40 Rearest Snuff Boxes

Give me women, wine, and snuff

Untill I cry out "hold, enough!"

You may do so sans objection

Till the day of resurrection:

For, bless my beard, they aye shall be

My beloved Trinity.

John Keats

Christopher Columbus introduced tobacco into Europe after his voyage (1494-96) to South America. There he saw American Indians snuffing an unknown powder, some of which Columbus brought back to Europe, where it quickly became fashionable.

Mother of Pearl Snuff Box, 1765

In the 16th century French Ambassador in Lisbon Jean Nicot sent snuff tobacco, popular in Portugal, to Queen of France Catherine de Medici, who suffered from migraines. And that immortalized his name. It was believed that sniffing tobacco healed migraine. At the court of Francis II of France, son of Catherine, snuff tobacco became fashionable amongst the ladies and gentlemen of the aristocracy, and at the reign of Louis XIV it was part of the court etiquette.
Aristocracy was passionate about its snuff habits and even built special rooms for storing their snuff.

Chrysoprase, Berlin, 1755

Splendid noblemen used to treat each other with snuff tobacco while the containers for it were luxury items and were considered as jewelery variety, they were supposed to be handled with the utmost elegance and intended to impress. Made of silver and gold, rich in detail, adorned with precious stones, sometimes playing popular melodies while being opened, snuff-boxes rooted into the everyday life of all levels of the population and were an indispensable accessory for men and women too. Even Andersen's tin soldier in the fairy tale admired the beautiful dancer leaning against the snuff-box on the table.

Black Marble Snuff Box, Berlin, 1765

Contemporary Artists - Stanislav Plutenko Russian Painter

The contemporary Russian artist employs a mixed technique using oil, tempera, acrylic, watercolour and finishing with clear paints.
While studying at the Moscow University of National Economy, he had been taking private lessons in painting. The artist's first artworks appeared in 1984. 
plutenko.ru

Contemporary Artist Daniel Keys

The contemporary artist Daniel J. Keys started painting at the age of eleven and being entirely home educated, time was very permitting for him to develop his skill as a self taught artist. He began emulating Richard Schmid's style in his own paintings. Later Mr. Schmid has become a sort of art adviser to him.
Daniel’s work is represented by two major art galleries: Greenhouse Gallery of Fine art in San Antonio, and Gallery 1261 in Denver.
the artist's site

Autumn Still Life

Tea Still Life

Aantique Coffee Grinder with Vegetables

Merry Christmas To Everyone and Happy Holidays!!

Bartolo di Fredi, Nativity and Adoration of the Shepherds c. 1383

Hieronymus Bosch, The Adoration of the Magi

Master Francke, Adoration of the Magi 1424

HTRGZVEUF3FQ

The First Christmas Cards

People had exchanged handwritten holiday greetings. First in person. Then via post. By 1822, homemade Christmas cards had become the bane of the U.S. postal system. That year, the Superintendent of Mails in Washington, D.C., complained of the need to hire sixteen extra mailmen. Fearful of future bottlenecks, he petitioned Congress to limit the exchange of cards by post, concluding, "I don’t know what we’ll do if it keeps on."

Not only did it keep on, but with the marketing of attractive commercial cards the postal burden worsened. The first Christmas card designed for sale was by London artist John Calcott Horsley.

A respected illustrator of the day, Horsley was commissioned by Sir Henry Cole, a wealthy British businessman, who wanted a card he could proudly send to friends and professional acquaintances to wish them a "merry Christmas."

Sir Henry Cole was a prominent innovator in the 1800s. He modernized the British postal system, managed construction of the Albert Hall, arranged for the Great Exhibition in 1851, and oversaw the inauguration of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Most of all, Cole sought to "beautify life," and in his spare time he ran an art shop on Bond Street, specializing in decorative objects for the home. In the summer of 1843, he commissioned Horsley to design an impressive card for that year’s Christmas.

Winter Painting - Amazing Pencil Drawing by Guram Dolenjashvili

The Georgian painter works in a monochrome technique. He is a Meritorious Artist of Georgia and an honorary member of Russian Academy of Arts. the artist's site

Australian Painter Agnes Noyes Goodsir (1864-1939)

A Letter From the Front (Girl on couch), 1915

The Australian painter Agnes Noyes Goodsir was born in Portland, Victoria, the daughter of the Commissioner of Customs at Melbourne. She started her art education at the Bendigo School of Mines in the 1890s, and in 1899, she moved to Paris to continue her studies. From about 1912 she shuttled between London and Paris, but finally settled in Paris at 18 Rue de l'Odéon. Agnes Goodsir moved within lesbian circles in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s, her constant companion was Rachel Dunn, known as Cherry and depicted in several of her paintings, such as Girl with Cigarette 1925, The Letter 1926.

Girl with Cigarette c.1925

Her work was extremely successful and exhibited at the New Salon, the Salon des Indépendants, the Société Nationale des Beaux Arts, at the Royal Academy and the Royal Institute in London.
Her major interest was in painitng portraits and some of her sitters were Count Leo Tolstoy, Dame Eadith Walker, Dame Ellen Terry, Countess Pinci, Bertrand Russel, and, reportedly, Italian leader Benito Mussolini.
After the artist's death, Rachel Dunn sent some 40 paintings to Agnes's family in Australia and others to Australian galleries.

