In his mature works El Greco demonstrated a characteristic tendency to dramatize rather than to describe.^[2] The strong spiritual emotion transfers from painting directly to the audience. According to Pacheco, El Greco's perturbed, violent and at times seemingly careless-in-execution art was due to a studied effort to acquire a freedom of style.^[44] El Greco's preference for exceptionally tall and slender figures and elongated compositions, which served both his expressive purposes and aesthetic principles, led him to disregard the laws of nature and elongate his compositions to ever greater extents, particularly when they were destined for altarpieces.^[49] The anatomy of the human body becomes even more otherworldly in El Greco's mature works; for The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception El Greco asked to lengthen the altarpiece itself by another 1.5 feet (0.46 m) "because in this way the form will be perfect and not reduced, which is the worst thing that can happen to a figure'". A significant innovation of El Greco's mature works is the interweaving between form and space; a reciprocal relationship is developed between the two which completely unifies the painting surface. This interweaving would re-emerge three centuries later in the works of Cézanne and Picasso.^[49]

Another characteristic of El Greco's mature style is the use of light. As Jonathan Brown notes, "each figure seems to carry its own light within or reflects the light that emanates from an unseen source".^[50] Fernando Marias and Agustín Bustamante García, the scholars who transcribed El Greco's handwritten notes, connect the power that the painter gives to light with the ideas underlying Christian Neo-Platonism.

Source from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Greco#cite_note-Landon330-43

The National Gallery houses one of the finest collections of Western European paintings in the world. This selection of 20 highlights includes some of the Gallery's best-loved works. There should have been 30 highlights, but  last 10 paintings are so unfamiliar for me that I have to drop them temperarily. (All the copyrights of the pictures and words belong to the National Gallery)

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Sunflowers

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　1888

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　VAN GOGH, Vincent
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　1853 - 1890

　　　　　　　NG3863. Bought by the Trustees of the Courtauld Fund, 1924.

Bathers at Asnières

Full title: Bathers at Asnières ('Une Baignade, Asnières')

1884

SEURAT, Georges
1859 - 1891

NG3908. Bought by the Trustees of the Courtauld Fund, 1924.

The Fighting Temeraire

Full title: The Fighting Temeraire tugged to her Last Berth to be broken up, 1838

1839

TURNER, Joseph Mallord William
1775 - 1851

NG524. Turner Bequest, 1856.

Bathers at La Grenouillère

1869

MONET, Claude-Oscar
1840 - 1926

NG6456. Bequeathed by Mrs M.S. Walzer as part of the Richard and Sophie Walzer Bequest, 1979.

Venus and Mars

about 1485

BOTTICELLI, Sandro
about 1445 - 1510

NG915. Bought, 1874.

The Hay Wain

1821

CONSTABLE, John
1776 - 1837

NG1207. Presented by Henry Vaughan, 1886.

The Virgin of the Rocks

Full title: The Virgin of the Rocks (The Virgin with the Infant Saint John adoring the Infant Christ accompanied by an Angel)

about 1491-1508

LEONARDO da Vinci
1452 - 1519

NG1093. Bought, 1880.

Bathers (Les Grandes Baigneuses)

about 1894-1905

CEZANNE, Paul
1839 - 1906

NG6359. Purchased with a special grant and the aid of the Max Rayne Foundation, 1964.

The Madonna of the Pinks ('La Madonna dei Garofani')

about 1506-7

RAPHAEL
1483 - 1520

NG6596. Bought with the assistance of the Heritage Lottery Fund, The Art Fund (with a contribution from the Wolfson Foundation), the American Friends of the National Gallery, the George Beaumont Group, Sir Christopher Ondaatje and through public appeal, 2004.

The Baptism of Christ

1450s

PIERO della Francesca
about 1415/20 - 1492

NG665. Bought, 1861.

Bacchus and Ariadne

1520-3

TITIAN
Active about 1506 - 1576

NG35. Bought, 1826.

Signed on the urn, left foreground: ticianvs f. [ecit].

