Perception changed with photography, and we came to interpret blur, lines and other devices as indicating motion.
Boldini
Prodigy and friend of John Singer Sargent, he was a successful portrait-painter to the wealthy and a master pastellist.
Blurring for dramatic effect, and to mimic photographic depth of field effects, were used in the 19th century, but motion blur came later.
Paintings by Vermeer, Delaroche, Whistler, Gérôme, Waterhouse and others showing wonderful carpets and floors.
From Velázquez in the 1640s to Renoir in 1882, portraits and scenes of women sewing were popular. How did they develop?
One of the first international superstars, she was an accomplished painter and sculptor herself. Here’s her life in portraits by her friends.
What to our ancestors would have been blurred and defective images are now accepted as depicting motion. How our perception has changed, thanks to photography.
Including superb paintings by Zorn, Marie Spartali Stillman, Boldini, van Gogh, Cézanne, Sargent, Demuth, and Signac.
Degas was nothing if not thoroughly sociable. Here are some of his more significant artistic friendships, with paintings.
Putting Degas’ many paintings and drawings of the ballet and its dancers into context – here are contemporary paintings.
The Eclectic Light Company 