Bouguereau: The First Mourning - 1888

Public Domain Photo: The First Mourning (Premier Deuil), an oil on canvas painting of dimensions 203 cm x 252 cm (appx 80 x 99 inches) by French painter William Bouguereau, National Museum of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires.

The oil painting ‘The First Mourning’ (1888) is acclaimed to be one of the best paintings by the traditionalist French artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905), whose realist genre of creations and a host of other paintings depicting mythological and Biblical characters and scenes became very popular with the aristocracy and the rich art patrons of his times.

His interpretations of classical themes in a photo-realistic style were heavily influenced by the beauty of feminine human body. In later years, Bouguereau seemed to have been given much less appreciation compared to the Impressionists.

The theme of the painting features the moment when Adam and Eve found their son Abel, who was murdered by his elder brother Cain, whom some writers interpret literally as the son of the serpent (evil) in the Garden of Eden.

According to the Bible, it was the first death of a human being, and hence it is considered the first murder and ‘The First Mourning’ (the work is titled ‘Premier Deuil’ in French). Abel is also considered the first innocent victim and the first martyr while Cain is considered the first murderer by many writers.

The First Mourning is currently displayed at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (National Museum of Fine Arts) in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Rembrandt: The abduction of Europa

Public Domain Image: The abduction of Europa, known by alternate title: De roof van Europa (Ovidius, Metamorphosen II, 833-875), oil on oak panel painting (1632) by the Dutch painter and etcher Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669), dimensions 62.2 cm x 77 cm (24.49 in x 30.31 in) located at The J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles), one of the most visited museums in the United States.

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo: Vision des heiligen Clemens

Public Domain Image: Vision des heiligen Clemens (1730-1735), title translated as ‘Vision of St. Clement’, oil on canvas painting by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770), dimensions 69 cm x 55 cm, located at the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London.

Peter Paul Rubens: Hélène Fourment in a fur wrap

PD Image: Hélène Fourment in a fur wrap (also known as Het Pelsken, Das Pelzchen, and Porträt der Hélène Fourment), oil on wood painting (1638) by the Flemish Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), dimensions 176 cm x 83 cm, located at The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria.

Hélène Fourment, the woman in the above portrait, inspired the voluptuous figures in several paintings of Sir Peter Paul Rubens from the 1630s; paintings such as ‘The Feast of Venus’ (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna), ‘The Three Graces’ (Prado, Madrid), and ‘The Judgment of Paris’ (Prado, Madrid) in which viewers recognized Hélène Fourment in the figure of Venus. In the portrait above she even partially modeled after the classical sculptures of the Venus Pudica, such as The Venus de' Medici or Medici Venus. The 16-year-old Hélène Fourment was Rubens’ wife whom the 53-year-old painter married in 1630, four years after the death of his first wife.

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Robert Wiedemann Browning: Before A Mirror

Public Domain Image: Before a Mirror (Devant un miroir), oil on canvas painting painted before 1912 by the English painter Robert Wiedeman Barrett Browning, also known as Pen Browning (1849-1912).

Samuel Daniell: Khoisan busy barbecuing grasshoppers

Public Domain Image: Khoisan busy barbecuing grasshoppers (1805), aqua tint by English painter Samuel Daniell (1775-1811), scan from Suid-Afrikaanse Geskiedenis in Beeld (1989) by Anthony Preston, Bion Books, printed in South Africa.

The aqua tint shows a Khoisan (Khoesaan, Khoesan or Khoe-San) family with the man busy barbecuing grasshoppers while his wife is looking on. The name Khoisan is for two ethnic groups of Southern Africa, who share physical and linguistic characteristics distinct from the Bantu majority of the region. Culturally the Khoisan people are divided into the pastoral Khoi and the foraging San.

Godward: Venus Binding Her Hair

Public Domain Image: Venus Binding Her Hair (Vénus nouant ses cheveux), oil on canvas painting (1897) by the British painter John William Godward (1861-1922), dimensions 113.6 cm x 228.3 cm (3' 8.72" x 7' 5.88"), located in private collection.

