Ralph Skea

It is often forgotten just how provocative Impressionist canvases seemed when they were first exhibited in 1874. The advocates of the new style rejected the established principles of art prevalent at that time in France. Impressionism traces Impressionism's origins to its spread to America and Australia. Ralph Skea shows how Impressionist artists transformed everyday subject matter. Daringly using colour and...

Van Gogh felt a profound empathy with nature and considered the spiritual essence of trees to be comparable with that of human figures. Vincent's Trees traces Van Gogh as a painter of trees—from his home province of North Brabant in Holland, through Paris to Provence. Ralph Skea's elegant prose accompanies Van Gogh's vibrant works, which range from pencil and ink...

Despite his posthumous fame as a painter of flowers, still-lifes, gardens, landscapes, and city scenes, during his lifetime Vincent van Gogh believed that his portraits constituted his most important works. Although as an artist he was 'touched by so many different things', he was nevertheless committed to the art of portraiture—a quality that distinguished him from his contemporaries. Van Gogh...