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Painted by Simon Vouet in Rome around 1622, this portrait has only relatively recently been rediscovered. One of its first owners, if not its first, was the Milanese Cardinal Giangiacomo Trivulzio in whose family it remained for many years. Vouet was one of the leading painters in Rome following the death of Caravaggio in 1610 and was largely responsible for the dissemination of the Italian baroque style in France following his return there in 1627.

It was Dominique Cordellier who recognized the portrait as the work of the young Vouet, chancing upon it in a book on Italian costume published in 1966.1 Having been subsequently published by Jean-Pierre Cuzin in the Revue du Louvre, Edoardo Testori discovered that it and another portrait by Vouet (depicting Henri Traivoel) of precisely the same size had come from the ancient Trivulzio collection. Cardinal Giangiacomo Trivulzio was a great connoisseur collector from Milan and a close friend of Pope Urban VIII. Though Vouet passed through Milan in November 1621, and stayed for a few weeks or so, it is not certain that he executed either portrait there at the command of Trivulzio, although it is interesting to note that another portrait by Vouet of similar style and date also enjoys early Milanese provenance.

Vouet’s early Roman portraits, like the present example, are animated and moody, governed by an effective use of chiaroscuro, the dark areas often nearly black, the highlights rich in white, creamy paint. They have a spontaneity about them which here manifests itself almost as if the portrait was painted dal vivo. A powerful source of light illuminates one side of the young man’s face and strikes the folds and frills of his rapidly executed ruff; this is a ruff alla lattuga that was particularly popular in Rome between 1620–24.3 The exaggerated light and dark lends a somewhat sinister air to the portrait, but imbues the sitter with the tenacity and vigour of a cavelier; he is, as Cuzin wrote of him, ‘un bel Athos amer et soupçonneux’.

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Male Portraits

Baroque

At seventeen, Toledo began to train at the Taller Libre de Grabado in Mexico City. Three years later he moved to Paris, where he worked in the shop of the renowned British printmaker Stanley William Hayter. By the time he returned to Mexico in 1965, Toledo was recognized in Europe as a singular artist and celebrated for his "development of the mythic" and "his sacred sense of life." Settling in Oaxaca, he produced paintings and stone, wood, and wax sculptures, as well as graphics, the latter of which particularly intrigued him because of the extraordinary range of effects available through printing and etching.

Toledo's art is based on a fantastic realism that reflects a deep appreciation for, and astute observation of, nature, in particular, animals often not associated with beauty, such as insects, toads, and bats. Anthropomorphized creatures and metamorphosed objects are a persistent aspect of his work. Entitled Venados (Deer), this engraving in somber earth tones features four insect-eyed, bare-breasted female figures carrying a full-sized deer in an upright position on their shoulders. Held together by a rope, they are led by a fifth female figure with a male deer upon her head. Framing the composition are the heads and shoulders of profile deer.

Since Toledo worked in Hayter's atelier, it is not surprising that intaglio was among his preferred media. The exacting line of the engraver's burin allowed for the kind of elegant line and sharp detail evident in this print—from the long, curving lines of the women's torsos to the staccato strokes of the deer's fur. Toledo created subtle tonal passages in muted earth tones to complement his graceful lines using the technique of aquatint. The contrast between the dark, smoky tones of the composition and its passages of light enhance the mystical quality of this enigmatic image. Source: Francisco Toledo Print: Deer

Printmaking

Surrealism

Part of a series of historically inspired artworks on the history of the movie business and Los Angeles, my painting “Anna May Wong” evokes cinema dreams and concrete memories. Anna May Wong was the first Chinese American film star, and the first Asian American actress to gain international recognition. Her acting career went from silent films to talkies, to stage, to radio, and to television. Born in Los Angeles, a few blocks from Chinatown, Anna May Wong’s career has been an inspiration for many. My painting was created as an homage to Anna, sourced from numerous photo stills and film clips from the era. Source

Female Portraits

Blur

Spanish by birth, Ribera lived all of his adult life in Naples, which was ruled at the time by a Spanish viceroy. During his early years in Rome, he adopted Caravaggio’s practice of working directly from posed models. In this work, figures drawn from everyday life are translated into compelling images of saints. Key to the impact of his paintings was his use of formal compositions derived from his study of Raphael. Ribera’s art brings together in a unique fashion the two strands of seventeenth-century Italian painting: Caravaggesque naturalism and classical idealism.Source

Religious

Madonna and Child