Richard Miller - The Necklace [c.1924]

Richard Miller - The Necklace [c.1924], originally uploaded by Gandalf's Gallery.

A plein-air and impressionist painter as well as illustrator, Richard Miller (St. Louis, Missouri, 1875 - St. Augustine, Florida, 1943) was especially known for his paintings of female figures in sunlit interiors. He was part of the American art colony in Paris during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, staying from 1898 to 1914 when World War I began. His reputation in France was so distinguished that he was made a Chevalier in the Legion of Honour.

[Oil on canvas, 76.8 x 71.1 cm]

Maximilien Colin - Woman Seated in an Interior [1890-92]

Maximilien Colin - Woman Seated in an Interior [1890-92], originally uploaded by Gandalf's Gallery.

Maximilien Colin (1862 – 1894) was an American painter.

[Oil on canvas, 73.66 x 91.44 cm]

Pierre-Narcisse Guérin - Morpheus and Iris [1811]

Pierre-Narcisse Guérin - Morpheus and Iris [1811], originally uploaded by Gandalf's Gallery.

Pierre-Narcisse, baron Guérin (May 13, 1774 – July 6, 1833), French painter, was born in Paris. Guérin was commissioned to paint for the Madeleine a scene from the history of St Louis, but his health prevented him from accomplishing what he had begun, and in 1822 he accepted the post of director of the French Academy in Rome, which in 1816 he had refused. Guérin died, on the July 6, 1833, and was buried in the church of La Trinité de Monti by the side of Claude Lorrain.

[Oil on canvas, 251 x 178 cm]

Cornelis van Haarlem - The Fall of Man [1592]

Cornelis van Haarlem - The Fall of Man [1592], originally uploaded by Gandalf's Gallery.

Having created Adam and Eve, God gave them Paradise in which to live. It was a delightful garden full of plants and animals. Adam and Eve could eat from any tree in the garden. Only the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge was forbidden. In the foreground, on the left, God (in the form of a cloud) indicates the tree concerned. The serpent, the most cunning animal in Paradise, persuaded Eve to bite the fruit. Eve, in turn, seduced Adam to try a piece. This was the first sin man ever committed against God. When God found out what they had done he expelled Adam and Eve from Paradise. Cornelis van Haarlem painted the Fall of Man in a larger than life format in 1592. His patron was the city of Haarlem.

Before the Fall humans and animals lived together peacefully in Paradise. Van Haarlem surrounded Adam and Eve with no less than 21 animals, from a tiny butterfly to a large lion. Some animals are also significant as symbols. They refer to the various human temperaments. The ape next to Adam refers to the 'sanguine' (hot-blooded, lustful) temperament, which it was thought to be particularly typical of men. The cat, lovingly cradled by the ape, symbolises the choleric (cruel, nasty) temperament, to which women have tended ever since the Eve. Other animals have double meanings too: the owl in the tree represents foolishness (animals that could not see in daylight were thought to be stupid). The fluttering butterfly next to Adam suggests his frivolity.

[Oil on canvas, 273 x 220 cm]

Felix Vallotton - Portrait of Georges Haasen [1913]

Felix Vallotton - Portrait of Georges Haasen [1913], originally uploaded by Gandalf's Gallery.

This portrait was painted in early March 1913, when the artist came to the Russian capital at the businessman's invitation. Vallotton's registry list under number 910: "A portrait of Monsieur Haasen, seated, full-face, the right arm resting on a table covered by a cloth with a floral pattern. In the background an apartment with drapes of various shades, in St. Petersburg." Vallotton's dispassion in the role of "formal portraitist" of Georges Haasen is almost camera-like. The painter seems to be exclusively striving after outward resemblance, not permitting his attitude towards his model to show through in a single brushstroke. It is not without reason that the details of the background in Haasen's portrait are, from the point of view of painting, far more interesting than the human figure.

Heinrich von Angeli - Portrait of Grand Duchess Maria Fiodorovna [1874]

Heinrich von Angeli - Portrait of Grand Duchess Maria Fiodorovna [1874], originally uploaded by Gandalf's Gallery.

Heinrich von Angeli (Sopron, July 8, 1840 – Vienna, October 21, 1925) was an was an Austrian painter famous for his portraiture.

[Oil on canvas, 126 x 89 cm]

Robert Campin - A Woman [c.1435]

Robert Campin - A Woman [c.1435], originally uploaded by Gandalf's Gallery.

This portrait and the portrait of A Man, presumably of a husband and wife, are a pair and were perhaps originally joined together as a diptych. The backs are marbled, which suggests that they were not intended to be hung against a wall. The sitters may have been prosperous townspeople from Tournai, where Campin worked. They both wear fur-lined gowns; the man has a red head-dress made from a piece of red fabric wound round his head and the woman's head-dress consists of several thicknesses of white cloth held together with pins. 

The heads of Campin's sitters occupy almost the entire surface of the painting. All the details of face and hat are evenly lit and clearly visible. Subtle variations of colour suggest the man's reddened skin and wrinkles. The graduated tones of the irises of his eyes give the impression of light glowing within. The woman's eyes sparkle: Campin has put catchlights in the whites so that they as well as the pupils shine.

[Oil with egg tempera on oak, 40.6 x 28.1 cm]