The painting shown in Figure 1, Vincent Van Gogh's The Starry Night, is a landscape, if a peculiar one. The scene is reputed to be the one Van Gogh saw from a sanitarium in Southern France, but the nighttime scene was painted during the day from memory. The painting has odd flourishes in its use of paint, swirling stars, and striking use of color, which are all hallmarks of Van Gogh's style.

Figure 1: The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh (1889)

Figure 2: Portrait of Père Tanguy by Vincent van Gogh (1887-8)

Jacques-Louis David's Napoleon Crossing the Alps (1801) shows the newly minted Emperor of France crossing into Austria to give battle to his enemies. While using classical motifs, the equestrian portrait shows, in the Emperor's uniform, positioning, and look, a Revolutionary man standing in the place of great generals of the past. David, a noted artist of history paintings, grants Napoleon a historical position from the outset of his campaigns.

Figure 3: Napoleon Crossing the Alps by Jaques-Louis David (1801)

Figure 4: Portrait of Sir Arthur Wellesley, First Duke of Wellington by Sir Thomas Lawrence (1814)

Fitting for an official portrait of the country's greatest military hero, Sir Thomas Lawrence's portrait of General Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, portrays him in a serious, uncompromising position. His serious demeanor is paired with his stiff pose, showing his arms crossed in front of him. In this portrait, Wellington is presented simply in front of a plain background, with little but his uniform to accent his own image and pose.

Figure 3: Napoleon Crossing the Alps by Jaques-Louis David (1801)

Figure 4: Portrait of Sir Arthur Wellesley, First Duke of Wellington by Sir Thomas Lawrence (1814)

Jacques-Louis David's portrait of Napoleon Crossing the Alps makes the Frenchman an energetic figure, in motion and ready to lead his troops into battle. David is able to portray the French emperor as the trans-historical and trans-national warrior. By contrast, Sir Thomas Lawrence's portrait of the Duke of Wellington presents a serene figure, but no less serious in his purpose as a general.

Figure 3: Napoleon Crossing the Alps by Jaques-Louis David (1801)

Figure 4: Portrait of Sir Arthur Wellesley, First Duke of Wellington by Sir Thomas Lawrence (1814)

Each of these paintings are portraits of singular individuals, with little focus on other aspects, and use a heightened contrast of color to highlight the figures that are the main subjects of each painting. Jacques-Louis David's portrait of Napoleon has him in bold colors on a white horse, set against blue-gray backgrounds of storm clouds and mountains. Sir Thomas Lawrence's painting of Wellington places the Duke and his bright red uniform against a dark background, placing all focus on the Duke himself.

Figure 3: Napoleon Crossing the Alps by Jaques-Louis David (1801)

Figure 4: Portrait of Sir Arthur Wellesley, First Duke of Wellington by Sir Thomas Lawrence (1814)

It is widely known that in The Meeting, Gustave Courbet painted himself, his art dealer Alfred Buyas, and Buyas' servant Calas, largely because of how accurate Courbet's depictions were. Even without the background knowledge, many things indicate the status of Calas. His clothes are shabbier than his companion's, and he defers to the figure in the middle with his head bowed.

While this painting is a still life, portraying a bowl of fruit, Paul Cezanne overturns the notion of what a still life is by displaying an element of movement. The messy fold in the towel on the table and the spilled fruit indicate something has upset the bowl. Cezanne would later take other approaches to redefining still life painting by incorporating objects such as skulls.

John Singer Sargent was an American-born painter who sought artistic success in late-nineteenth-century Paris. This painting, Portrait of Madame X, was presented at the 1884 Salon de Paris, the French art world's most important exhibition for new art to be judged. There, it caused a scandal thanks to the way it portrayed its subject and the fact that Sargent's attempt to keep the subject anonymous failed.

Image: Portrait of Madame X by John Singer Sargent (1883-4)

In its first showing at the Paris Salon of 1884, John Singer Sargent called this painting Portrait de Mme *** to keep its subject anonymous, but she was easily recognizable as a Paris socialite with a scandalous life. Responding to certain criticisms, Sargent would later raise the shoulder strap on his subject's dress and call it Portrait of Madame X. The scandalous nature of the work, and Sargent seeing it as representative of his style, caused him to never work seriously as a painter in France again.

Image: Portrait of Madame X by John Singer Sargent (1883-4)

John Singer Sargent, an American artist struggling to have a career in Paris, requested to paint Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau for the Paris Salon of 1884, rather than being commissioned for a portrait. Virginie was married to the wealthy banker Pierre Gautreau and was a well known socialite in Paris, despite having been born in New Orleans. Madame Gautreau was so well-known in Parisian society that Sargent's attempt to make the portrait anonymous did not work, causing a scandal when it was displayed.

Image: Portrait of Madame X by John Singer Sargent (1883-4)