Engine Maintenance

Eero Järnefelt (1863–1937) Under the Yoke (Burning the Brushwood), 1893, Oil on canvas, 164 x 131 cm, Ateneum, Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki . . Erik Eero Nikolai Järnefelt was a Finnish painter and art professor. He is best known for his portraits and landscapes of the area around Koli National Park. He was a medal winner at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1889 and 1900, and he taught art at the University of Helsinki and was chairman of the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts.'Under the Yoke (Burning the Brushwood)' is Jarnefelt's most famous work. It was was painted in Lapinlahti, Northern Savo, Finland where the Jarnefelts spent the summer of 1893 at the Rannan Puurula farmhouse. The tradition of burn-beating was still practiced in the area then, and the artist drew sketches of the land and took photographs of the men and women at work during the summer. The model for the main character in the painting was Johanna Kokkonen, a 14 year-old maid of the household. Jarnefelt has blackened the girl's face with soot, added a surrounding halo of smoke and painted such reproach in her eyes as to appeal to the viewer's heart on behalf of these heavily burdened people. (Finnish National Gallery)

Johann Christian Dahl (1788–1857) View of Dresden by Moonlight, 1839, oil on canvas, 78 x 130 cm, Albertinum - Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden, Germany. . Johann Christian Dahl was a Norwegian-born artist who spent a large part of his life in Germany – Dresden, in particular – where he befriended the well-renowned painter Caspar David Friedrich. Friedrich, fourteen years Dahl's senior, influenced the latter's art, although differences still remained.Dahl embraced moonlight as a motif to convey serenity and peace in some of his most iconic paintings. 'View of Dresden by Moonlight' depicts a nighttime city scene, with the glossy and shimmering Elbe River and a largely overcast sky dominating much of the composition. In the background, we can see the Augustus Bridge and the silhouette of the Baroque Dresden Frauenkirche dome. The moon, piercing through the clouds, offers a fairytale glow to the whole view.There are carriages and people on the bridge, small fires lit on boats, women doing laundry and men tending their horses. The woman in the foreground, looking at the river in front of her, has a small dog as companion. The serene beauty of the night acts like the common thread bringing together all these different elements. Awash in moonlight, Dresden appears truly magical and comforting.

Peder Severin Krøyer (1851–1909) Summer Day on Skagen's Southern Shore, 1884, oil on canvas, 154.5 x 212.5 cm, Den Hirschsprungske Samling, Copenhagen . . Peder Severin Krøyer's atmospheric paintings were partly inspired by the aesthetics of Japanese art, including that of Japanese woodblock prints. For many artists at the time, the Japanese woodblock prints represented something authentic and unspoiled. Japanese woodblock prints had a significant influence on the development of modern painting in the West.He painted many beach scenes featuring both recreation life on the beach (bathers, strollers), and local fishermen.Krøyer often emphasized the special effects of the Skagen light in these works including present one which depicts boys having fun in the water while a little girl watching them from a distance on the beach.

F***y Churberg (1845 - 1892) Winter Landscape, Evening Atmosphere, 1880, oil on canvas, 73,5 × 105 cm, Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki F***y Churberg was a Finnish painter and one of the great masters of her time. She is generally considered by art historians as one of the greatest masters of landscape painting. In terms of talent and technique, she is on a scale with the most renowned painters of all time in that genre. She is relatively unknown as she only exhibited her work in Finland.The present painting, Winter Landscape, Evening Atmosphere is one of the last scenes F***y Churberg ever painted. The impact of the angry sky is breathtaking as Churberg packs emotion into that sunset.The snow on the vast Finnish countryside had fallen the day before, so the wind had a chance to sweep the ice clear. She perfectly captured the way snow looks when it's had a chance to melt a bit and mold itself to the shrubs and grasses.The winter-barren land reflects the tint of the sky, but the despite the transitory warmth of that rosy light, the world is frozen, shrouded in ice.Above it all, the sky tells us the day was a brief respite. Dark clouds gather, looming and waiting for their chance to enshroud the world in new snow. (Finnish National Gallery)

