"Angel Of The Annunciation" By ~ French School ~ 19th Century.

French School (19th Century)

Angel of the Annunciation

Laura, By Ken Hamilton.

Laura, can describe the work of Ken Hamilton. A sense of wonder and questioning radiates from his work, as if his figures are lost in a maze of inward contemplation or thought. This same stillness appears to be drawn from the work of Dutch master, Johannes Vermeer. Hamilton himself describes his vision as “contemporary and also timeless; realistic yet representing an unreal world; almost touchable but totally beyond our reach; as plain as day but still mysterious.”

Ken Hamilton’s style can be described as a contemporary Renaissance; a modern “rebirth” of the ideals enlisted by the    artists of the 15th and 16th centuries, going against the popular use of abstraction and distortion seen so frequently in modern and contemporary art.

Ken Hamilton was born in Nigeria, West Africa, where he lived until age 11, at which time he moved to Ireland and has remained ever since.

"Violet" By ~ Sir James Jebusa Shannon ~ 1862 - 1923.

James Jebusa Shannon  American artist (1862-1923) 

SHANNON, JAMES JEBUSA (1862- ), Anglo-American artist, was born at Auburn, New York, in 1862', and at the age of eight was taken by his parents to Canada. When he was sixteen, he went to England, where he studied at South Kensington, and after three years won the gold medal for figure painting. His portrait of the Hon. Horatia Stopford, one of the queen's maids of honor, attracted attention at the Royal Academy in 1881, and in 1887 his portrait of Henry Vigne in hunting costume was one of the successes of the exhibition, subsequently securing medals for the artist at Paris, Berlin and Vienna. He soon became one of the leading portrait painters in London. He was one of the first members of the New English Art Club, and in 1897 was elected an associate of the Royal Academy, and R.A. in 1909. His picture, " The Flower Girl," was bought in 1901 for the National Gallery of British Art.

Arlene Dahl ~ 1928 - 1950's.

Elegance and femininity are fitting descriptions for Arlene Dahl. She is considered to be one of the most beautiful actresses to have graced the screen during the postwar period. Audiences were captivated by her breathtaking beauty and the way she used to it to her advantage, progressing from claimer to character roles.

Of Norwegian extraction, Miss Dahl was born in Minneapolis. Following high school she joined a local drama group, supporting herself with a variety of jobs, including modeling for a number of department stores. Arriving in Hollywood in 1946, she signed a brief contract with Warner Brothers, but she is best remembered for her work at MGM. The Bride Goes Wild (1948) was her first work at Metro. It was an odd but rather humorous love story, which starred Van Johnson and June Allyson.

"Elegant Lady" By Charles Amable Lenoir ~ 1860 - 1926.

Charles-Amable Lenoir (22 October 1860–1926) was a French painter. Like his mentor, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, he was an academic painter and painted realistic portraits as well as mythological and religious scenes. His artistic career was so prestigious that he won the Prix de Rome twice and was awarded the Légion d'honneur.

Lenoir was born in Châtellaillon, a small town just outside of La Rochelle. His mother was a seamstress and his father was a customs officer. When he was young, his father was reassigned and the family moved to Fouras. He did not start out in life as an artist, but instead began his education at a teachers' college in La Rochelle. Upon graduation, he worked as a teacher and supervisor at the lycée in Rochefort.

Portrait By ~ Carlo Dolci ~ 1616 - 1686.

Carlo Dolci, byname Carlino    (born May 25, 1616, Florence [Italy]—died Jan. 17, 1687, Florence), Italian painter, one of the last representatives of the Florentine school of Baroque painting, whose mainly devotional works are characterized by their oversweet and languid piety.
Dolci studied with a minor local painter and at an extremely early age showed a talent for portrait painting. Failing to develop significantly in this direction, however, he vowed, inspired by Counter-Reformation teachings, to devote his career to painting religious subjects. At a time when other Florentine artists migrated to Rome, the centre of monumental Baroque painting, Dolci remained in Tuscany and developed his manner out of the more sober, static native traditions of Florence.

Dolci painted pictures that were highly popular in his day. The figures in his dramatically concentrated compositions are typically half-length and treated with refinement of detail, soft colour, and strong contrasts of light and dark.