Vincent van Gogh - Basket of Pansies on a Small Table [1887]

Vincent van Gogh - Basket of Pansies on a Small Table [1887], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

Van Gogh began painting still lifes of flowers after moving to Paris in 1886. Here he depicts a basket of pansies on a stool with a seat in the shape of a tambourine. The stool was from the café Le Tambourin, whose furniture and other fittings were inspired by this instrument. For a time, van Gogh had a relationship with the owner of this establishment, Agostina Segatori. This still life has been painted over another picture. Van Gogh scraped the paint away and then applied coats of black and white paint so that he could reuse the canvas.

[Oil on canvas, 46 x 56 cm]

Aert van der Neer - A River near a Town, by Moonlight [c.1645]

Aert van der Neer - A River near a Town, by Moonlight [c.1645], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

Van der Neer specialised in moonlit landscapes, which he painted in large numbers. He managed, however, to maintain a high degree of careful finish and usually signed with his characteristic monogram, as here. Van der Neer's work is difficult to date with any precision, but this picture was probably painted in the mid-1640s. He made a number of other versions of this composition.

[Oil on oak, 30.3 x 48.4 cm]

Rafael - Portrait of a Cardinal [1510]

Rafael - Portrait of a Cardinal [1510], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

The Portrait of a Cardinal is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. It is housed in the Prado Museum in Madrid. It depicts an unidentified cardinal in the court of Pope Julius II. The portrait was acquired by Charles IV of Spain when he was still a prince, and the picture was attributed to Antonio Moro, due to its technique, considered unusual in Raphael.

[Oil on wood, 79 x 61 cm]

Charles-Francois Daubigny - The Garden Wall [1860-78]

Charles-Francois Daubigny - The Garden Wall [1860-78], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

This picture, previously entitled Outskirts of a Village, probably depicts a scene from the artist's home town of Auvers-sur-Oise in France. Several other artists also worked in Auvers including Cezanne and Van Gogh who described the area in a letter to his brother as '... the real countryside, characteristic and picturesque'. Daubigny often worked directly from nature in the open air, and the style of his later landscapes was influenced by his friend and fellow landscape painter Corot.

[Oil on wood, 18.7 x 35.9 cm]

Anthony van Dyck - Portrait of George Gage with Two Attendants[c.1622-23]

Anthony van Dyck - Portrait of George Gage with Two Attendants [c.1622-23], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

The central figure has been identified as George Gage (about 1582-1638) whose family arms (a saltire and sun in splendour) entwined with the family crest (a ram's head) are on the sculpted pedestal (bottom right). Gage was a diplomat and an agent in Italy and the Netherlands for the great English collectors of the early 17th century. He is shown here being offered a piece of sculpture. The portrait was painted in Italy, probably in the summer of 1622 or 1623, when both the artist and the sitter were in Rome.

[Oil on canvas, 115 x 113.5 cm]

Franz Marc - The Dream [1912]

Franz Marc - The Dream [1912], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

No longer bound by the truthful representation of nature, yet without wholly relinquishing links to the real world, Franz Marc provides in The Dream a masterly reflection of 'the organic rhythm... of all things,' highlighting his awareness of Italian Futurist and French Cubist theories. The composition is structured around dynamic lines radiating outwards from the female figure in the foreground; naked and asleep, she becomes a symbol of the harmony between the human world and the animal realm. The varied creatures that surround her seem to be the product of her dream. Marc uses colours with symbolic meanings: blue, for example, represents what is masculine and intellectual, while yellow symbolises femininity and warmth.

[Oil on canvas, 100.5 x 135.5 cm]

Claude-Oscar Monet - The Gare St-Lazare [1877]

Claude-Oscar Monet - The Gare St-Lazare [1877], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

After his return to France from London, Monet lived from 1871-78 at Argenteuil, on the Seine near Paris. In January 1877 he rented a small flat and a studio near the Gare St-Lazare, and in the fourth Impressionist exhibition which opened in April of that year, he exhibited seven canvases of the railway station. This painting is one of four surviving canvases representing the interior of the station. Trains and railways had been depicted in earlier Impressionist works, but were not generally regarded as aesthetically palatable subjects. Monet's exceptional views of the Gare St-Lazare resemble interior landscapes, with smoke from the engines creating the same effect as clouds in the sky. Swift brushstrokes indicate the gleaming engines to the right and the crowd of passengers on the platform.

[Oil on canvas, 54.3 x 73.6 cm]