Raya Yotova: 80 books

Jacob de Backer (1555-1585) was a strange and little-known figure of which little is known. He lived for only 30 years, and he did not leave any signed by him a picture. He was certainly born and spent his entire life in Antwerp and worked as a contractor for an Italian painting trader. There is no...

Sesshū spent about 20 years in Kyoto and then went to the Yamaguchi prefecture to become the chief priest of the Unkoku Temple. At that time it began to be named Sesshū ("snow boat"). Yamaguchi was the place where many Japanese expeditions began in China, and perhaps Sesshū's choice for...

Rogier van der Weyden is known as one of the three Vlaamse Primitieven (early Flemish primitivists): the other two are Robert Campin and van Eyck. He achieved great success in the age in which he lived. His portraits and church paintings are sold all over Europe, particularly successful in Catholic...

Alexander Adriaenssen is a Flemish artist specializing in a painting of still-lifes paintings. He was born and lived in Antwerp where he received his initial training for an artist. He studied the art-craft in the urban guild of artists, where he apprenticed for almost 13 years before being awarded...

Seghers is best known for his monumental genre paintings and great religious and figurative works. He has completed many altars for churches in the South of Holland. Most of his pictures were performed in a horizontal format. Stylistically and thematically, Seghers has initially been strongly influenced...

Yosa Buson was a Japanese poet of haikai and an Edo period artist. Together with Matsuo Bashō and Kobayashi Issa, he is considered one of the greatest poets and artists of the Edo period in Japanese history. Buson was native from the village of Kema in the province of Settsu. His first name was Taniguchi. At...

Lan Ying (1585-1664), who had a pseudonym Tianshu, was a Chinese painter of landscapes, a human figure, flowers and birds who was active during the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Lan Ying was born in Qiantang (modern Hangzhou) and spent most of his early life there. One of his nicknames was Xihu Waishi,...

Peter Candid was born in Bruges in a family of a Flemish tapestry artist. His father moved to live and worked in Florence, Italy, when Little Peter was 10, so the artist's entire career was outside his native Holland. He studied the art of painting at first with his father who was a tapestry weaver,...

Gaspar de Crayer is a Flemish artist born in Antwerp, who has lived and worked for most of his life in Brussels. He comes from a family of artist, his father Gaspar de Crayer. The old de Crayer was also a painter and art dealer. Even when he was very young, Gaspar de Crayer moved to the capital of...

De Vos was a prolific artist who has created a large number of works in the areas of large-size paintings on canvas, drawings and oil sketches. He often signed his works but never dated them. His theme is varied and includes scenes of hunting with dogs, dogs, and cats that ride and bird concerts....

Gonzalès's work, according to some art historians, cannot be considered innovative but has charm and a sense of sincere personal expression, which gives her considerable value. Salon reviewers appreciated Gonzalès' paintings for their natural intuition with which she had expressed her art, as well...

Adam Elsheimer was born in Germany, Frankfurt am Main, one of ten children, in a family of master-tailor. Artist Philipp Uffenbach apprenticed him. He probably visited Strasbourg in 1596. Twenty years old he traveled to Italy via Munich, where he was documented in 1598. His stay in Venice has not...

Frans Pourbus the Younger, often referred to simply as “Frans II” to be distinguished by his father Frans Pourbus the Elder (“Frans I”)  originated from a descendant family of artists, his grandfathers were also members of the Antwerp Art Guild. Pourbus the Younger was an associate of the...

Jan Miel was almost certainly natural from Flemish town Beveren-Waas. Miel’s premature learning took place in Antwerp. His visit to Rome for near 20 years is recorded. There Miel became an associate of the so-called “Bentvueghels”, a group of mostly Dutch and Flemish painters. In Italian capital,...