Johannes Vermeer · c. 1660–1661
“View of Delft” was painted around 1660 and is the most famous landscape by [[artist:1786|Johannes Vermeer]]. It shows his home town seen from the other side of the water, from the south. Before us are the old town gates, the roofs, the church towers and the ships in the harbour…
Read the story →Johannes Vermeer · c. 1665
“Girl with a Pearl Earring” is the most famous painting by [[artist:1786|Johannes Vermeer]], painted around 1665 in Delft. It is not a portrait of a particular woman but a so-called “tronie”, a face in unusual dress, painted for the sake of the expression and the light. No one k…
Read the story →Johannes Vermeer · 1666–1668
“The Art of Painting” was painted around 1666 and is the painting that [[artist:1786|Johannes Vermeer]] kept for himself until the end of his life. Many scholars believe it is his statement about what painting is. In “The Art of Painting” a heavy curtain is drawn aside and lets…
Read the story →Johannes Vermeer · c. 1664
“Woman Holding a Balance” was painted around 1663. [[artist:1786|Johannes Vermeer]] once again painted a quiet room, but this time a woman stands before a table with pearls and gold and holds small scales in her hand. In “Woman Holding a Balance” the woman wears a blue jacket t…
Read the story →Vincent van Gogh · 1888
The Yellow House is the home in which [[artist:1613|Vincent van Gogh]] believed a new life would begin. In May 1888 he rented four rooms in the right wing of a house on the Place Lamartine in Arles. He had it painted yellow outside and white inside, and dreamed of turning it int…
Read the story →“The Regatta at Molesey” was painted in 1874. The Regatta at Molesey is a boat race on the Thames that had begun a year earlier. [[artist:1795|Alfred Sisley]] painted it during his English summer. In “The Regatta at Molesey” colourful flags flutter on tall poles in the foregrou…
Read the story →“The Church at Moret, Rainy Weather, Morning” was painted in 1893. In Moret-sur-Loing, where [[artist:1795|Alfred Sisley]] lived in his last years, there is an old Gothic church. He painted it many times. In “The Church at Moret, Rainy Weather, Morning” the tall stone wall of t…
Read the story →“Snow at Louveciennes” was painted in 1878. Louveciennes is a small village west of Paris. [[artist:1795|Alfred Sisley]] lived there for several years and painted it many times, especially in winter. In “Snow at Louveciennes” a narrow lane runs between walls and gardens covered…
Read the story →“The Flood at Port-Marly” was painted in 1876. That spring the Seine burst its banks and flooded the town of Port-Marly. [[artist:1795|Alfred Sisley]] painted several pictures of the flood. In “The Flood at Port-Marly” the Saint-Nicolas inn stands on the left, and the water rea…
Read the story →“View of the Canal Saint-Martin” was painted in 1870. The Canal Saint-Martin runs through the eastern part of Paris. [[artist:1795|Alfred Sisley]] showed this painting at the Salon that same year. In “View of the Canal Saint-Martin” the water fills the whole lower half. The hou…
Read the story →