Frans Hals the Elder (1582 – 26 August 1666) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, normally of portraits, who lived and worked in Haarlem. Hals played an important role in the evolution of 17th-century group portraiture. He is known for his loose painterly brushwork. Biography Hals was born...
Vincent Willem van Gogh (Dutch: [ˈvɪnsənt ˈʋɪləm vɑŋ ˈɣɔx] (About this soundlisten); 30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890) was a Dutch post-impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In a decade, he...
Johannes Vermeer ( October 1632 – December 1675) was a Dutch Baroque Period painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle class life. During his lifetime, he was a moderately successful provincial genre painter, recognized in Delft and The Hague. Nonetheless, he produced relatively...
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (/ˈrɛmbrɑːnt/, also /-brænt/, Dutch: [ˈrɛmbrɑnt ˈɦɑrmə(n)soːn vɑn ˈrɛin] (About this soundlisten); 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669) was a Dutch draughtsman, painter, and printmaker. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally considered one of the greatest...
Humans believe in so many lies that even the smallest thing becomes a big demon that makes us suffer. Usually it’s just a judgment, and mainly it’s a self-judgment: “Poor me. Look what happened to me when I was nine years old. Look what happened...
Everyone admits how praiseworthy it is in a prince to keep faith, and to live with integrity and not with craft. Nevertheless our experience has been that those princes who have done great things have held good faith of little account, and have known how...
.The body and its parts are a river, the soul a dream and mist, life is warfare and a journey far from home, lasting reputation is oblivion. Then what can guide us? Only philosophy. Which means making sure that the power within stays safe and free from assault, superior to pleasure...
That we are living an insane life is not just a comparison or exaggeration, but the plainest statement of a fact. Recently I happened to visit two large establishments for the mentally deranged, and the impression I received was that I saw establishments built by mentally...
It is not easy to find one’s calling in life. Although some know what they want to do from an early age, for most, it takes many years to find their path. Whenever I am asked about finding one’s calling, I offer the following advice. First, one of the...
It happened once: A Zen master lived in a cottage on a faraway hill, many miles away from the town. One fullmoon night a thief entered. The master became very worried because there was nothing that could be stolen except one blanket, and he was wearing...
