Hans Baldung Grien or Grun (c. 1484 – September 1545) was a German artist in painting and printmaking who was considered the most gifted student of Albrecht Durer. Throughout his lifetime, Baldung developed a distinctive style, full of color, expression and imagination. His talents were varied, and he produced a great and extensive variety of work including portraits, woodcuts, altarpieces, drawings, tapestries, allegories and mythological motifs.

Hans Baldung was born in Swabia, Germany in the year 1484 to a family of intellectuals, academics and professionals. His father was a lawyer and his uncle was a doctor, and many other of his family members maintained professional degrees. In fact, Baldung was the first male in his family not to attend university but was one of the first German artists to come from an academic family. His earliest training as an artist began around 1500 in the Upper Rhineland by an artist from Strasbourg.

Beginning in 1503, Baldung was an apprentice for the most well renowned German artist of the day: Albrecht Durer. Here, he was given his nickname “Grien.” This name foremost comes from his preference to the color green, because he usually wore green clothes. He got this nickname also to distinguish him from the two other Hans’ in the apprenticeship, Hans Schaufelein and Hans Suess von Kulmbach. He later included it in his monogram, and it has also been suggested that it came from "grienhals", a German word for witch. Hans quickly picked up Durer`s influence and style, and they became good friends. In his later trip to the Netherlands in 1521 Durer`s diary shows that he took with him and sold prints by Baldung. On Durer`s death Baldung was sent a lock of his hair, which suggests a close friendship. Near the end of his apprenticeship, Grien oversaw the production of stained glass, woodcuts and engravings, and therefore developed an affinity for them.

In 1509, when Baldung’s apprenticeship was complete, he moved back to Strasbourg and became a citizen there. He became the celebrity of the town, and was commissioned to make lots of art. The following year he married Margarethe Herlin, joined the guild "zur Steltz", opened a workshop, and began signing his works with the HGB monogram that he used for the rest of his career. His style also became much more mannerist. He loved it there.

In addition to traditional, religious subjects, Baldung was concerned during these years with the profane theme of the imminence of death and with scenes of sorcery and witchcraft. He was responsible for introducing supernatural and erotic themes into German art. He often depicted witches, also a local interest: Strasbourg`s humanists studied witchcraft and its bishop was charged with ferreting out witches. His most characteristic paintings are fairly small in scale; a series of puzzling, often erotic allegories and mythological works. The number of Hans Baldung`s religious works diminished with the Protestant Reformation`s discouragement of idolatry. But earlier, around the same time that he produced Adam and Eve, the artist became interested in themes related to death, the supernatural, witchcraft and sorcery. That Mankind`s mortality became a subject for Baldung was not unusual. Baldung’s fascination with witchcraft lasted well into the end of his career..

Throughout his life, Baldung painted numerous portraits, known for their sharp characterizations. While Durer rigorously details his models, Baldung`s style differs by focusing more on the personality of the represented character, an abstract conception of the model`s state of mind. Baldung settled eventually in Strasbourg and then to Freiburg im Breisgau, where he executed what is known as his masterpiece. Here in painted an eleven-panel altarpiece for the Freiburg Cathedral, still intact today, depicting scenes from the life of the Virgin, including, The Annunciation, The Visitation, The Nativity, The Flight into Egypt, The Crucifixion, Four Saints and The Donators. These depictions were a large part of the artist’s greater body of work containing several renowned pieces of the Virgin.

The earliest pictures assigned to him by some are altar-pieces with the monogram H. B. interlaced, and the date of 1496, in the monastery chapel of Lichtenthal near Baden-Baden. Another early work is a portrait of the emperor Maximilian, drawn in 1501 on a leaf of a sketch-book now in the print-room at Karlsruhe. "The Martyrdom of St Sebastian and the Epiphany" (now Berlin, 1507), were painted for the market-church of Halle in Saxony.

Baldung`s prints, though Dureresque, are very individual in style, and often in subject. They show little direct Italian influence. His paintings are less important than his prints. He worked mainly in woodcut, although he made six engravings, one very fine. He joined in the fashion for chiaroscuro woodcuts, adding a tone block to a woodcut of 1510. Most of his hundreds of woodcuts were commissioned for books, as was usual at the time; his "single-leaf" woodcuts (i.e. prints not for book illustration) are fewer than 100, though no two catalogues agree as to the exact number.

Unconventional as a draughtsman, his treatment of human form is often exaggerated and eccentric (hence his linkage, in the art historical literature, with European Mannerism), whilst his ornamental style—profuse, eclectic, and akin to the self-consciously "German" strain of contemporary limewood sculptors—is equally distinctive. Though Baldung has been commonly called the Correggio of the north, his compositions are a curious medley of glaring and heterogeneous colours, in which pure black is contrasted with pale yellow, dirty grey, impure red and glowing green. Flesh is a mere glaze under which the features are indicated by lines.