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William Holmes Sullivan: Lady Godiva

Public Domain Image: Lady Godiva (1877), oil on cardboard painting by British painter William Holmes Sullivan, dimension 40 cm x 30 cm

Antônio Parreiras: Damnée

PD Image: Damnée (1914), oil on panel painting by the Brazilian painter Antônio Parreiras (1860-1937), dimensions 39.2 cm x 32.3 cm (15.43 in x 12.72 in) located at Museu Antônio Parreiras (founded by him and holding many of his works) in Niterói in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The Appearance of Christ before the People by Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov

PD Photo: The Appearance of Christ before the People (Deutsch: Christus erscheint dem Volke / Русский: Явление Христа народу) oil on canvas painting (1837-57) by Russian Neoclassicist painter Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov (Алекса́ндр Андре́евич Ива́нов; 1806-1858), dimensions 540 cm x 750 cm, currently located at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov, who adhered to the waning tradition of Neoclassicism, was a native of St. Petersburg, Russia, but spent most of his life in Rome. His magnum opus ‘The Appearance of Christ before the People’ took 20 years to complete (1837-57) because of which he has often been called the master of one work. Critical appraisal about Ivanov improved in the later generations, because numerous sketches he had prepared for his magnum opus have been recognized as masterpieces in their own right. Most of his works are on public display at the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.

William Merritt Chase: Modern Magdalen

PD Image: Modern Magdalen (1888), oil painting by William Merritt Chase, located at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

American Impressionist painter and teacher William Merritt Chase (1849-1916) is an important artist in the history of American Impressionism, a style characterized by loose brushwork and vibrant, vivid colors.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the trailblazers of American Impressionism lived, worked and flourished together in art colonies and shared a common aesthetic vision. In New York on eastern Long Island at Shinnecock, American impressionist artists thrived largely due to the influence of Chase, while in Boston Edmund Charles Tarbell and Frank Weston Benson became important practitioners of American Impressionism.

Perhaps best known for his portraits, William Merritt Chase worked in all media including watercolor paintings and etchings, though he was most fluent in oil painting and pastel. Being a reputed art teacher, he founded the Chase School of Art in 1896, which became the New York School of Art two years later with Chase staying on as instructor until 1907.

Having won many honors at home and abroad, Chase was a member of the National Academy of Design, New York, and from 1885 to 1895, he was president of the Society of American Artists.

William Merritt Chase died on October 25, 1916 in his New York townhouse. Currently, his works are displayed in most major museums in the United States. In 1983, his home and studio at Shinnecock Hills, New York, was added to the National Register of Historic Places as the William Merritt Chase Homestead.

Lord Krishna battles against Narakasura’s armies

PD Image: Lord Krishna battles against the armies of the Demon Narakasura, painting (1520-30) on Bhagavata Purana (Stories of Lord Vishnu) from Delhi-Agra area of India; the painting currently located in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Central Park, New York City, USA.

Byam Shaw: The Woman the Man the Serpent

PD Photo: ‘The Woman The Man The Serpent’, oil painting by Indian-born British painter, illustrator, designer and teacher Byam Shaw (1872-1919), depicting Adam, Eve and the serpent.

John Byam Liston Shaw (1872-1919), known popularly as Byam Shaw, was an Indian-born British painter, illustrator, designer and teacher.

Byam Shaw was born in Madras (now Chennai, India), where his father John Shaw was the Registrar of the High Court of Madras. His family returned to England in 1878 and settled in Kensington. At the age of 15, Byam Shaw entered the St John's Wood Art Schools. From 1890 Shaw studied at the Royal Academy Schools, where he won the Armitage Prize in 1892 for his work “The Judgement of Solomon”.

Byam Shaw worked with equal ease and mastery in a variety of mediums including oils, watercolors, pastels, pen-and-ink and also specialized in techniques such as dyeing and gilding. Because of his waning popularity as an artist, Byam Shaw took up teaching for a living, and taught at the Women's Department of King's College London from 1904. He founded the Byam Shaw and Vicat Cole School of Art in 1910 with his Rex Vicat Cole. The institution was later renamed as Byam Shaw School of Art.

