apollo and Daphne Legend is largely composed of series of panels treating the same theme. In addition to the works illustrating the legend of Apollo and Daphne, there are also series on the themes of Susanna and the Elders and the story of Saint Joseph, among others. The subject of the present panel is drawn from Genesis 24, the story of Isaac. It is possible that our painting relates to another work by the artist depicting the Sacrifice of Isaac formerly in the collection of E. A. McGuire in Dublin, Ireland (Fig. 3), and that these two panels were originally part of a decorative scheme based on the story of Isaac. Although the Master’s paintings of this type have traditionally been considered painted fronts of wedding chests, known as cassoni, the scale of these paintings and the fact that they are often part of a series indicates that they are more likely spalliera panels—paintings set into furniture or the wainscoting of a room. The biblical episode depicted in this painting centers on the theme of marriage, which suggests that this work was likely commissioned for the domestic interior of a newly married couple. The Master has transcribed into paint even the minute details of this Old Testament story, in which Abraham sends a servant to travel by camel to the land of his father and seek out a wife for his son Isaac. The servant is here shown at the well...

This Italian tempera painted on gilt wood gold ground panel is a Tuscan religious artwork in the style of late Renaissance - early Gothic period. The sc...

As the artist states about this painting: "I first photographed this farm because it had one of the last living Elm trees in our area. Most began dying in the 70's and there are very...

On one hot June day, a beautiful Ethiopian girl was playing in Monahov's studio with a sparkling glass prism, watching objects refracted in the room and outside the window.. and at s...

Provenance: Achillito Chiesa, Milan Luigi Albrighi, Florence, by 1 July 1955 with Marcello and Carlo Sestieri, Rome, 1969 Private Collection, Connecticut Exhibited: Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, South Hadley, Massachusetts (on loan, 2012) Literature: Carlo Volpe, “Alcune restituzioni al Maestro dei Santi Quirico e Giulitta,” in Quaderni di Emblema 2: Miscellanea di Bonsanti, Fahy, Francisci, Gardner, Mortari, Sestieri, Volpe, Zeri, Bergamo, 1973, pp. 19-20, fig. 18, as by the Master of Saints Quiricus and Julitta (now identified as Borghese di Piero). This fine predella panel depicting the Baptism...

The Lonely Road (1940) Tempera on panel 12" x 16" 19 1/2" x 23 1/2" x 1 1/2" framed Hand-signed "Palmer '40" lower center. Provenance: Midtown Galleries, New York, NY (labels verso...

Maryn Hunzeker "Explorers" Original Casein Painting c.1960 Fantastic mid modern painting by noted artist Maryn Hunzeker. Created with casein on panel. Dimensions 26" x 18 1/4". The...

Some time ago Evgeniy Monahov chatted with a good friend about which of the Hermitage Leonardos he like best - the Benois Madonna or the Litta Madonna....

This rare and fascinating series of 10 ceiling tablets, painted in tempera on poplar wood, represents a remarkable example of 15th-century Lombard decorative art. Originating from a ...

Original painting by Mavis Smith. Mavis Smith (b. 1956, Trenton, NJ) studied art and design at the Pratt Institute in New York and completed her studies in 2002 at the Seattle Acad...