Vincent van Gogh is indisputably one of the greatest painters of the late nineteenth century. His works are some of the most recognizable and sought after of any artist. His paintings are the highlights of virtually all the greatest galleries and art collections around the world. On the rare occasions when one of van Gogh's paintings comes up for sale, it invariably breaks auction records-yet, heartbreakingly, van Gogh himself rarely had enough money...

Pierre-Auguste Renoir was, above all, a painter of people, especially young women and rosy-cheeked children. In many ways, he is the most approachable Impressionist. Not for him were the grim realities of a hard life. Renoir painted people enjoying themselves: talking, flirting, laughing, often dancing, eating, drinking, and simply passing joyful times together. A constant theme throughout his works is the female nude. It was a subject he approached...

Although American by birth and heritage, James McNeill Whistler spent most of his life in western Europe, particularly in Paris and London, where he lived his life in a swirl of controversy over his art and his often self-aggrandizing behavior, which tainted his associations with fellow artists and the public. His guiding principle was "art for art's sake" meaning that the artist should only work to please himself. Whistler's tonally disciplined palette...