Amedeo Modigliani was an Italian artist and sculptor. He was born on July 12, 1884, into a Jewish family at Livorno, in Tuscany. In short, he was also known as ‘Modi’ and was handsome and amorous. Today his elegant portraits and lush nudes at once evoke his name. He was greatly influenced by African art, to which many of his deformations of the human figure are due, most notably the elongation of faces. He was also interested in Cambodian sculpture. The circumstances forced Modigliani to struggle against poverty and chronic ill health, and ultimately died due to tuberculosis and excesses of drink and drugs at the age of 35. After his death, his mistress Jeanne Hebuterne killed herself the following day while carrying Modigliani’s unborn child. 

Amedeo Modigliani worked in Micheli's Art School as a very young boy. He preferred to paint indoors. The paintings of Modigliani, highly characteristic and delicate, are marked by sinuous lines, simple and flat forms. After 1915, he devoted himself entirely to painting and produced some of his best paintings. Some of his famous paintings are Reclining Nude (1919, Museum of Modern Art, New York City) and Nude on a Divan (1918, National Gallery, Washington, D.C.) etc. Modigliani began painting elongated portraits and nudes, which attracted little praise from critics. All paintings are courtesy of Art of Legend India.

Fra Angelico, an Italian painter, was born in 1395 in Vicchio, in the Tuscan province of Mugello, near Florence towards the end of the 14th century. Fra Angelico is also known as Beato Angelico, which means the "Blessed Angelic One". He was the son of wealthy parents. Fra Angelico's religious name was Fra Giovanni da Fiesole. The titles Fra Angelico and Beato Angelico came into use only after his death, as a way of honoring his religious life and work. He died in 1455 in Rome and was buried in the church of S. Maria sopra Minerva. 

Fra Angelico was originally named Guido di Pietro. He took the name Giovanni da Fiesole when he became a friar but he is well-known as Fra Angelico which means the "Angelic Friar". The most famous works of art by Fra Angelico are the Annunciation, The Madonna and Saints and the Transfiguration of Christ painting. 

In 1418, Fra Angelico began his career as an illuminator of religious books but was instructed to undertake fresco painting. From 1438 to 1445, Fra Angelico worked on frescoes (paintings done on moist plaster with water-based colors) and altarpieces for the Dominican monastery of San Marco in Florence. He specialized in pietistic demonstratively religious art. His art stands as an important link between the first and later generations of Renaissance painting in Florence.All paintings are courtesy of Art of Legend India.com.

Hieronymus Bosch was probably born in 1453 in s-Hertogenbosch, a prosperous and cultural place on the Dutch-Belgian border. He lived all his life in and near s-Hertogenbosch. He was an Early Netherlandish painter of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, who belonged to an ultra-orthodox religious community called the Brotherhood of Mary. He took to call himself Bosch apparently after his home town. Few details about his life, and perhaps not the most important, are known. It is supposed that he was the son and grandson of accomplished painters. His father’s name was Anthonius van Aken. His real name was Jeroen van Aken and his work is known for its use of fantastic imagery to illustrate moral and religious concepts and narratives. His works reveal an unusual iconography of a complex and individual style.

An exact chronology of Bosch's surviving work is difficult. The themes of his works did not differ from that of his contemporary artists. The subjects of most of his works are religious, like Heaven and Hell, saints, hermits, the Passion of Christ, sin and its punishment etc. His works as unique is the imagination and complexity of demonic figures. Demons in his works are no more grotesque beastly caricatures, but monstrous hybrids of insects, reptiles, chunks of human anatomy etc. 

In his early paintings, Bosch began to depict humanity's vulnerability to the temptation of evil, the deceptive allure of sin, the obsessive attraction of lust and obscenity. Many of his paintings are devotional, and there are several on the theme of the Passion. He is especially famous for his fantastic, demon-filled works, one of which is ‘The Temptation of St. Anthony’. His vision was serious and vast in scope. Though unique in style and imagination, he did not leave any pupils or disciples behind, but only a few imitators who at the most may have had some personal contact with him. At the time of his death, Hieronymus Bosch was internationally celebrated as an eccentric painter of religious visions, who dealt in particular with the torments of hell.All paintings are courtesy of Art of Legend India.

