Artists

Caillebotte participated in Impressionism as a painter, collector and patron. He bought works by Monet, Renoir, Degas, Cézanne and other contemporaries.

El Greco began in Crete's Byzantine artistic environment, then spent nearly a decade in Venice and Rome before settling in Toledo. He did not secure lasting patronage from Philip II.

Monet painted outdoors and continued revising canvases in the studio. Returning to a motif under different light led him to work in series.

Renoir began by painting porcelain before studying in Charles Gleyre's Paris studio. Working with Monet on the Seine in 1869 helped him develop a lighter palette.

Van Gogh moved from the Netherlands to Paris in 1886, joining his art-dealer brother Theo. He made at least twenty-four self-portraits during two years there.

Toulouse-Lautrec knew Parisian nightlife closely and had a permanently reserved table at the Moulin Rouge.

Morisot studied with her sister Edma and painted outdoors under Corot's guidance. After exhibiting at the Salon, she joined the Impressionist exhibitions in 1874.

Known as the Master of Saint George until his identity was established in 1938, Martorell became official painter to the Generalitat of Catalonia in 1440.

Cézanne began studying law in Aix at his father's wish, then left for Paris in 1861. He met Pissarro there and later worked alongside him in Pontoise and Auvers.

Manfredi began in Rome by copying Caravaggio. Following his example, he cast ordinary-looking people in biblical and mythological scenes.

Hobbema trained with Jacob van Ruisdael and repeatedly adapted landscape motifs associated with his teacher. Watermills appear in more than thirty paintings.

Born in France, Poussin spent most of his career in Rome, working for educated patrons interested in Christianity and Stoic philosophy. Ancient sculpture informed his compositions.

Turner's father, a London barber, encouraged his early interest in drawing. He entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1789, toured Britain and studied watercolor with Thomas Girtin.

Degas supplemented academic training by copying older masters in Italy and the Louvre. He helped organize independent Impressionist exhibitions but preferred to call himself a realist.

Training with Pieter Lastman introduced Rembrandt to Italian artistic developments. He never left the Dutch Republic, but his prints circulated internationally.

Moreau prepared compositions through numerous drawings. For Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra he studied live snakes at the Paris zoo.

Matisse initially trained for law before turning to art in Paris. Critics called artists associated with his bold early color Fauves, or wild beasts.

After failing the naval academy entrance examination, Manet turned to painting and entered Thomas Couture's studio in 1850. He responded to Baudelaire's call to address modern life.

After about two successful decades in Toledo, Sánchez Cotán entered the Carthusian order at Granada in 1603.

Before making painting his principal occupation, Gauguin served in the merchant navy and worked as a stockbroker.

Ira Aldridge, a freeborn American actor and abolitionist, modeled for Simpson's The Captive Slave. Its 1827 Royal Academy catalogue entry included an antislavery passage by William Cowper.

Hemessen worked in Antwerp during the first half of the sixteenth century. A visit to Rome in the 1520s brought him into contact with Michelangelo and Raphael.

Blechen's early landscapes reflect Romantic painting and theater, sometimes including mysterious figures.

Rossetti was a poet, painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His wife Elizabeth Siddal often modeled for him.

Wtewael trained in Utrecht and spent four years in France and Italy before returning around 1590. He also became a successful flax merchant.

Correggio worked in Parma, away from Rome, Florence and Venice. His early painting drew on Raphael's figure groups and Leonardo's soft modeling.

Jean Hey is generally identified with the Master of Moulins. His name survives on the reverse of a 1494 Ecce Homo for the Duke of Bourbon's treasurer.

Local artists made this altarpiece for Pedro López de Ayala's family funerary chapel. Gold, silver and ultramarine made the commission costly.

After moving to London, Constable continued painting the Suffolk countryside of his childhood. He developed large compositions through full-size oil sketches.

Literature supplied Delacroix with subjects, including Byron's The Giaour and Walter Scott's Ivanhoe. He traveled to Morocco in 1832.

Rogier moved from Tournai to Brussels in 1436 and became the city's painter. Patrons included Philip the Good and John II of Castile.

Breton grew up in Courrières in northern France. He built a successful career around rural workers, admiring their labor and relationship with nature.

Botticelli trained with Filippo Lippi and had his own workshop by 1470. Medici patrons and their circle commissioned ambitious secular paintings.

Cranach spent most of his career as court painter to the Elector of Saxony. Protestant rulers commissioned organized court hunts.

Velázquez trained with Francisco Pacheco in Seville and became a leading painter at the Spanish court.

Tintoretto's professional name came from his father's dyeing trade. He spent almost his whole career in Venice, seeking to combine Titian's color with Michelangelo's vigorous forms.