Art Greeting Cards

August Macke was a German Expressionist painter and one of the leading members of the group Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider). Macke studied at the Düsseldorf Academy from 1904 to 1906. During his first trip to Paris in 1907 he was profoundly influenced by the work of the Impressionist painters. In 1909 Macke again visted Paris and on this trip discovered the work of Henri Matisse and the other Fauve artists. This convinced Macke to use brighter, less-naturalistic colours, applied in broad brushstrokes. In 1911 Macke joined Der Blaue Reiter, which had been founded by Franz Marc and Wassily Kandinsky. In 1912 Macke met the French painter Robert Delaunay, who worked in a colourful Cubistinfluenced style. Subsequently, Macke introduced a Cubist style into his own paintings.

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter known for her portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature of Mexico. Kahlo had been a promising student headed for medical school until she suffered a bus accident at the age of 18, which caused her lifelong pain and medical problems. During her recovery, she returned to her childhood interest in art. In 1927 Kahlo met fellow Mexican artist Diego Rivera. The couple married in 1929, and spent the late 1920s and early 1930s travelling in Mexico and the United States together. During this time, she developed her artistic style. In 1938 the artist André Breton arranged for Kahlo’s first solo exhibition at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York in 1938; the exhibition was a success, and was followed by another in Paris in 1939. From the exhibition The Louvre purchased a painting from Kahlo, The Frame, making her the first Mexican artist to be featured in their collection. Kahlo’s work as an artist remained relatively unknown until the late 1970s, when her work was rediscovered by art historians and political activists.

Harold Harvey was a Newlyn School painter who painted scenes of Cornish fishermen, farmers and miners and Cornish landscapes. He was born in Penzance and trained at the Penzance School of Arts and the Académie Julian in Paris. After completing his schooling in Paris, Harvey returned to Penzance and began working as an artist. In 1911, Harvey married fellow artist Gertrude Bodinnar and they settled in Newlyn. Gertrude became an artist in her own right in a wide range of visual and textile arts. Harvey never achieved his due critical acclaim. However, he was a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy from 1898-1941 and held several one-man exhibitions in London, at the Mendoza Galleries, Barbizon House and the Leicester Galleries.