Wilhelm Maria Hubertus Leibl and Farm Girl With A White Head Scarf

'Farm Girl With A White Head Scarf' (1876) by Wilhelm Maria Hubertus
 Leib; Neue Pinakothek, Munich

Not much to choose from today but that made it easier and I found German painter Wilhelm Leibl, born on 23 October 1844, very quickly. He was a Realist painter of portraits and scenes of peasant life. He was one of the most prominent German Realists of the late 19th century. He studied at the Munich Academy and went to Paris to work with Gustave Courbet. His style was in opposition to the Romantic naturalism dominant in Germany at the time. He was an admirer of Dutch old masters and painted with thick brush strokes against dark backgrounds. Apparently, Leibl started to work immediately with colour, without any preliminary sketching, and this resembled the working method of the Impressionists. I quite like his portraits, like the one shown here today. Beautiful colours, and although many of Leibl's paintings are rather dark, this one has a light background and the white scarf makes it a light painting as well. The face looks so fresh like she just came from outside, working the land, with a healthy blush on her cheeks.

William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Head of A Young Girl

'Head of A Young Girl' (1898) by William-Adolphe Bouguereau; Private Collection

Before doing this art blog I had never heard of French Realist painter William-Adolphe Bouguereau, born on 30 November 1825 and died on 19 August 1905. But browsing for painters on other blogs and websites, made me come across this painter numerous times. Sweet scenes of angels and children (especially this one) passed by very frequently as did this image of today's painting that I came to like very much. Bouguereau studied at L'École des Beaux Arts in Paris where he got his traditional academic training. In 1850, he was awarded a prize which enabled him to study in Italy for four years. He studied the work of Giotto and of the Renaissance masters. He was also very impressed by classical art. The influence of classical works is very evident in his work after this period. His romanticised Realism and highly finished style would become his trademark. Although he was held in high regard by his contemporaries, his work was viewed as mediocre by the new generation of painters who were experimenting with Impressionism. These painters opposed his sentimentality and his high technical finish. Sentimental or not, there is a lot of his work that I like and especially today's painting. 

Jozef Israëls and Meditation

'Meditation' (1850) by Jozef Israëls; Dordrechts Museum, Dordrecht

Today I can do a post on a Dutch painter again. Jozef Israëls, born on 27 January 1824 and died on 12 August 1911, was one of the most important painters of the Hague School (Haagse School). The Hague School was heavily influenced by the French Barbizon School. If you see the images of Israëls' paintings together, you recognise the Realist style that both schools are known for. Israëls studied art in Groningen, Amsterdam and Paris. After an illness, he went to the fishing-town of Zandvoort to recover and started painting fishermen and beach scenes. Today's painting is called 'Mijmering' in Dutch. The English equivalent would be 'reverie' but I found one mention of an English translation of the title and they used 'Meditation' so I do as well. The painting is very different from his other work. It reminded me immediately of Ary Scheffer whose work is also to be seen in the Dordrechts Museum. In fact, the museum has the biggest collection of Scheffers' work in The Netherlands. I read somewhere that the painting 'Meditation' (that has undergone a major restoration) is the key piece of the museum's collection because it connects the French-Romantic style of Scheffers' paintings with Israëls' 19th century realistic work and that of his contemporaries. I find this painting beautiful! Great light! I have to go and see it and Scheffer's work as well. 

Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida and Under the Awning, Zarauz

'Under the Awning, Zarauz' (1910) by Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida;
St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis

Joaquín Sorolla, born on 27 February 1863 and died on 10 August 1923, was a Spanish painter from Valencia and specialised in portraits and landscapes. When you google the images of his paintings, you see a lot of seaside scenes and sunlit beaches. Sorollo got his initial education in his native town, at the age of fourteen. When he was eighteen years old, he went to Madrid and studied the paintings of the great masters in Museo del Prado. He received a grant after military service which enabled him to study art in Rome. He went to exhibitions of Jules Bastien-Lepage and Adolf Menzel in Paris and got influenced by their work. Upon his return to Rome he studied with Emilio Sala. He is classified as a Realist and Impressionist painter but anyone can see that his beach paintings are in the Impressionist style. Sorolla's work is represented in museums in Europe and America, and many of his paintings can also be found in private collections. It wasn't difficult for me to choose a painting and I particularly like this one because of the sweet colours and the dresses and hats. I looked up on the internet what Zarauz means and it appears to be a coastal town in Northern Spain.

Ilya Yefimovich Repin and What Freedom!

'What Freedom!' (1903) by Ilya Yefimovich Repin; The State Russian Museum,
St. Petersburg

I don't know that many Russian painters so this is a good opportunity to add another one to my small list of Russian painters so far. Ilya Repin, born on 5 August 1844, appears to be one of the greatest Russian painters and entered the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg at the age of 19. This coincided with an event that was important to the artistic movement in the 1860s. The event became known as 'The Riot of the Fourteen'. Fourteen young students left the Academy after having refused to use mythological subjects for their diploma work. They were strong believers that art should be close to real life. Repin would become one of the leading members of the Peredvizhniki, the so-called Wanderers, a group of Russian Realists. The painting shown here is called 'What Freedom!' and I absolutely love it. I couldn't really make the image bigger because it would then cross over the line to the right side bar so you cannot see the smile on the woman's face. But I want you to see it so click here and click again on the image to enlarge it. The woman looks so happy and the man too actually. I came across a blog where photos of the house/museum that belonged to Repin are shown. Beautiful!