His works are notable for their individualistic departure from the Renaissance composure of his model, Durer, for the wild and fantastic strength that some of them display, and for their remarkable themes. In the field of painting, his Eve, the Serpent and Death (National Gallery of Canada) shows his strengths well. There is special force in the "Death and the Maiden" panel of 1517 (Basel), in the "Weather Witches" (Frankfurt), in the monumental panels of "Adam" and "Eve" (Madrid), and in his many powerful portraits. Baldung`s most sustained effort is the altarpiece of Freiburg, where the Coronation of the Virgin, and the Twelve Apostles, the Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity and Flight into Egypt, and the Crucifixion, with portraits of donors, are executed with some of that fanciful power that Martin Schongauer bequeathed to the Swabian school.

As a portrait painter he is well known. He drew Charles V, as well as Maximilian; and his bust of Margrave Philip in the Munich Gallery tells us that he was connected with the reigning family of Baden as early as 1514. At a later period he had sittings with Margrave Christopher of Baden, Ottilia his wife, and all their children, and the picture containing these portraits is still in the gallery at Karlsruhe. Like Durer and Cranach, Baldung supported the Protestant Reformation. He was present at the diet of Augsburg in 1518, and one of his woodcuts represents Luther in quasi-saintly guise, under the protection of (or being inspired by) the Holy Spirit, which hovers over him in the shape of a dove.

Thomas Gainsborough FRSA (christened 14 May 1727, died 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. He surpassed his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds to become the dominant British portraitist of the second half of the 18th century. He painted quickly, and the works of his maturity are characterised by a light palette and easy strokes. He preferred landscapes to portraits, and is credited (with Richard Wilson) as the originator of the 18th-century British landscape school. Gainsborough was a founding member of the Royal Academy.

He was born in Sudbury, Suffolk, the youngest son of John Gainsborough, a weaver and maker of woollen goods, and his wife, the sister of the Reverend Humphry Burroughs. One of Gainsborough`s brothers, Humphrey, had a faculty for mechanics and was said to have invented the method of condensing steam in a separate vessel, which was of great service to James Watt; another brother, John, was known as Scheming Jack because of his passion for designing curiosities.

The artist spent his childhood at what is now Gainsborough`s House, on Gainsborough Street (he later resided there, following the death of his father in 1749). The original building still survives and is now a dedicated House to his life and art.

When he was still a boy he impressed his father with his drawing and painting skills, and he almost certainly had painted heads and small landscapes by the time he was ten years old, including a miniature self-portrait. Gainsborough was allowed to leave home in 1740 to study art in London, where he trained under engraver Hubert Gravelot but became associated with William Hogarth and his school. He assisted Francis Hayman in the decoration of the supper boxes at Vauxhall Gardens, and contributed to the decoration of what is now the Thomas Coram Foundation for Children.

In 1746, Gainsborough married Margaret Burr, an illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Beaufort, who settled a ?200 annuity on them. The artist`s work, then mostly consisting of landscape paintings, was not selling well. He returned to Sudbury in 1748–1749 and concentrated on painting portraits.

In 1759, Gainsborough and his family moved to Bath, living at number 17 The Circus. There, he studied portraits by van Dyck and was eventually able to attract a fashionable clientele. In 1761, he began to send work to the Society of Arts exhibition in London (now the Royal Society of Arts, of which he was one of the earliest members); and from 1769 he submitted works to the Royal Academy`s annual exhibitions. He selected portraits of well-known or notorious clients in order to attract attention. The exhibitions helped him acquire a national reputation, and he was invited to become a founding member of the Royal Academy in 1769. His relationship with the academy was not an easy one and he stopped exhibiting his paintings in 1773.

In 1774, Gainsborough and his family moved to London to live in Schomberg House, Pall Mall. A commemorative blue plaque was put on the house in 1951.In 1777, he again began to exhibit his paintings at the Royal Academy, including portraits of contemporary celebrities, such as the Duke and Duchess of Cumberland. Exhibitions of his work continued for the next six years. About this time, Gainsborough began experimenting with printmaking using the then-novel techniques of aquatint and soft-ground etching.

His later pictures are characterized by a light palette and easy strokes. Portrait of Anne, Countess of Chesterfield, 1777–1778

In 1780, he painted the portraits of King George III and his queen and afterwards received many royal commissions. This gave him some influence with the Academy and allowed him to dictate the manner in which he wished his work to be exhibited. However, in 1783, he removed his paintings from the forthcoming exhibition and transferred them to Schomberg House.

