"Portrait of Alix-Genevieve de Seytres-Caumont, Comtesse de Tournon" by Ingres

Ingres was my favorite painter before I discovered Bouguereau, and one of his masterpieces remains my favorite painting. This piece showcases his best ability: the ability to recreate fabrics with paint so spectacularly. The face is one of the few that is not the ideal stereotypical, round, perfect, porcelain, inaccuarate face of the day. However, you can still see a hint of the desired and probably not possessed round, sloping shoulders. You can also see, in her lap and over the arm of the chair, the embroidered cream-colored sheet that was most likely a favorite studio prop of his. I prefer the portraits he did but he liked to fancy himself doing the sort of historical and mythological paintings that were the signature of his bitter rival, Delacroix.

"Stage Rehearsal" by Degas

This is a very famous Degas painting, a little different from most by him. It's dark and instead of showing ballerina's practicing, they are preparing for a recital. The colors and lighting are also very different from the usual - much darker and lacking in windows. And while most others seem to be still and tranquil, this has a certain writhing energy that can make you feel the nervousness and anticipation of the ballerinas before they go onstage.

"Spanish Dancer at the Moulin Rouge" by Boldini

Boldini was a less-eminent portrait painter at the same time as John Singer Sargent, and they had a bit of a competition, although there is no question who won. His negative quality is that he paints the same face every time, but I really like his Impressionist tendencies. As you can probably tell, I adore Impressionism. This painting is a bit unusual for him. It's less sketchy, and the color is thicker and bolder, and the woman is posed differently. It's also much more abstract, with the figure more difficult to separate from the nonexistent backround. But I love it.

"A Favorite Custom" by Alma-Tadema

This painting is by one of my favorite painters, Alma-Tadema. It follows his usual style, incorporating the ever-present redheaded woman, as well as the robes and great swaths of marble that prevail in 19th century Greco-Roman art. I suppose he must have loved to visit Greece. The water is done well also, the ripples on the surface, but the problem with this painting is that the two swimmer's bodies are not distorted in the slightest, which they would have been had they actually been underwater. I suppose it would have been difficult to paint.

"Helene Sadlmayr" by Stieler

Stieler's paintings are famous for their almost total focus on the subject, usually a person who's portrait is being painting. He is also the person who painted the famous portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven, with his flyaway gray hair and red neckscarf. What I like about this painting is the same thing I like about most paintings by him. The fabric and detail of the dress is done well, as is the shininess of her hair, and her skin is so luminous. It's lovely. I wonder if you can see this in a museum . . .

"Not Too Much to Carry" by Bouguereau

This is a painting typical of Bouguereau: young children and women with an idyllistic country backround. He is my favorite artist, so I'll be posting a lot of him. He does such beautiful skin and facial features, and GOD, the fingers and toes. His fabrics aren't so fantastic as Ingres', but they're still excellent. As always, you can see a bigger copy of this painting by clicking on it.

"The Garden of Le Mathurins at Pontoise" by Pissarro

This is a somewhat typical Impressionist painting, very akin to those by Monet. Obviously, the Impressionist style is one of my favorites. The trees, the lady, flowers and house are all very Monet-like. Pissarro was one of the second group, after Monet, Renoir, and the others, to join the Salon de Refuses. If you want a bigger copy of the painting, as always click on it and I believe it will take you to the link where I got it.

"The Music Lesson" by Matisse

This is such a pretty painting. Despite Matisse's eccentric Fauvist style, it has a fluidity and reality to it, along with the gorgeous play of color he is known for, that makes it so.

Did that sound pretentious and arty enough? I'm new at this.