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William Shakespeare was a British poet and playwright and writer.
William's father, John Shakespeare, was a merchant and official in Stratford. There are reports that he was a sailor for a time before joining a theater company in London. Beginning in the 1590s, Shakespeare began writing plays, and in 1593 he published a poem, Venus and Adonis, which became popular. He dedicated it to the Duke of Southampton, who was a philanthropist and patron of talent, and soon his business was booming.
From 1592 to 1600 Shakespeare wrote his dramas and romantic comedies "Richard III", "The Taming of the Shrew", "Romeo and Juliet", "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "The Merchant of Venice", as well as the comedies "Much Ado About Nothing", "Twelfth Night" and the tragedy "Julius Caesar". The playwright's business was so successful that he even bought a large house in Stratford. In 1599, Shakespeare became one of the owners, playwright and actor of the new theater "Globe". In 1603 King James took Shakespeare's troupe under his direct patronage. In the mature period, the great playwright turned to tragedies, there were "Hamlet", "Othello", "King Lear", "Macbeth" and others.
Although in the 19th century researchers had some doubts about the authorship of many of these works, William Shakespeare is considered the greatest English playwright, one of the best playwrights in the world. His plays have been translated into all major languages and to this day form the basis of the world theatrical repertoire, most of them have been screened many times. According to the Guinness Book of Records, Shakespeare remains the world's best-selling playwright, and his plays and poems have sold more than 4 billion copies in the nearly 400 years since his death.
Otto van Veen was a painter, draughtsman, and humanist active primarily in Antwerp and Brussels in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. He is known for running a large studio in Antwerp, producing several emblem books, and for being, from 1594 or 1595 until 1598, Peter Paul Rubens' teacher. His role as a classically educated humanist artist (a pictor doctus), reflected in the Latin name by which he is often known, Octavius Vaenius, was influential on the young Rubens, who would take on that role himself.
Evelyn Waugh, full name Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh, was a British satirical writer, travel writer and historian.
Evelyn Waugh studied at Lancing College in Sussex and at Hertford College in Oxford. He then began traveling and writing, soon earning a reputation as a witty satirist. He visited Ethiopia and the Belgian Congo, and traveled to South America. His works are almost always based on personal experience; notable among the early ones are Decline and Fall (1928), Nasty Bodies (1930), Black Mischief (1932), and others.
During World War II, Evelyn Waugh served in the Royal Marines and the Royal Horse Guards. Written at this time, the novel "Return to Brideshead" (1945) is about an aristocratic English Roman Catholic family. In the trilogy "Men in Arms" (1952), "Officers and Gentlemen" (1955) and "Unconditional Surrender" (1961), the author conducted a serious analysis of the events of World War II, as an eternal struggle between good and evil, civilization and barbarism. Later on these works were filmed television series.
Evelyn Waugh also left a significant trace in journalism and literary criticism, he is considered one of the finest stylists in English prose of the XX century.
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was a British writer and poet, translator, philologist, and linguist.
Tolkien wrote many works in the genre of magical fiction. He became world famous for his fantasy books The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954-55).
"The Hobbit" was published in 1937 with drawings by the author and proved so popular that the publisher asked him to write a sequel. The result, 17 years later, was Tolkien's masterpiece, "The Lord of the Rings," which was voted the best book of the 20th century. By the beginning of the 21st century, more than 50 million copies had been sold in 30 languages. The film version of "The Lord of the Rings" by New Zealand director Peter Jackson, released in three parts in 2001-2003, broke world viewing records.
Tolkien has been called the "father" of modern high fantasy literature.
John Donne was a British preacher and poet, a major exponent of English Baroque literature.
His father was a wealthy merchant, and he was educated at Oxford, Cambridge, and Lincoln's Inn. Then began to write satires, which were willingly passed from hand to hand. The first three of Donne's famous satires date from 1593, and the others were written at various times before 1601. In 1594 he began his travels in Europe, accompanied the Earl of Essex on the capture of Cadiz in 1596 and on the expedition of 1597, and was in Italy and Spain.
In 1601. John Donne wrote his remarkable poem "The Progress of the Soul", in 1610 published his prose work against Catholics "Pseudo-Martyr", and in 1611. - an even harsher polemical treatise, Ignatius in Conclave. John Donne was also the author of many sonnets, love poems, elegies, epigrams, and religious sermons.
In 1621 John Donne was appointed rector of St. Paul's Cathedral in London, and near the end of his life he became a popular eloquent preacher whose sermons were eagerly printed and published. 160 of his sermons have survived, including the most famous, Death's Duel, which he delivered in Whitehall before King Charles I on February 25, 1631, a few weeks before his own death.
Frans Francken the Younger was a distinguished Flemish painter of the Baroque period, celebrated for his versatility and innovation in the art scene of the early 17th century. Born in 1581 in Antwerp, where he also died in 1642, Francken hailed from the prolific Francken family of artists, establishing himself as the most prominent among them. His contribution to Flemish art includes a wide array of subjects, spanning large altarpieces for churches to intricate cabinet pictures featuring historical, mythological, or allegorical themes.
Francken's work is particularly noted for his creation of collectors' cabinet paintings, a genre that depicted the interiors of collectors filled with art, curiosities, and natural specimens, embodying the era's intellectual pursuits and the burgeoning culture of connoisseurship. Moreover, Francken was instrumental in the development of singeries, humorous paintings featuring monkeys engaging in human activities, critiquing the follies of mankind through satire. His collaborative efforts with other artists enriched his work, allowing him to incorporate figures and narrative depth into various compositions, seamlessly blending his expertise with the landscapes, architectural settings, and still lifes created by his contemporaries.
Francken's artistic legacy is marked by his successful workshop, his role as a master in the Antwerp Saint Luke's Guild, and his significant influence on the development of new subject matter and genres within Flemish painting. His works, such as "Mankind's Eternal Dilemma: The Choice Between Virtue and Vice," remain celebrated for their detailed craftsmanship and symbolic richness, housed in prestigious museums including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
For collectors and art history aficionados, Francken's oeuvre offers a rich tapestry of Baroque artistry, reflecting the dynamism of 17th-century Flemish culture and the depth of humanistic and religious themes explored during the period.
To delve deeper into the world of Frans Francken the Younger and to stay updated on new discoveries, sales, and auction events related to his works, consider signing up for specialized updates. This subscription is tailored for enthusiasts eager to explore the intersections of art, history, and culture, promising insightful content on one of Flemish art's most influential figures.
