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Born in 1852 in Philadelphia, PA, Edwin Austin Abbey studied for a short period of time at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts with Christian Schuessele. At the age of 14 he took a position as an illustrator for Harper and Brothers Publishing Company. With the hope of becoming a large scale history painter, he moved to England in the late 1870s. He was soon admitted to the Pre-Raphaelites and elected to the Royal Academy. Although he remained in England, he refused to give up his Am …

Born in 1880 in Munich, Germany, Franz Marc is thought of as one of the major figures in the German Expressionist movement and was an original member of Der Blaue Reiter, a group of German Expressionists artists. He received his training at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich under Wilhelm von Diez and Gabriel von Hackl. However, he was largely influenced by Vincent van Gogh’s vigorous brushwork as seen in Cats on a Red Cloth (1909). He is known for using distinct colors, including red, bl …

Born in 1868 in France, Emile Bernard is credited with Cloisonnism, a style simplified decorative art that used thick black lines to enclose flat areas with vivid and bold colors, while in Pont-Aven. Additionally, he worked alongside Paul Gauguin to produce a style known as Synthetism, a style that synthesizes the form of a painting with the feeling or theme of the subject. He studied at Ecole des Arts Decoratifs, but was suspended as the result of “showing expressive tendencies in his paintings …

Born in 1811 in Virginia, George Caleb Bingham and is known for his remarkable paintings depicting political and social life on the frontier, as well as landscapes and portraits. He is believed to have been inspired to paint by Chester Harding, a painter who was visiting the area where Bingham lived. When he was 12 his father died. Although the family was poor his mother encouraged his artistic talent and paid an art teacher, Mattie Wood, to give him lessons. At the age of 16, he left to …

Born in 1726 in London, Frances Cotes Ra is best known for outstanding work as a pastellist. He trained with George Knapton, a portrait painter, before setting up his own studio. Heavily influenced by Jean Etienne Liotard and Rosalba Carriera, he preferred to work with pastels and pencils. During the 1760s, he stated completing oil paintings and adopted a style similar to Sir Joshua Reynolds. Reynolds also became one of his biggest competitors in the art world. In 1768, he became a foundi …