Ernst

Max Ernst - Outstanding for his varied style and technique

Max Ernst (1891-1996) is one of the most important figures of Dadaism and Surrealism. As a student in Bonn, he found himself drawn to the Dada movement that had arisen in counter-reaction to the mass slaughter of World War I.

El Greco

Cretan-born painter Domenicos Theotocopoulos, better known by his Spanish nickname, El Greco (c.1541-1614), studied under Titian in Venice before settling down in Toledo. Commissioned by the church and local nobility, El Greco produced dramatic paintings marked by distorted figures and vibrant color contrasted with subtle grays. Though his work was appreciated by his contemporaries, especially intellectuals, it wasn`t until the 20th century that it was widely embraced and admired, influencing in particular the Expressionist movement.

Dürer

Dürer's art - Absolute fidelity to every detail

Five full centuries lie between us and the life of Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528). His ability to represent a subject with an absolute fidelity to every detail seemed miraculous to his contemporaries, and still astounds us now: we need only think of his water-colours of plants and animals.

In addition, Dürer was the first painter to devote such close attention to the art of the self-portrait. No artist before him painted as many as he. The works by Dürer collected in this book show the full range of this artist's unique genius.

Cezanne

Cézanne's quest for "a harmony parallel to Nature"

He was the founding father of modern art, the grand master who pointed painting forward on its way from Impressionism to the 20th century: Paul Cézanne (1839-1906). In Paris, but above all in Provence, Cézanne quested tirelessly for "a harmony parallel to Nature"—discovering it in still lifes of apples, in bathers, or in the renowned landscapes of his beloved Montagne Sainte-Victoire. This book discusses this extraordinary artist's major works and his theories of painting and color.