Hans Holbein the Younger was a famous German artist and printmaker from the 15th and 16th century. He is best known as one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century. He was called "the Younger" to distinguish him from his father, Hans Holbein the Elder. He was born in Augsburg and he was the son of a painter, Hans Holbein the Elder. He received his first artistic training from his father and made a significant contribution to the history of book design and produced religious art and satire. He painted altarpieces, portraits, murals and made designs for woodcuts.

Hans Holbein the Younger is also known as the first portrait painter to achieve the international fame. He worked mainly in Basel (Switzerland's third most populous city) as a young artist. He displayed the influence of Early Netherlandish painters in this work.All paintings are courtesy of Art of Legend India.com.

Albrecht Durer was a German printmaker, painter, mathematician and engraver. He was born on 21 May 1471, in Nuremberg, half-way between the Netherlands and Italy. His father was a successful goldsmith. Undoubtedly, Albrecht Durer was the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance. Durer did not imitate the other artists, so he was very much an innovator. He was the first non-Italian artist to associate the humanistic disciplines with the esthetic pursuits of art. The range and versatility of Durer's work is amazing. His woodcuts and engravings made him one of the popular artists across Europe and he is still considered to be the greatest printmaker of all time.

As an oil painter, Albrecht Durer was equally successful at religious and secular subjects, and he was to have a major influence on the development of European art. His drawings and watercolor paintings are impressive for their and uniqueness and diversity of subject-matters. His drawings and artworks diffused his new style, a fusion of the German realistic tradition with the Italian ideal of beauty. The picture painted by Albrecht Durer was closer to the Italian style. The Adoration of the Virgin, also known as the Feast of Rose Garlands, the Virgin and Child with the Goldfinch, Christ disputing with the Doctors etc. were produced by Albrecht Durer in Venice.All paintings are courtesy of Art of Legend India.

Georges Seurat is the ultimate example of the artist as scientist. He was born on December 2, 1859, into a wealthy family in Paris. His father, Antoine Chrysostom Seurat, was a legal official and a native of Champagne and his mother, Ernestine Faivre, was a Parisian. He was interested in keeping his private life very secret. He is best known for his new technique of painting and artwork in tiny dots of colors – this technique is known as 'pointillism'. This technique was developed by him according to rigid scientific principles. His 500 drawings alone establish Seurat as a great master artist, but he will be remembered for his technique, known as pointillism. He died at the age of 31, probably from meningitis.

Georges Seurat was a proud and intensely secretive man, but extremely shy by nature. He spent most of his time reading books or painting in the isolation of his studio. He also spent his time in studying color theories. Some of his popular works included ‘Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte’, ‘Bathing at Asniers’, ‘Young Woman Powdering Herself’ etc. His famous painting ‘Sunday Afternoon on the Island of the Grande Jatte’ was the centerpiece of an exhibition in 1886, which shows people of all different classes in a park. All paintings are courtesy of Art of Legend India.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was born on 24 November 1864 in Albi, Tarn in the Midi-Pyrenees region of France. He was also known as Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa. He was a French painter, draftsman and illustrator. He was physically weak and often fell sick. He was the child of an aristocratic family.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was the firstborn child of Comte Alphonse and Comtesse Adele de Toulouse-Lautrec. A younger brother was also born to the family on 28 August 1867, but died the following year. At the age of 10 years, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec started to draw paintigns. At the age of 12 years, he fractured his left leg and at 14 his right leg. The bones failed to heal properly. This stopped his growth and his legs ceased to grow, so that as an adult he was only 1.54 meters tall. He reached young adulthood with a body trunk of normal size but with abnormally short legs. He was often mocked for his short stature and physical appearance.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec remains respected as an original artist who overcame his disabilities to become one of the best post-impressionist artists. The style and charm of his Moulin Rouge series will remain his most loved contributions to art. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's paintings are best remembered for his series related to Moulin Rouge, but other famous works included Ambassadeurs, At the Circus, Jane Avril, May Belfort and The Medical Inspection at Rue des Moulins. He was well known for his paintings of prostitutes and courtesans. He was also a harsh and witty chronicler of the gaudy nightlife and the sordid elements of late-19th-century Parisian society. Alcoholism led to the failure of his health in 1899, and for the last few years of his life he confined his efforts to paintings. After paralysis struck, he died on Sept. 9, 1901 at Malrome.All courtesy of Art of Legend India.

