A number of vessels are gently run aground in an inlet on a sandy shore, & in the background other vessels are at anchor. Men can be seen walking on the sandbanks. This work is probably a production of the van de Velde studio, & only partly by Willem v ...

On the left is a 'kaag' (a Dutch vessel with a straight raking stem & clincker-built) with a Dutch vane. On the right is a small sprit-rigged vessel, probably a 'weyschuit'. A ship in the background flies the flag of vice-admiral of a fleet, & a plain red ensign. This seascape is probably a studio work painted after an original of the late 1650s by Willem van de Velde the Younger. ...

The sitter is Lucas Fayd'herbe (1617
- 1697), a noted sculptor & architect who was one of Rubens's last pupils. He worked principally
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Monet spent most of the 1870s in the town of Argenteuil, which is on the Seine just to the north-west of Paris. During this period, leisure activities such as boating made the town increasingly popular with day-trippers from the capital. The exceptionally snowy winter of 1874-5 inspired Monet to paint 18 views of Argenteuil under the snow. Many of them, like this work, focus on the boulevard Saint-Denis where Monet was living. The scene shows the boulevard running towards the Seine, looking away from the railway station. It is a relatively large work, which sacrifices details in favour of atmosphere. Its predominantly monochrome palette of blues & greys conveys to perfection the bleakness of an overcast winter's afternoon. ...

Duyster's treatment of the subject is meant to be satirical. These soldiers, who are fighting over the distribution of booty, are dressed in elaborate finery entirely unsuited to the battle field. Willem Duyster was a painter from Amsterdam who specialised in small-scale portraits & genre paintings. Duyster is an adopted surname, a pun on the name of his house ' De Duystere Wereld' (the dark world). ...

In 1871 Corot left Paris & the upheaval of Commune life to stay with his biographer & friend Alfred Robaut at Douai in north-east France. This is a view of the marshy landscape around Douai. Four other pictures that Corot started on this trip to the Artois are in the National Gallery: ' The Marsh at Arleux', 'A Wagon in the Plains of Artois', ' The Oak in the Valley' & ' Landscape at Arleux-du-Nord'. The present sketch is a copy after a nature study by Alfred Robaut painted in May 1871. It is a close copy except for the cottage which is a detail added by Corot. ...

This picture was formerly attributed to the school of Nicolaes Maes. It has certain similarities with his portraiture but is not by Maes & may not even be Dutch. Instead, it could be the work of a south German or Polish artist working in the Netherlands ...

This series of four small paintings on copper shows the seasons
- Spring, Summer, Autumn & Winter. ' Spring' is a gardener carrying
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The Emperor Theodosius (about 346
- 395)
- in armour & a laurel wreath
- is prevented from entering Milan Cathedral by Saint


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This view shows St Paul's Cathedral in the distance, left of centre. The vantage point of the artist was on the south, or Surrey side of the river Thames, between Waterloo Bridge & Blackfriars Bridge. Daubigny first visited London in 1866, returning in 1870-71 to escape the Franco-Prussian war. This painting, dated 1873, was either begun on the spot & finished in the studio, or was worked up from sketches made from the river during this visit. ...