Smart Secrets Of Great Paintings

Painted only 7 years after the July revolution of 1848, 'L'atelier du peintre' by Gustave Courbet reflects his own very critical vision of the society of the time. Through a pronounced realism, the painter denounces the authoritarian power of Napoleon III...

In 1514 in Antwerp Quentin Metsys put the finishing touches to "The Gold Weigher and his Wife", depicting the intimacy of a currency exchange counter. This oil on panel, housed in the Louvre Museum in Paris, appears at first glance to be a genre scene.

Asnières, at the end of the 19th century, has the air of a seaside resort: an atmosphere well restored by Seurat, who also catches the upheavals of his time. Asnières is an industrial suburb west of Paris, irrigated by the Seine. Young workers spend their free time by the river. This is the first of Seurat's great compositions, which he finished at the age of 24.

In 1571, while the War of Religion is tearing France apart, François Clouet paints "A Lady in Her Bath". Through his technique and the choice of colors, he gives a peaceful image of his time. Official painter of Charles IX, Clouet sets lasting and drastic beauty standards...

With commentary by Clémentine Célarié, an animated close-up of the "Women of Algiers in their apartment", which reveals the interior of a harem. This is a very famous painting by Eugene Delacroix, painted in Paris in 1833. It was presented at the Salon of 1834 and acquired the same year by the Louvre.

A decade after the end of the Hundred Years' War, in Tours, where Charles VII had set up his court, Jean Fouquet produced a miniature inspired by the martyrdom of Saint Apolline, displaying a medieval universe of pain and violence, but with a distancing that already heralded the Renaissance.

The first miracle of Christ, turning water into wine, is transposed in Paolo Veronese's painting, "The Wedding at Cana", into a Venetian banquet. The painter's independence from Rome and the pope was sanctioned by the Inquisition, that decided to prohibit the unbridled display of his art...

In 1785, the public opinion turned against Marie Antoinette, whose reputation was tarnished. In an effort to improve public perception of the queen, later that year, Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun was commissioned by the king to paint an official portrait depicting Marie Antoinette sympathetically.

This work, a mysterious and enchanting series of six tapestries, is considered to be a masterpiece of Western art. This metaphor for desire is a celebration of the five human senses and of a sixth, spiritual and humanist sense. The fantasy of the magical unicorn heralds the end of the French Middle Ages.

During his second stay in Tahiti, Paul Gauguin created his greatest masterpiece, a frieze almost four meters long. He created this imaginary pantheon that he considered his moral and artistic testament; the primitive arts burst into modern art.

Edgard Degas, one of the leaders of the uncompromising Impressionists, choses, in 1877, to represent the reality of the parisian social metamorphosis. Nestled on the Grands Boulevards, he paints an evening on a cafe terrace that welcomes men, bourgeois and prostitutes...

A compass, an astrolabe, a celestial globe and numerous books for studying the stars without even having to look up... In the heart of the Golden Age of the young Dutch Republic, the painter Johannes Vermeer reveals the great scientific and cultural expansion of his time...

At the age of 35, Renoir shared in Montmartre the misery of workers, artists and prostitutes, who meet every Sunday at the Moulin de la Galette ball. On this large canvas, he depicts some of his friends as well, but with the main objective of conveying the convivial and joyful atmosphere of this dancinge place...