Alfred Sisley (1839-1899) was a  French landscape impressionist of English origin, who lived most of his life in Paris. Sisley is recognized as perhaps the most consistent. if not inspirational, of the Impressionists, never deviating into figure painting finding that the movement did not fulfill his artistic needs.

Modern, newly constructed bridges were often the focal point for compositions by Sisley and other Impressionists. The motif of the cast-iron and suspension bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne provides a sweeping diagonal thrust across this riverbank scene along the Seine painted in summer 1872. Sisley painted a more distant and less dramatic view of the same bridge that spring. The application of paint in flat, rectangular strokes and the crisp articulation of form are distinctive characteristics of the artist's work in the early 1870s.

To my mind it is one of the most powerful works of art ever painted

James Ensor

''Dudley"', c 1832', by J. M. W. Turner (1775-1851)

This is a painting of Dudley, my hometown, by one of England's finest ever artists -Joseph Mallord William Turner

Turner visited Dudley, Worcestershire in the late summer and autumn of 1830. The town is situated half-way between Birmingham and Wolverhampton in the heart of England's Black Country, so called because of 'the dense clouds of smoke which belched continuously from thousands of coal-fired hearths and furnaces'.

These polluted the environment with vast amounts of soot. In addition to highly concentrated manufacturing enterprises, Dudley was associated with the invention of the steam engine (it was first operated near Dudley Castle in 1712) and in 1821 the first iron steamship was built in the Dudley area at the Horseley Ironworks. If Turner wanted to capture the essence of English industrialisation, he could hardly have chosen a better subject than Dudley.

Turner depicts the dramatic intensity of a town in the throes of industrial change against the backdrop of a traditional landscape. The symbols of tradition and faith (the ruins of Dudley castle on the hillside and the church steeples to the left) are pictured alongside the furnaces, chimneys, boilers and canal boats of the modern industrial age.

For the writer and painter John Ruskin (1819-1900), who owned the work at one stage, 'Dudley' represented Turner's own hatred of industrialisation. In 1878, he wrote that he found it a clear expression 'of what England was to become', with its 'ruined castle on the hill and the church spire scarcely discernible among the moon-lighted clouds, as emblems of the passing away of the baron and the monk'. In fact, Ruskin's interpretation is distorted by his own increasing antipathy towards industrialisation and probably had little to do with Turner's real intentions.

In 'Dudley' the emphasis is on the remarkable forces of power and energy beneath the surface of industry. This is emphasised by the nocturnal setting; we see figures at work in the artificial light produced by the many fires associated with manufacturing. There is a mysterious aspect to this illumination because we are never quite sure where the light is coming from- it represents the hidden, mysterious powers of mechanisation.

Gilbert and George

British Performance Artists

Gilbert & George place themselves, their thoughts and their feelings at the centre of their art, and almost all of the images they use are gathered within walking distance of their home in London’s East End. Yet their pictures capture a broad human experience, encompassing an astonishing range of emotions and themes, from rural idylls to gritty images of a decaying London; from fantastical brightly-coloured panoramas to raw examinations of humanity stripped bare; from sex advertisements to religious fundamentalism.

From the beginning, they wanted to communicate beyond the narrow confines of the art world, adopting the slogan ‘Art for All’. As a result they have joined the very small handful of artists to become household names, and their impeccably-dressed figures are instantly recognisable to the general public.

George was born in Devon in 1942. Gilbert was born in Italy in 1943, in a small village in the Dolomites. They met as students on the sculpture course at St Martins School of Art, London, where they exhibited together and soon began to create art together. They adopted the identity of ‘living sculptures’ in both their art and their daily lives, becoming not only creators, but also the art itself.

They established their reputation in 1969 with THE SINGING SCULPTURE. Standing together on a table, they danced and sang the Flanagan and Allen standard ‘Underneath the Arches’ – a song in which two tramps describe the pleasures of sleeping rough. It was a telling choice, harking back to prewar England and traditions of vaudeville, while also identifying with the fringes of society. Gilbert & George were invited to present THE SINGING SCULPTURE all over the world, sometimes for eight hours at a stretch. Realising, however, that they could reach only a handful of people at a time, they began to create films and pictures that could extend the idea of living sculpture without requiring their physical presence.

They are amongst my favourite contemporary artists and as here always feature themselves in their works.

Canaletto

One of the work's innovative aspects is its horizontal format, unusual for a portrait, and habitually reserved for history paintings. The bare space around the figure emphasizes the elegant arabesque of Madame Récamier's reclined body. Her antique pose, the bare décor and light dress all epitomize neoclassical ideals. The clear harmony of the ensemble, due to Juliette Récamier's white dress, is brightened up by the warm hues of the furniture. Only the model's head is nearly finished, and David has not yet added highlights to the impasto of her dress. The accessories, walls and floor are merely sketched in with vibrant brushstrokes, with the white undercoat still showing through in places. The canvas' unfinished state gives the picture a mysterious, poetic appearance doubtless very different to the finished portrait David had in mind. (source - www.louvre.fr )

Here is the full paining and a close up, Enjoy

Luce was a French artist associated with Neo-Impressionism. A printmaker, painter, and anarchist, Luce gained a modicum of fame using the pointillist methods developed by Seurat and Signac. He grew up in the working class Montparnasse area of Paris, and became a painter of landscapes and urban scenes which frequently emphasize the activities of people at work.

Like Camille Pissarro, Luce was active with anarchist groups in Paris in the 1890s, and in 1894 served a brief prison term. During the first world war, Luce painted war scenes, depicting soldiers struggling against the horrors of the Great War. Luce died in Paris in 1941.