Raja Ravi Varma was an Indian painter, who was born on April 29, 1848 at Kilimanoor (a small town in Kerala). He is known for his astonishing paintings, which revolve chiefly around the great Hindu epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. He was the son of Ezhumavail Neelakanthan Bhattatiripad and Umayamba Thampuratti. His father was an accomplished scholar, whereas his mother was a poet and writer. He is considered as modern among traditionalists and a rationalist among moderns.

At the age of seven, Raja Ravi Varma started paintings using charcoal. His uncle Raja Raja Varma observed his talent and gave training on painting. Recognizing the innate aptitude of their child, his parents sent him to study under the patronage of Ayilyam Thirunal Maharaja of Travancore. At the age of 14, he was taught water painting by Travancore Palace’s painter Rama Swamy Naidu and oil paintings by Theodor Jenson, a British painter. Raja Ravi Varma breathed his last on October 2, 1906.

Due to immense contribution of Raja Ravi Varma towards Indian art, the Government of Kerala established an award with his name known as ‘Raja Ravi Varma Award’. This award is given to individuals who made valuable contribution in the field of art and culture. A college is also established in the honor of Raja Ravi Varma in Mavelikara district of Kerala. 

Most of Raja Ravi Varma's paintings are based on Hindu epic stories and characters. His paintings depict the scenes, characters, events from Hindu epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. Lord Krishna as an Ambassador, Lord Rama Conquering Varuna, Shakuntala composing a Love Letter to King Dushyanta, Damayanti talking to a swan etc. are some of his renowned paintings. His unique Indian style has later influenced artists and designers worldwide. Raja Ravi Varma received international recognition in 1873, when he won the first prize for his paintings at the Vienna Art Exhibition. He became a world celebrated Indian painter after winning in 1873 Vienna Exhibition.All paintings are courtesy of Art of Legend India.

Jamini Roy was one of the most significant and leading Indian painters of the 20th century. He was born in Bengal in 1887 into a middle-class family of a land-owner. He spent most of his life living and working in Calcutta (now Kolkata). His father, Ramataran Roy was a middle class man who resigned government service to pursue his interest in art. In 1903, at the age of sixteen, Jamini Roy came to Kolkata and studied at the Government School of Art. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1955, and he died in 1972 in Kolkata.

His simplicity and naturalness are reflected through his work. For his paintings, Jamini Roy selected his themes from everyday rural life, religious themes like the Ramayana, Radha and Krishna, Jesus Christ etc. Apart from these, he also painted scenes from the lives of the aboriginal Santhals, such as Santhals engaged in drum-beating, Santhal mother and child, Dancing Santhals etc. Some of his paintings such as Krishna and Radha Dancing, Santhal Boy with Drum, Virgin And Child etc. are popular paintings. 

Jamini Roy developed a personal painting style inspired largely by traditional Indian folk and village arts. Through his paintings he gave expression to the scenes of everyday life of the people of rural Bengal. His paintings have been exhibited in the international exhibitions and can be found in many private and public collections such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.All paintings are courtesy of Art of Legend India.