Naturalism 19th century
Herbert Chevalier Haseltine was an Italian-born French/American animalier sculptor, most known as an Equestrian sculptor.
He replicated many of his large works in table-top sizes. The author of a number of books on animalier art, Haseltine was well connected in American upper class society and did a three-year project to create a work for heiress Barbara Hutton. This project included two horses heads which were gilded bronze, with precious and semi precious stones. After her death the heads disappeared and resurfaced a few years ago at an auction in New York.
Martin Johnson Heade was an American painter known for his salt marsh landscapes, seascapes, and depictions of tropical birds (such as hummingbirds), as well as lotus blossoms and other still lifes. His painting style and subject matter, while derived from the romanticism of the time, are regarded by art historians as a significant departure from those of his peers.
Georg Holub was an Austrian landscape painter.
Holub studied at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts and painted views of the Eastern Alps in oil and watercolor in the naturalistic style. He exhibited extensively and is considered Austria's foremost landscape painter.
Winslow Homer was an American landscape painter and printmaker, renowned for his mastery of marine subjects and considered a preeminent figure in 19th-century American art. Born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1836, Homer was largely self-taught, starting his career as a commercial illustrator before venturing into oil painting and watercolors.
Homer's art evolved significantly over his lifetime. During the American Civil War, he worked as a correspondent, creating sketches that conveyed both the immediacy and the human cost of the war. This experience deeply influenced his later work, particularly his powerful oil paintings depicting war and its aftermath. After the war, Homer's focus shifted towards scenes of nature and rural America, reflecting a national nostalgia for simpler times. His works from this period, such as "The Cotton Pickers" and "Snap the Whip," showcase his ability to capture everyday life with poignant realism and emotional depth.
Later in his career, Homer became renowned for his watercolors and seascapes, such as "Breezing Up (A Fair Wind)" and "The Gulf Stream," which are celebrated for their dynamic composition and vivid portrayal of human interaction with nature. His late seascapes, which often depicted the rugged coastlines of Maine, are particularly noted for their dramatic intensity and hint at modernist abstraction, capturing the formidable power and timeless beauty of the sea.
Homer's works are held in high regard and continue to be featured in major museums and galleries, providing inspiration and insight into the American experience of the 19th century.
For those interested in the works of Winslow Homer and the impact of his art, you can sign up for updates related to new product sales and auction events featuring his work. This will keep you informed on opportunities to engage more deeply with Homer's enduring legacy.
Joris-Karl Huysmans, real name Harles-Georges-Marie Huysmans, was a French writer and poet, the first president of the Goncourt Academy.
Huysmans' father was Dutch, and he always emphasized this fact. At the age of 20, the aspiring writer began working as an official in the French Ministry of the Interior, where he served all his life.
Huysmans received the greatest fame thanks to the novel À rebours ("Against Nature"). The main appeal of this writer's work lies in its autobiographical content. And his style is characterized by a wide vocabulary of the French language, a wealth of detailed and sensual descriptions, as well as sharp satirical wit. The novels are also notable for their encyclopedic documentation, ranging from a catalog of decadent Latin authors in À rebours to a discussion of the symbolism of Christian architecture in La Cathédrale.
In his work, Huysmans expresses a distaste for modern life and a deep pessimism, but in his writings one can trace the stages of intellectual life in late nineteenth-century France. Joris-Karl Huysmans was one of the earliest proponents of Impressionism. He was also a renowned literary critic and one of the founders and first president of the Goncourt Academy.
Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington was an American sculptor who was among New York City's most prominent sculptors in the early 20th century. At a time when very few women were successful artists, she had a thriving career. Hyatt Huntington exhibited often, traveled widely, received critical acclaim at home and abroad, and won multiple awards and commissions.
During the first two decades of the 20th century, Hyatt Huntington became famous for her animal sculptures, which combine vivid emotional depth with skillful realism. In 1915, she created the first public monument by a woman to be erected in New York City. Her Joan of Arc, located on Riverside Drive at 93rd Street, is the city's first monument dedicated to a historical woman.