Shaw was influenced by Pre-Raphaelites, Rossetti, Millais, and Leighton. He was also inspired by Indian themes and Indian/ Hindu mythology, on which he created a number of paintings.

Pedro Américo - The Carioca

PD Image: The Carioca (1882), oil on canvas painting by Brazilian painter Pedro Américo (1843-1903), dimensions 205 cm x 135 cm (80.71 x 53.15 inches), located at Museu Nacional de Belas Artes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Pedro Américo - A rabequista árabe

PD Image: A rabequista árabe (The Arabic fiddler), 1884 oil on canvas painting by Brazilian academic painter, writer and teacher Pedro Américo (1843-1903), dimensions 87.6 cm x 60 cm (34.49 x 23.62 inches), currently located at Museu Nacional de Belas Artes, Rio de Janeiro.

Luis Ricardo Falero: Oriental Woman

PD Image: Oil on canvas painting by Spanish painter Luis Ricardo Falero (1851-1896) representing a Nude Oriental Woman, scan from photo in the book ‘Historia del Arte’.

Discovery of the Mississippi by William H. Powell

PD Image: Discovery of the Mississippi (1847), oil painting on canvas, dimensions 365.76 cm x 548.64 cm (144.00 in x 216.00 in) by Hernando de Soto, painting by American artist William Henry Powell (1823 - 1879) depicting de Soto seeing Mississippi River for the first time; the painting is displayed in the United States Capitol rotunda. Source: Architect of the Capitol.

Hernando de Soto, the Spanish explorer and conquistador, while leading the first European expedition deep into the territory of the modern-day United States, was the first European documented to have crossed the Mississippi River.

William H. Powell was the last artist to be commissioned by the Congress for a painting in the Rotunda. His dramatic and brilliantly colored canvas shows Hernando de Soto, riding a white horse, the first European to view the Mississippi River in 1541. As de Soto and his troops approach, the Native Americans in front of their tepees watch, and their chief holds out a peace pipe. In the foreground is a jumble of weapons and soldiers, suggesting the attack they had suffered shortly before. To the right, a monk prays as a crucifix is set in the ground.

The Actor (L'acteur), painting by Picasso

PD Image: The Actor (L'acteur), a 1904 oil painting by Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, dimensions 196 cm x 115 cm (77.25 in x 45.38 in) located in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, USA.

The Actor (L'acteur) was painted by Picasso over another painting, because he could not afford to pay for new canvases in 1904-1905, when created it. The painting, one of the biggest from Picasso's Rose Period, portrays an acrobat in a dramatic pose with an abstract design in the background. Its estimated worth is over $100 million.

The Actor (L'acteur) is a celebrated work by Picasso during his Rose Period, a transitional period from his Blue Period to romantic hues and styles and themes. In 1952 Thelma Chrysler Foy, daughter of Walter Chrysler, the founder of the Chrysler automobile company, donated The Actor to Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

This Pablo Picasso work ‘The Actor’ was damaged on January 25, 2010, when a woman fell over it and created a rip of about 15 centimeters in length in the lower right corner. The museum stated that the rip did not affect the artwork's focal point, and they intend to have the painting repaired in a few weeks.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Nude (painting)

PD Image: Nude (painting, 1910) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, as the painting looked before restoration.

PD Image: Nude (painting, 1910) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), oil on canvas painting after restoration.

Nude, oil on canvas painting by French Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), painted in 1910, was stolen in 1996 by a thief. It was recovered in bad condition, requiring a year of restoration. The painting is now located in the National Museum of Serbia. According to some reports, its estimated worth is 10 million Euros.

Namoro do Guarda by Belmiro de Almeida

PD Image: The Guard's Flirt (Namoro do Guarda) a 1904 oil on panel painting by Brazilian painter, draughtsman, caricaturist and sculptor Belmiro de Almeida (1858-1935) aka Belmiro Barbosa de Almeida Junior, dimensions 35 cm x 27 cm (13.78 in x 10.63 in), located at Museu da Chácara do Céu, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (scanned from MCM catalogue (1996).