Figurative
Celebrating the human form and presence, our figurative collection invites you into intimate portrayals of character, mood, and narrative. These works transcend realism, offering timeless reflections on the body, identity, and the human condition.
-
Juliet (1898)
John William Waterhouse’s 1898 painting “Juliet” portrays the innocence and melancholy of Shakespeare’s heroine.
-
The Soul of the Rose (1908)
“The Soul of the Rose” is an oil painting created by John William Waterhouse in 1908. It portrays a red-haired woman deeply inhaling the scent of a rose in a garden. The inspiration for the painting comes from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem “Maud,” specifically the line “And the soul of the rose went into my […]
-
Woman with a Parasol – Madame Monet and Her Son: A Whisper of Wind in Oil
Monet’s Woman with a Parasol immortalizes his wife Camille and son in a sunlit embrace, where swirling brushstrokes blend maternal warmth with the whisper of fleeting time
-
Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May: Waterhouse’s Vanitas for the Edwardian Age
John William Waterhouse’s 1908 masterpiece Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May (118x157cm, oil on canvas) reimagines Robert Herrick’s 17th-century poem To the Virgins through an Edwardian lens.
-
Self-Portrait at the Dressing Table: Zinaida Serebriakova’s Timeless Ode to Feminine Grace
At the dressing table, Serebriakova reflects not beauty alone, but a self defined with clarity.
-
Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau) (1884)
How a Little Black Dress Scandalized Paris?Dubbed the “American Mona Lisa,” the painting’s stark contrast of pale skin against dark velvet symbolizes both aristocratic allure and societal rebellion.
-
Garden for Solitary Enjoyment, the spiritual home of scholars
Garden of Solitary Enjoyment refers to a site built in 1073 by the statesman Sima Guang (1019–1086) after he had retired to Luoyang, Henan province. Every spring, visitors would flock to his garden.
-
Spring Festival Auspicious Scroll：Frozen Festivities in Ink
scholars in sable cluster around wine warmers while linen-clad servants stand frozen, unlit firecrackers dangling like Damocles’ sword. Hailed as “a pathological specimen of Ming genre painting.”
-
Xia’ao Yanxia – Harmony with Nature and Inner Freedom
Artwork integrates landscapes and figures to express his profound contemplation of nature, reclusive living, and artistic philosophy.