The Stonemason's Yard

Full title: Venice: Campo S. Vidal and Santa Maria della Carità ('The Stonemason's Yard')

1727-8

CANALETTO
1697 - 1768

NG127. Sir George Beaumont Gift, 1823; passed to the National Gallery, 1828

The Supper at Emmaus

1601

CARAVAGGIO, Michelangelo Merisi da
1571 - 1610

NG172. Presented by Lord Vernon, 1839.

Samson and Delilah

about 1609-10

RUBENS, Peter Paul
1577 - 1640

NG6461. Bought, 1980.

Whistlejacket

about 1762

STUBBS, George
1724 - 1806

NG6569. Bought with the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund, 1997

The Wilton Diptych

Full title: Richard II presented to the Virgin and Child by his Patron Saint John the Baptist and Saints Edward and Edmund ('The Wilton Diptych')

about 1395-9

ENGLISH or FRENCH (?)

NG4451. Bought with a special grant and contributions from Samuel Courtauld, Viscount Rothermere, C.T. Stoop, and The Art Fund, 1929.

The Arnolfini Portrait

Full title: Portrait of Giovanni (?) Arnolfini and his Wife ('The Arnolfini Portrait')

1434

EYCK, Jan van
Died: 1441

NG186. Bought, 1842.

Self Portrait at the Age of 34

1640

REMBRANDT
1606 - 1669

NG672. Bought, 1861.

Signed and dated bottom right: Rembrandt. f 1640; inscribed: Conterfeycel [portrait].

Seaport with the Embarkation of Saint Ursula

1641

CLAUDE
1604/5? - 1682

NG30. Bought, 1824.

The Rokeby Venus

Full title: The Toilet of Venus ('The Rokeby Venus')

1647-51

VELÁZQUEZ, Diego
1599 - 1660

NG2057. Presented by The Art Fund, 1906.

哇！好久没写这类题目的日志了~ 恍惚间时间过了一半！

最近联系过的朋友都很躁动~ 当年保研的现在在考虑要不要放弃一年的学历出国~ 当然 还有已经申请赴英实习成功的后悔当初没出国的朋友~ 去美国英国很好么？我没去过~ 反正澳洲除了空气和风景格外格外好之外 其他soso吧~ 但我真的觉得 出差旅游出国和呆一段时间的感觉是截然不同的~ 生活一个月以上才算真正到过一个地方 不然 去过也和没去一样

最近还听妈说一个同事的女娃娃 这个娃我也认识 通过学校项目去美国学计算机去了 虽说是项目 但也经历了iBT GRE这些破烂考试 可谓相当不容易 去了以后发现全班就三个中国人 小组作业美国人还不和中国人在一起 于是他们仨一起做 但除她之外其他俩都是计算机强男 她和妈妈说觉得后悔出国 觉得还不如不出来的好……

我一直觉得 人遇到一个砍 高高兴兴的走过去就是了 这是上天要提高你历练你给你的机会 也是你追求自身提高的机会  目标高是痛苦的 但在无形中自己就真的高了 目标低是幸福的 但无形中也就低了

我清楚的了解自己的幸福感 正是来源于 我总把目标调整到能力范围之内 有时候甚至达不到上限 无形中我就越来越低了 但我还是愿意安于现状 我还年轻 我还有机会去做个穷画家！

The paintings below are all collected from the exhibition of "Degas: Master of French Art" (NGA, Canberra). All these finished works (not sketches) have the similar structure as what I marked in the pictures----triangular structure, the most common and classical composition method. Also, every artist has the colour system which belongs to himself, obviously Degas's favorite colour is something like dark green, deep orange, tan and black. I found it today cuz I hung all my post cards collected from art galleries on my wall.

This picture was created in his early years, clear lines and charactors, with some of his relatives in it.

Next three are one of his favorite themes: racing. He was influenced by the modern photograghic techiques, and tried to catch up with the motive items.

The following four are also his favorite theme: dancing, still the motive things as well as racing. He made a lot of sculpture when his sight became weak in his late years.