Léon Augustin Lhermitte and The Haymakers

'The Haymakers' (1887) by Léon Augustin Lhermitte; Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

For today I chose a painting that I have seen numerous times and that gets better with every viewing. It's part of the permanent collection of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and it's usually displayed on the ground floor. The painting is big in size so it's hard to miss. Its artist is Léon Augustin Lhermitte, a French Realist painter, born on July 31, 1844 (see the French Wikipedia page for the exact data of his birth and death). Lhermitte depicted the peasant worker and rural life. With this painting he might have wanted to illustrate the three stages of life by depicting a child, two adults and an old man. The painting has also been part of the exhibition 'Illusions of reality' at the same museum, from October 2010 till January 2011, and moved for that reason to the exhibition wing. 

Thomas Eakins and Portrait of Alice Kurtz

Due to my stay and volunteer work in Peru for most of June and July, I won't have time to write but I will continue to post a painting a day. I may add text upon returning to Amsterdam. I hope you will still visit to see the daily painting.  

Gustave Courbet and The Sleeping Spinner

Due to my stay and volunteer work in Peru for most of June and July, I won't have time to write but I will continue to post a painting a day. I may add text upon returning to Amsterdam. I hope you will still visit to see the daily painting. 

Émile Friant and Cast Shadows

Due to my stay and volunteer work in Peru for most of June and July, I won't have time to write but I will continue to post a painting a day. I may add text upon returning to Amsterdam. I hope you will still visit to see the daily painting.  

Jules Breton and End of the Working Day

'End of the working day' (1887) by Jules Breton; Brooklyn Museum, New York

I've grown to like Realist painters who depict scenes of work in the fields and the hardships of everyday life. The French painter Jules Breton, born on the 1st of May, 1827, is one of them. Breton left the village Courrières, where he was born, to study art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent and later on at the École des Beaux Arts. At first he painted historical subjects in the traditional academic style, but then his style evolved and he tried other subjects. He painted scenes reminiscent of his childhood in Courrières. These scenes from the peasant lifestyle and work ethic brought him fame. In today's painting you see three women at the end of a hard working day. I think it's a very strong image. You almost feel the air getting cooler now the sun has set and you feel yourself looking in the same direction as the woman in the middle, wondering if there is anything more to be done. With this painting Breton expressed his appreciation for pastoral beauty and he gives his peasant women almost a heroic and noble standing against their lower working class standing.

William Glackens and Young Woman in Green

'Young Woman in Green' (c.1915) by William Glackens; St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, Missouri

I was quite content having found American artist William Glackens, born on 13 March 1870, for today's post. If you google his name and images, you see paintings with a very different colour palette and at first I wasn't sure whether the paintings were by the same artist. Glackens was an illustrator first and then became a Realist painter. He became known for his dark-hued tones and scenes with crowds, e.g. in parks and on beaches. The influence of the Impressionists and foremost Renoir was evident. His later work included portraits and flower pieces, in lavish colours. If you want to read more about his style and subject matter, that changed throughout his life, then click on the link above. I chose the painting of the woman in green because I love portraits and I think this one is beautiful in colour and the woman is really pretty.

Alexandre Antigna and The Lightning

'The Lightning' (1848) by Alexandre Antigna, Musée d'Orsay, Paris 

Edit 16.09.2025: Doing maintenance on this blog, I found that this date's original painting wasn't eligible for 26 February. I had posted the painting Interior of a Gothic Church by Flemish Baroque painter Pieter Neeffs I (the Elder), who was born in 1578 and died on 26 February 1660. Or so I said. Wikipedia doesn't give any exact dates for birth and death but I found them on Safran-Arts. Well, Safran-Arts doesn't exist anymore as a website who gives small biographies on artists so I couldn't check. I searched the internet but couldn’t find any reliable source that gives 26 February 1660 as the death date of Pieter Neefs the Elder. All the reliable sources state that his date of death is unknown, with the following consensus among scholars: that he was alive on 26 February 1656 (last reliable record) and dead before or by 1661 (because Cornelis de Bie refers to him in the past tense in 'Het Gulden Cabinet', published 1661) but the exact date of death remains unknown, and 26 February 1660 is not supported by known archival evidence. 

Therefore, I'm replacing the post Pieter Neeffs the Elder and Interior of a Gothic Church by another painting which ís eligible for 26 February: 'The Lightning', 1848, by French painter Alexandre Antigna, born on March 7, 1817, and died on February 26, 1878. He was a notable artist, initially painting religious scenes and portraits until 1845. After living in a poor quarter of Paris, he turned towards Realism and depicted contemporary social subjects, showing the suffering of the urban poor in his work. He was a regular participant in the prestigious Salon, the annual art exhibition in Paris, and received praise for his portrayals of the poor and for showing the human condition. In 1861, he received the Legion of Honour, the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit. Today's painting 'The Lightning' (L’Éclair) portrays a peasant family besieged by a menacing storm. Love the use of dramatic lighting!

Anton Mauve and In The Vegetable Garden

'In the vegetable garden' (1887) by Anton Mauve; Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam

There are so many beautiful paintings by Anton Mauve, born on 18 September 1838 and died on 5 February 1888. He was a Realist painter of mainly depictions of fields with animals and people. His sheep herding scenes are quite famous. He is also well-known for his connection with Vincent van Gogh. He was married to Vincent's cousin and became his teacher. During the three weeks that Vincent stayed in Anton's studio in 1881, Vincent made his first paintings. Mauve had moved from Haarlem to The Hague in 1872 and became a leading member of the Hague School. The painting for this post has more colour than his former ones that were mainly made of grey and brown shades. Mauve painted this towards the end of his life when he lived in Laren and had discovered a different colour palette.