Salvador Dali - Woman at the Window [1925]

Salvador Dali - Woman at the Window [1925], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

Andrei Nikolaevich Shilder - Birch Forest [1908]

Andrei Nikolaevich Shilder - Birch Forest [1908], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

Andrei Nikolaevich Shilder (1861 - 1919) was a Russian painter.

[Oil on canvas, 110 x 143 cm]

Edouard Manet - In The Conservatory [1878-79]

Edouard Manet - In The Conservatory [1878-79], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

Manet preferred compositions with two figures as opposed to the straightforward portrait form because it opened up the possibility of interesting dialogue situations. The double portrait of Jules Guillemet and his wife, painted in the conservatory of the painter Johann Georges Otto Rosen, is one of the most important of these works because of the sensitivity with which it uses the most delicate nuances of colours and contrasts to describe and re-connect the psychologically tense, only outwardly detached, relationship of the two figures. 

The theme of the picture is the interplay between the elegant lady (the owner of a fashion shop in Paris) and the gentlemen turned in her direction. He seems rather small due to the way he is bending over and brushes against the upper edge of the picture, while the feminine beauty with the effortless noblesse of her extended posture occupies a large part of the picture space. Despite their being separated by the back of the seat, with its own graphic appeal by virtue of its transparency, the understated focal point of this rich conservatory scene with all its plant forms and subtle colours is the hands approaching each other.

[Oil on canvas, 115 x 150 cm]

Vincent van Gogh - In the Cafe, Agostina Segatori in Le Tambourin [1887]

Vincent van Gogh - In the Cafe, Agostina Segatori in Le Tambourin [1887], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

A strikingly-dressed woman is shown seated at a small table, smoking a cigarette and staring into space. The tambourine-shaped tables and bar-stools tell us that she is in the Café du Tambourin on the Boulevard de Clichy. The woman depicted is probably Agostina Segatori, the owner of this café frequented by Van Gogh and his friends. The artist paid for his meals with flower still lifes, which were then hung on the walls. It was here that Van Gogh’s paintings were seen by the public for the first time.

Vincent may have had an affair with La Segatori, an Italian by birth, although this is by no means certain. Some of the letters seem to indicate that they were more than just friends.

[Oil on canvas, 55.5 x 46.5 cm]

Antropov Kuindzhi - Ladoga Lake [1870]

Antropov Kuindzhi - Ladoga Lake [1870], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

Antropov Kuindzhi (Mariupol, January 15, 1841 - Saint Petersburg, July 11, 1910) was a Russian landscape painter. He was born the son of a poor Greek shoemaker . He lost his parents early in life and lived in great poverty, tending geese and serving the contractor for the building of a church.

[Oil on canvas, 795 x 625 cm]

Viktor Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov - Knight at the Crossroads [1882]

Unknown Russian Artist - Knight at the Crossroads [1882], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

Viktor Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov (Vyatka, May 15, 1848 — Moscow, July 23, 1926) was a Russian artist who specialised in mythological and historical subjects. He was described as co-founder of folklorist/romantic modernism in the Russian painting and a key figure of the revivalist movement in Russian art.

[Oil on canvas, 167 x 299 cm]

Jost Cornelisz Droochsloot - Winter in a Dutch Town

Jost Cornelisz Droochsloot - Winter in a Dutch Town, a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

Jost Cornelisz Droochsloot (1586 - 1666) was a Dutch painter.

[Oil on panel, 50.5 x 74.5 cm]