In 1784, royal painter Allan Ramsay died and the King was obliged to give the job to Gainsborough`s rival and Academy president, Joshua Reynolds. Gainsborough remained the Royal Family`s favorite painter, however. At his own express wish, he was buried at St. Anne`s Church, Kew, where the Family regularly worshipped.

In his later years, Gainsborough often painted relatively simple, ordinary landscapes. With Richard Wilson, he was one of the originators of the eighteenth-century British landscape school; though simultaneously, in conjunction with Sir Joshua Reynolds, he was the dominant British portraitist of the second half of the 18th century.

William Jackson in his contemporary essays said of him "to his intimate friends he was sincere and honest and that his heart was always alive to every feeling of honour and generosity". Gainsborough did not particularly enjoy reading but letters written to his friends were penned in such an exceptional conversational manner that the style could not be equalled. As a letter writer Henry Bate-Dudley said of him "a selection of his letters would offer the world as much originality and beauty as is ever traced in his paintings".

In the 1780s, Gainsborough used a device he called a "Showbox" to compose landscapes and display them backlit on glass. The original box is on display in the Victoria & Albert Museum with a reproduction transparency.

He died of cancer on 2 August 1788 at the age of 61 and is interred at St. Anne`s Church, Kew, Surrey (located on Kew Green). He is buried next to Francis Bauer, the famous botanical illustrator. As of 2011, an appeal is underway to pay the costs of restoration of his tomb. A street in Kew, Gainsborough Road, is also named after him.

Alexei Alexeievich Harlamoff (1840–1925) was a Russian painter.

Harlamoff paintings are signed "Harlamoff", which may be a translation he learned while studying in Paris. This does not translate into the Russian language from English. One transliteration into English would be "Aleksei Alekseevich Kharlamov".

Alexei Harlamoff was born into a family of serfs on 18 October in the village of Dyachevka near Saratov on the river Volga. In 1850 Harlamoff’s parents win their freedom. Harlamoff becomes a guest student in 1854 at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. Three years later he was awarded a second class silver medal for a drawing. In 1862 Harlamoff was awarded a second class silver medal for a sketch, and he is enrolled with the history painter Alexei T. Markov.

1863 - Harlamoff is awarded again a first class silver medal for a drawing and a first class silver medal for a sketch.

1865 - Harlamoff presents his large scale painting Ananias before the Apostles, but he fails to win the competition for a second class gold medal.

1866 - Harlamoff is awarded a second class gold medal for his painting Baptizing of the Kiever.

1868 - Harlamoff completes his studies, he wins a first class gold medal for his Return of the Prodigal Son, and he is granted a scholarship abroad.

1869 - Harlamoff endowed with a scholarship from the Imperial Academy of Arts travels to Paris crossing Germany.

1870 - Tsarina Maria Alexandrovna buys a painting by Harlamoff. In April he sends his first letter to St. Petersburg. The fall of September and October he spends together with A. Bogoliubov, C. Huhn, and A. Lavezzari in Normandy and Southern Netherlands. He travels to Brussels and to London where he visits an exhibition of Old Masters. In November the Academy of Arts commissions him to copy Rembrandt’s Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp. Harlamoff stays in The Hague.

1871 - From spring 1871 to fall 1872 Harlamoff copies The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp in a drawing and in oil. During the summer of 1871 he returns to Normandy. In November 1872 the Imperial Academy in St. Petersburg pays him 1,500 Rubels for the copy after Rembrandt.

1872 - Harlamoff makes Leon Bonnat’s acquaintance, and he visits Bonnat’s independent studio. Harlamoff is awarded a bronze medal at the Vienna Universal Exhibition. The conference secretary of the Academy of Arts, Peter F. Iseyev, rejects Bogoliubov’s request to grant Harlamoff a professorship. Bogoliubov reports in December to the council of the Imperial Academy of Arts on Harlamoff’s visible success under the guidance of Bonnat.

1874 - Harlamoff lives at rue Fontaine, 42. He takes part in the spring exhibition of the Imperial Academy of Arts. The portrait of the engraver Pozhalostin wins him the title of art academy member. From April onwards Harlamoff joins the drawing-evenings at Bogoliubov in rue de Rome, 95. Ivan S. Turgenev mentions Harlamoff for the first time in a letter. Bogoliubov, the Parisian art dealer Goupil and the Muscovite collector Dimitri P. Botkin purchase paintings by Harlamoff. Harlamoff socializes with Turgenev and other Russian artists in Paris. He is frequently invited for dinner to Louis Viardot and Pauline Viardot-Garcia in rue Douai 50 where Turgenev occupies the top floor. In June Harlamoff portrays tsar Alexander II. in Bad Ems. He possibly summers in Spain. Then he travels to Veules-les-Roses and Etretat. In October Turgenev notes that Harlamoff has completed the portrait of Pauline Viardot, for which he is remunerated 3.000 FFR, this leading to an increase of his fees for a portrait up to 10.000 FFR (approx. 3.000 Rubels).