Albert Bierstadt (1830–1902) Sierra Nevada Morning, 1870, oil on canvas, 134.6 × 211.1 cm, Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahama . . Like his well-traveled compatriots Frederic E. Church (1826-1900) and Thomas Moran (1837-1926), Albert Bierstadt was inspired by the scientific and territorial expansions of his day, and intrigued by their investigative mechanisms. First-hand observation was the foundation, but studio re-creativity was the nexus of Bierstadt's methodology as an artist. It was in the studio where Bierstadt allowed sentiment, in the nineteenth-century sense of the word, to pervade his work. Bierstadt probably painted 'Sierra Nevada Morning' in his Rome studio. Bierstadt's depictions of the Northeast and his majestic paintings of the American West manifest the profound veneration and wonder that he maintained for nature. His idealized interpretations of the western landscape brought to life the image of the fabled frontier for many who would never travel there.In summarizing Bierstadt's achievement, Gordon Hendricks wrote that “his successes envelop us with the beauty of nature, its sunlight, its greenness, its mist, its subtle shades, its marvelous freshness. All of these Bierstadt felt deeply. Often he was able, with the struggle that every artist knows, to put his feelings on canvas. When he succeeded in what he was trying to do…he was as good as any landscapist in the history of American art.”

John Martin (1789-1854) The Destruction of Tyre, 1840, oil on canvas, 83,8 x 109,5 cm, Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio ..Teetering between the supernatural and the sensational, John Martin's apocalyptic scene embodies the concept of sublime terror. The idea of the Sublime, popular in art and literature from the late 1700s to the mid–1800s, was often expressed by awe- or fear-inspiring images of nature, Gothic supernatural horrors, or divine retribution. Martin paints a lurid vision of the Old Testament account of Ezekiel's prophecy warning of the destruction of the city of Tyre. Towers and buildings topple as waves pound them; lightning strikes; ships sink; and a lone, richly dressed woman in an ornate boat raises her arms to the sky in terror and lamentation. A wealthy seaport on the coast of Lebanon, Tyre is described in Ezekiel 26 as bringing the vengeance of God upon itself for turning against Jerusalem. The city was destroyed not by catastrophic storms, but by the armies of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. Verse 19, however, provided Martin with his inspiration when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and the great waters shall cover thee...

Johann Christian Dahl (1788–1857) View of Dresden by Moonlight, 1839, oil on canvas, 78 x 130 cm, Albertinum - Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden..Johann Christian Dahl was a Norwegian-born artist who spent a large part of his life in Germany – Dresden, in particular – where he befriended the well-renowned painter Caspar David Friedrich. Friedrich, fourteen years Dahl's senior, influenced the latter's art, although differences still remained.Dahl embraced moonlight as a motif to convey serenity and peace in some of his most iconic paintings. 'View of Dresden by Moonlight' depicts a nighttime city scene, with the glossy and shimmering Elbe River and a largely overcast sky dominating much of the composition. In the background, we can see the Augustus Bridge and the silhouette of the Baroque Dresden Frauenkirche dome. The moon, piercing through the clouds, offers a fairytale glow to the whole view.There are carriages and people on the bridge, small fires lit on boats, women doing laundry and men tending their horses. The woman in the foreground, looking at the river in front of her, has a small dog as companion. The serene beauty of the night acts like the common thread bringing together all these different elements. Awash in moonlight, Dresden appears truly magical and comforting.

Victor Gabriel Gilbert (1847-1933) The Lower Market, Paris, 1881, oil on canvas, 78.7 x 121.3 cm. .. Victor Gilbert was considered the foremost painter of the place du marché during the final decades of the 19th Century. By the middle of the century there was a proliferation of daily markets throughout the French capital which were needed to both feed the growing city and cater to the whims of the growing middle and upper classes. Fresh fruits, vegetables and especially flowers flowed daily into Paris to please the tastes of its inhabitants.Victor Gabriel Gilbert's 'The Lower Market, Paris' captures all the hustle and bustle of one of the flower markets that sprang up across the city daily. Here the artist has adroitly illustrated the various strata of Parisian society who gathered to sell and to purchase fresh flowers. Local peasants have neatly arranged bright bouquets wrapped carefully in white paper to set off their brilliant colors. A group of elegant ladies chat in the center of the composition, oblivious to the attention of the handsome soldier and gentleman who look on. To the left, a peasant carts away a wheelbarrow full of blossoms, all against a background dense with the denizens of the city and framed by the elegant architecture of Paris.Gilbert's vibrant image is enhanced by his virtuoso technique, his realistic sense of detail and close observation of nature. In this painting, Gilbert weaves a dense tapestry of the vibrant life of Paris in the Belle Epoque and brings the viewer into a time gone by, where the fragrance of the flowers still lingers. Paris, France

Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890) Bedroom in Arles, (First version), October 1888, Oil on canvas, 72 x 90 cm (28.3 in × 35.4 in), Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. . Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890) Bedroom in Arles, (Second version), September 1889. Oil on canvas, 72 x 90 cm, Art Institute of Chicago. . Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890) Bedroom in Arles (third version), September-October 1889, Oil on canvas, 57.5 x 74 cm, Musée d'Orsay, Paris. . 'Bedroom in Arles' depicts Van Gogh's bedroom at 2, Place Lamartine in Arles, France, known as the Yellow House. The window in the front wall looked on to Place Lamartine and its public gardens. There are three distinct versions of this composition.Van Gogh started painting his first 'Bedroom' just after moving into his beloved “Yellow House” during mid October 1888, and explained his aims and means to his brother Theo.. This time it simply reproduces my bedroom; but color must be abundant in this part, its simplification adding a rank of grandee to the style applied to the objects, getting to suggest a certain rest or dream. Well, I have thought that on watching the composition we stop thinking and imagining. I have painted the walls pale violet. The ground with checked material. The wooden bed and the chairs, yellow like fresh butter; the sheet and the pillows, lemon light green. The bedspread, scarlet coloured. The window, green. The washbasin, orangey; the tank, blue. The doors, lilac. And, that is all. There is not anything else in this room with closed shutters. The square pieces of furniture must express unswerving rest; also the portraits on the wall, the mirror, the bottle, and some costumes. The white colour has not been applied to the picture, so its frame will be white, aimed to get me even with the compulsory rest recommended for me. I have depicted no type of shade or shadow; I have only applied simple plain colours, like those in crêpes. Van Gogh included sketches of the composition in this letter as well as in a letter to Gauguin, written slightly later.This version has on the wall to the right miniatures of van Gogh's portraits of his friends Eugène Boch and Paul-Eugène Milliet.

Victor Gabriel Gilbert (1847-1933) Le Marché Parisien, 1885, oil on canvas, 62 x 100.5 cm. . The enormous meat and produce market in north-central Paris, Les Halles, was a frequent subject for Gilbert, and it also served as the backdrop for Emile Zola's 'Le ventre de Paris' (1873).In the present work, a soft afternoon light beaming through skylights brightens a corner of this small indoor market, illuminating the various wares. On full display are Gilbert's skills as a master of still life. With a meticulous attention to detail, he expertly renders every detail from a glass pitcher, to straw baskets, to the poultry and game in the stalls, and even to the customer's hat being finely fashioned with blooms from the flower stand.Gilbert likely included this work at the 1885 Paris Salon, as a contemporary journal describes his market scene in which the customers have all left and the merchants are left to take a break. The butchers have turned over their stall in order to make a game table and play the card game piquet. A little further, a spirited young woman and her fellow market tenants play a game of palets, a drinking cap game, with a wager likely made on the poultry pieces, game, leg of lamb and vegetables that Gilbert has been so careful to paint. (Sotheby's) Paris, France

Victor Gabriel Gilbert (1847-1933) A Paris Market at Night (Fruit Vendors), 1915, gouache on paper, 37 x 52 cm. .. Victor Gilbert was considered the foremost painter of the place du marché during the final decades of the 19th Century and the early 20th Century. By the middle of the 19th century there was a proliferation of daily markets throughout the French capital which were needed to both feed the growing city and cater to the whims of the growing middle and upper classes. Fresh fruits, vegetables and especially flowers flowed daily into Paris to please the tastes of its inhabitants.In this painting here Gilbert depicts again one of his favourite themes a Paris Market, however, rather rare for his oeuvre, he renders the scene as a nocturne. Paris, France

Marie-François Firmin-Girard (1838-1921) Market, Charlieu, oil on canvas, 72.5 x 101.5 cm, Private collection . . Firmin-Girard drew his inspiration from the fashionable themes so admired by the haute Bourgeoisie; gentility. His canvases display his technical competence and facility with historical and genre subjects, as well as portraits, landscapes, and particularly flower paintings. The Market, Charlieu is a fine example of the artist's work, and reveals an accomplished use of both perspective and colour.Charlieu is a small town in the Loire Valley, France. It was the home town of the artist's wife, Sabine.