Houses of Parliament, London, Sun Breaking Through the Fog, 1904 by Claude Monet, Musee d'Orsay,Paris.
Monet, like Turner recorded the London Parliament buildings but his was a study of the same building at different times of the day.
Influence from Afar
Chinese Wallpaper design, 18th century, Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Chinese produced wallpapers that were made for export, primarily to Europe in the 18th century as part of the movement known as Chinoiserie, in which Chinese porcelains, and in this case wallpaper, were collected and displayed. They were beautiful objects in themselves, but also prized because they were expensive and difficult to obtain.
Discovered on Pinterest
Marguerite Kelsey by Meredith Frampton, 1928, Tate, London.
Meredith Frampton was the son of a sculptor who created very detailed and finely finished paintings of a very modern style for the early 20th century. Some of his work, even veers toward the surreal in style. Frampton used a model for this work and dressed her in the latest austere fashions from Paris, making the work all the more modern in tone.
Comments on the Walls
Both of these graffiti pieces have been attributed to the artist known as "Banksy" his work had been absent from London for a while, but it is thought that he has returned in order to make some statements about the Olympics which begin in London next week.
Hidden Meanings
Hans Holbein the Younger was born in Germany but spent most of his career in England as the court painter to Henry VIII. His work was strongly influenced by the Northern Renaissance painters like Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Wyden. Their realistic style rendered in bright jewel tones, was his style, as well. This portrait of two men thought to be ambassadors to the English court from France, is filled with hints and puzzles about the men's lives, and even a message for we viewers. On the bottom of the piece in the center, you see a skull painted in Anamorphic perspective. It is seen only from particular angles and is thought be placed there to remind us all of our mortality.
Wildlife at Home
In My Orchard, a wallpaper design by C.F.A. Voysey, 1929, Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Another wallpaper design by Voysey, who actually claimed to prefer bare wooden walls to walls covered in paper, certainly did a lot of designs for wallpapers and even had them in his own home, which was called The Orchard.
More Strawberries
Wallpaper design with Strawberries by C.F.A. Voysey, Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
This is another Victorian design for wallpaper by the architect and designer Charles Voysey. His work was influenced by William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement in Britain, and also by the Art Nouveau movement. World War I interfered with his commissions for building homes and decorating them, but in 1931, a retrospective of his work held at the Batsford Gallery, brought recognition for his work.