Masterworks of Art Educational Posters
for the visual arts and social studies classroom, and home schoolers.

The educational art history poster series of “MASTERWORKS OF ART” educational art history poster series with masterpiece reproductions and biographies of Leonardo da Vinci, Edgar Degas, Winslow Homer, Frieda Kahlo, Jacob Lawrence, Henri Matisse, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Henri Rousseau, Gilbert Stuart, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Vincent Van Gogh, Rembrandt van Rijn and Johannas Vermeer .

Ginevra De’ Benci
Leonardo da Vinci -
b. 4-15-1452; Italy
d. 5-2-1519

About the Artist: Leonardo da Vinci many have been one of the greatest geniuses who ever lived. Not only was he a fine painter, he was also skilled at science, music, mathematics, architecture, and many other fields. Leonardo lived in Italy from 1452 to 1519, during the Renaissance – a time of great discovery in the arts and sciences in Europe. Years ahead of his time, Leonardo sketched plans for flying machines, a machine gun, and even a helicopter. Because of his many achievements, Leonardo has come to be the main symbol of the Italian Renaissance. Leonardo's most famous painting is the "Mona Lisa" a picture of a dark-haired young woman with a very mysterious smile.

About the Portrait:
This painting, a portrait of a young woman named Ginevra De' Benci, one of Leonardo's earliest paintings, is less well known the the "Mona Lisa." The name Ginevra means "juniper". That is why Leonardo painted the spiky dark leaves of a juniper tree behind her. There is a mystery about this painting. Experts think its strange square shape may mean that the bottom of the painting was cut off. They think there may once have been a bottom strip that shaowed Ginevra's hands and more of her dress. Perhaps Leonardo didn't like that part and cut it off himself. No one will ever know for sure.

• more Leonardo da Vinci posters

Masterworks of Art -
Edgar Degas -
The Dance Examination
Wall Poster
b. 7-19-1834; France
d. 9-27-1917

available at-
AllPosters.com
Art.com

• more dance posters
• more Impressionists posters

Masterworks of Art -
Winslow Homer -
Snap the Whip Wall Poster
b. 2-24-1836; Boston, MA
d. 9-29-1910; Maine

available at-
Art.com
AllPosters.com

• more Winslow Homer posters

Masterworks of Art -
Frieda Kahlo -
Frieda and Diego Rivera
Wall Poster
b. 7-6-1907; Mexico
d. 7-13-1954

available at-
Art.com
AllPosters.com

• more Frieda Kahlo posters
• Mexico posters

Masterworks of Art -
Jacob Lawrence -
Parade Wall Poster
b. 9-17-1917; Atlantic City, NJ
d. 6-9-2000; Seattle, WA

available at-
AllPosters.com

• more Jacob Lawrence posters
• more Black History posters

Masterworks of Art -
Claude Monet -
Water Garden at Giverny
Wall Poster
b. 11-14-1840, Paris
d. 12-5-1926, Giverny

available at-
Art.com
AllPosters.com

• more Claude Monet posters

Masterworks of Art -
Pablo Picasso -
The Lovers Wall Poster
b. 10-25-1881; Málaga, Spain
d. 4-8-1973; France

available at-
AllPosters.com
Art.com

• more Pablo Picasso posters

Masterworks of Art -
Henri Rousseau -
Exotic Landscape Wall Poster
b. 5-21-1844; France
d. 9-2-1910; Paris

available at-
Art.com
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Masterworks of Art -
The Skater Wall Poster
Gilbert Stuart -
b. 12-3-1755; Rhode Island
d. 7-9-1828; Boston

available at-
Art.com
AllPosters.com

• George Washington Portraits
• winter posters

Poster text: At the Moulin Rouge' is one of about 30 of Toulouse-Lautrec's illustrations of the famous Paris music hall. In the painting you can see Toulouse-Lautrec seated in the backgroung among his friends.

Few artists were more independent than Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. He kept abreast of all that was new in art, yet he followed no trends. Today, his name is synonymous with brightly colored posters and paintings of the “Belle Epoque” — the exciting whirl of social life that brought the 19th century in Europe to a close. Surrounded by costumed dancers, socialites, and the steamy night life of Paris, Lautrec observed all with an absolutely steady and dispassionate eye.

Lautrec was born in Albi in 1864 to parents of French nobility. At age nine he moved with his family to Paris, where he began his studies and showed an early talent for drawing. At age 14, he broke both thighs and contracted a bone disease that stunted his growth and left him permanently crippled. As an adult, his physical deformity and his love of flashy clothes made him an oddly striking figure. Lautrec was especially drawn to Montmartre, an ill-famed Paris district lined with bars, cafes, dance-halls, and theaters — a pleasure-seeker’s haven. He often used garish colors and grotesque exaggerations to convey the qualities of artifice and excitement that he saw in this atmosphere.

Line — not light or color — was the vehicle of Lautrec’s artistic genius. He could capture, in a few quick strokes of the pen or brush, the movement and atmosphere of an entire scene. A good example is his poster Jane Avril at the Jardin de Paris, produced in 1893. This uncluttered, linear style showed the strong influence of Japanese art. He diluted his oil paint strongly with turpentine, giving a pure, bright sheen to his colors. These paints applied in broad, sweeping strokes often allowed the buff color of his canvas or poster board to show through.

In later life, Lautrec’s sociable personality changed. He drank to excess and was repeatedly hospitalized for delirium brought on by alcoholism. He died in 1901 of an illness related to his alcoholism.
• more dance posters
• more Art of Posters

Masterworks of Art -
Vincent Van Gogh -
Farmhouse in Provence
Wall Poster
b. 3-30-1853; The Netherlands
d. 7-29-1890: France

available at-
Art.com
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• more Vincent VanGogh posters
• more France posters

Masterworks of Art -
Rembrandt van Rijn -
The Mill Wall Poster
b. 7-15-1606/7; The Netherlands
d. 10-4-1669

available at-
Art.com
AllPosters.com

Masterworks of Art -
Johannas Vermeer -
Young Woman with a Water Jug Wall Poster
b. 10-31-1632; The Netherlands
d. buried 12-15-1675

available at-
Art.com
AllPosters.com