Watercolors by Alex Votsmush Russian Artist (3)

Watercolors by Alex Votsmush Russian Artist(1)
Watercolors by Alex Votsmush (2)

The Fourth Bridge

Setting Airplane

Seven Days in the Horse Head

Giovanni Maranghi, Contemporary Italian Artist

La Sorelle Kahlo

Giovanni Maranghi (b.1955 near Florence) received his Diploma from the “Liceo Artistico” (Art High School0. Later Maranghi enrolled in the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Florence. At the same time he attended the Academia de Belle Arti in Florence. Maranghi’s first shows date back to the mid 1970s with exhibitions in Italy, Holland, Belgium, United States, Turkey and France.
the artist's site

Amaranto

Austrian Painter Rudolf Wacker (1893 -1939)

The Window, 1931

The Austrian painter, Rudolf Wacker started his career as a graphic artist; in 1920, after spending 5 years in Russian captivity as a prisoner of war, he had lived in Berlin where he dedicated himself to Expressionism. In 1922, living in his home town Bregenz, Austria, he took a style change towards the New Objectivity. Rudolf Wacker was a founding member of the Artists' Association "The Circle." He was a close friend with other Swiss painter Adolf Dietrich, another member of the "The Circle."

Japanese Doll and daffodul, 1937

The painter was openly opposed to the cultural policies of the Nazis. He suffered a heart attack after an interrogation by the Gestapo and died soon afterwards in his parents' house in Bregenz.

Winter Landscape

British Painter William Henry Margetson (1861-1940)

The paintings of beautiful women was the major subject of the British painter William Henry Margetson. He studied at the South Kensington Schools, and then at the Royal Academy. The artist produced also illustrative work. He was married to Helen Hatton, also an artist.

The Precious Gift, watercolor

A New Day

Contemporary Art Paintings by Liu Ye

Banned Book 2, 2008

Liu Ye studied industrial design and mural painting at the Central Academy of Fine Arts before moving to Germany to pursue an MFA at the Fine Arts University in Berlin. His acrylic-and-oil canvases have been presented and extensively exhibited in China, Germany and Switzerland. In the US he is represented by Sperone Westwater, his debut took place in 2006.
In April 2010 his painting “Bright Road” was sold for $2.5 million at a Hong Kong auction, the most for a Chinese contemporary artist in two years.
According to art historian Pi Li, “Liu Ye’s work implied the arrival of a new era concerned with invidualism and the self.” (speronewestwater.com, flickr wakarimasita)

Miss, 2008

Night, 2005

Belgian Renaissance Painter Rogier van der Weyden (1400-1464)

St Luke Drawing a Portrait of the Madonna
c.1435 (Self-portrait as Saint Luke), setting is derived from the Madonna of Chancellor Rolin by Jan van Eyck, c. 1440, Boston

Rogier van der Weyden was considered one of the greatest of the Netherlandish masters of the 15th century. He was very famous during his lifetime, had a big studio full of students and followers, and was patronized by princes and dukes across Europe. The contemporaries referred to him in superlatives: 'the greatest', 'the most noble' of painters. Hans Memling, another great Early Netherlandish painter, was among his students.

Braque Family Triptych (right wing) c. 1450-52 (Louvre)

Now he is among the rarest, his famous works were mostly destroyed, about 40 works, which can be attributed to him, survived.
Not much is known about his life, there is no paintings signed by him, the artworks mentioned in the documents are barely described, so that the art historians can’t identified them for sure, but being guided solely by circumstantial evidence.

Braque Family Triptych

Fine art prints available

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Still Lifes by Contemporary Artist Hugo Grenville

the artist's site
Women in Interior by Hugo Grenville British Painter

Swedish Landscape Painter Anton Genberg (1862-1939)

Feminine and Casual - Japanese Illustrator Mayumin

Though she originally earned her B.A. from Bunka Girls University in Garment Design; after gaining a large breadth of experience from working in the fashion industry as a designer, sales promotion planner, and various other roles, she transitioned into illustration. Her works use transparency to show the lives and beauty of women, scene by scene. “I think it’s truly joyous when a picture brings to mind some beloved place or treasured memory, if only for a moment,” says MAYUMIN. That sentiment is aptly conveyed through the softness of her works. MAYUMIN resides in a home she redesigned herself, and lists her main hobby as gardening. (artas1.com, mayumin.net)

The Louvre calls for help to purchase Cranach's painting

The Three Graces by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1531

The Louvre is seeking individual donors to help buy a masterpiece of Lucas Cranach, The Three Graces.

"We have assembled three-quarters of the sum, so it should be the last effort to make this painting join the national collections," said Henri Loyrette, the director of the Louvre Museum since 2001.
Never exposed to the public, the painting remained in private collections since its creation in the sixteenth century. The small painting (24 cm x 37 cm) depicts three young naked women on a dark background. It was probably a private commission and has been kept since 1932 by the same owner in France who has put it up for sale for four million euro.
Some scholars believe The Three Graces to be an allegorical representation of Charity, Friendship and Fidelity although the title says the Three Graces.
There's another Cranach's famous representation of the same subject at Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, in Kansas City, USA.

The Three Graces by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1535, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City

"The astonishing perfection of the artwork, its rarety and remarkable state of preservation allowed to declare it the National Treasure, " says the Louvre. Mr. Loyrette is convinced also that this painting can become a sort of icon in the museum. Director of Paintings at the Louvre Vincent Pomarède says: "It is a work at the same time fun, troubling, mysterious, and extremely sensual."
This appeal to the individual donors is the first of the kind in France, but common in other countries. Thus, in 2008, the Tate Gallery was able to acquire a drawing by Rubens "The Apotheosis of James I (1628), now the English national heritage treasure. Viscount Hampden, its owner then, threatened to sell it abroad. The Tate purchased it for £5.7 million after launching a public appeal, (1 Euro = 0.8877 British pound). In 2009, the National Gallery and National Gallery of Scotland have managed to raise through public appeal £100 million for the Titian painting, Diana and Acteon (1559) acquired from the Duke of Sutherland.