Plans to celebrate anniversaries of major painters, series on narrative paintings, and more, for the coming year.
da Vinci
Lead-tin yellow features in many paintings of the Old Masters, until about 1750. It was then replaced and forgotten until 1940. Examples in major masterpieces from Rembrandt, da Vinci, Vermeer, and others.
It’s not a colour at all, say some, while the Impressionists wanted to banish it from the palette. But throughout the history of painting, the blackest black has remained vital.
Was she abducted, seduced, or seducer? Victim or whore? Ovid’s pair of letters between Helen and Paris raises questions which many artists have tried to tackle.
On 22 August 1911, he went to the Louvre to paint the Mona Lisa. It had gone missing, though, and didn’t show up for another 2 years.
Painted long after the death of history painting, this shows Botticelli being introduced to the most beautiful woman in northern Italy, in about 1475. Each face is true to life.
He is now almost forgotten, despite this being the 500th anniversary of his death. He was certainly an important influence on Raphael, and more.
When he returned to painting in 1504, he was quick to incorporate the latest developments such as sfumato, and enhanced his landscapes from real life.
The early history of pastel, from Robert Nanteuil, through the brilliant portraits of Rosalba Carriera, to Maurice Quentin de La Tour, and the hyperrealism of Liotard.
The advent of wet-in-wet, canvas supports, fewer layers, impasto, and visible brushstrokes.
The Eclectic Light Company 