Alphonse Osbert - A Poetic Visual Language

Alphonse Osbert - The Muse at Sunrise - 1918 - Oil on wood - Private collection (click photo for larger image)Alphonse Osbert (1857–1939) was a French Symbolist painter who was educated at the École des Beaux Arts. Although he was initially an admirer of the great Spanish masters—his style moved away from the academic when he became inspired by the Post-Impressionists and other Symbolists, such as Pierre Puvis de Chavannes.

Osbert abandoned naturalistic painting and took up a Pointillist technique similar to that used by Georges Seurat and Paul Signac. He developed a signature style characterized by unearthly light, and ghostlike muses in mysterious landscapes.

Theo van Rysselberghe: Belgian Pointillism

Theo van Rysselberghe - Madame Theo van Rysselberghe - Oil on canvas - Height: 65 cm (25.59 in.), Width: 54 cm (21.26 in.) - Private Collection (click photo for larger image)Belgian Pointillist painter Theo van Rysselberghe (1862-1926) was a major figure in turn-of-the century (20th) European art. He was among the leaders of a large rank of artists who adhered to the principle of Neo-Impressionism, which reacted against the empirical realism of French Impressionism. The Neo-Impressionists relied on systematic calculation and scientific theory to achieve predetermined visual effects.