1875 - In January Harlamoff completes the portrait of Elena Tretyakova showing her in an eveningdress. He starts a portrait of Turgenev, which he finishes in December. During this period he also accepts other commissions. The month of March he possibly spends in Spain. In May he exhibits at the Salon where the portraits of Pauline Viardot-Garcia and Louis Viardot draw the attention of the Parisian press. Harlamoff moves into the studio of the late Isidore Pils at Place Pigalle 11. He gains popularity with British art dealers. At New Years and beginning of 1876 he visits Russia.

1876 - The young soprano singer Felia Litvinne arrives from St. Petersburg. She starts taking lessons with Pauline Viardot-Garcia. Turgenev purchases directly from Bogoliubov a painting by Harlamoff called Gipsy Girl. Harlamoff joins the Society for Art Exhibitions at the Imperial Academy of Arts. In May he exhibits at the Salon the portraits of Turgenev and Alphonse Daudet.

1877 - Harlamoff and Turgenev visit the Imperial Academy of Arts in late May and beginning of June. Turgenev commissions Harlamoff to portrait the bibliophile collector Alexandre F. Onegin (Otto). On 28 November (10 December) Harlamoff becomes a founding member of the Association of Russian Artists for the Mutual Support and Benefaction Abroad (President: the Russian minister in Paris Prince Nikolai A. Orlov, chairman: Bogoliubov, Secretary:Turgenev, purser: the banker Horace Guinzbourg).

1878 - Harlamoff exhibits simultaneously his paintings at the Salon and at the Universal Exhibition in Paris. He is awarded a second class medal for his portrait of Alexander F. Onegin.

1879 - Peter F. Iseyev asks Harlamoff to collaborate decorating the cathedral of the redeemer in Moscow. Harlamoff is invited to exhibit at the elitist „Cercle de l’Union artistique („Club des Mirlitons“). He travels to Spain. For the first time Harlamoff participates with his paintings as visiting exhibitor at the Itinerant Art Exhibition in Russia. Ivan Kramskoi emphasises the importance for Harlamoff switching from the Society for Art Exhibitions at the Imperial Academy of Arts to the Association of the Itinerant Art Exhibitions. Harlamoff portraits the prominent Russian publisher Andrei A. Krayevsky during his sojourn at Biarritz.

1880 - Harlamoff is accepted full member of the Association of Itinerant Art Exhibitions.

1881 - 1882 - Harlamoff shows this year three paintings at the All-Russian-Exhibition in Moscow. In Paris Galerie Georges Petit plans but does not implement an exhibition of Russian artists including Harlamoff.

1883 - Turgenev dies. Harlamoff is commissioned to portray Paul P. Demidoff, Prince of San Donato, and his family. He travels to Florence.

1885 - Harlamoff supports Bogoliubov’s plan to found a museum in Saratov bestowing to him a painting Italian Girl with a Lizard. Harlamoff participates at the V. Exhibition of the Association of Watercolour Artists in St. Petersburg.

1886 - Sergei M. Tretyakov recommends to his brother Pavel to purchase for his gallery in Moscow Harlamoff’s Girl Laughing.

1888 - Bogoliubov suggests to Vladimir Stasov to exhibit Harlamoff’s portrait of Turgenev at an Itinerant Art Exhibitions. Harlamoff participates at the International Exhibition in Glasgow, where Queen Victoria is attracted by his paintings.

1889 - Harlamoff becomes part of the organizing committee of the Universal Exhibition in Paris where he shows that year eleven paintings.

1891 - Harlamoff organizes the 50-year jubilee of Bogoliubov’s activity. At the 19th Itinerant Art Exhibition in St. Petersburg the tsarina Maria Fedorovna purchases a Portrait of a Young Girl by Harlamoff.

1896 - After Bogoliubov’s death Harlamoff is nominated chairman of the Association of Russian Artists for the Mutual Support and Benefaction with seat in Paris.

1900 - Harlamoff is appointed Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. He exhibits at the Universal Exhibition in Paris. After a pause of eight years he participates again at the Itinerant Art Exhibition.

1902 - Harlamoff is awarded the medal of St. Vladimir (4th Class).

1903 - Harlamoff spends spring and summer in Italy and Switzerland.

1909 - Harlamoff moves to his new studio, boulevard Rochechouart, 57bis.

1911 - 1914 - Harlamoff participates at exhibitions with Galerie Lemercier in Moscow.

1922 - Felia Litvinne shows in her salon in Paris the works of Harlamoff.

1925 - Harlamoff dies on 10 April in his studio, boulevard Rochechouart, 57bis. Felia Litvinne is his sole heir.